J5 and K7 looked at each other quickly, knowing that their task could be carried out. From Ambassador Qin Xiu’s words, it was obvious that the negotiation at 7 o’clock in the morning would definitely not proceed smoothly.
Our country would not interfere in the politics of other countries. Similarly, our country would not allow anyone to secretly destroy our peace. Since they were all acting in secret, then let us all make our moves secretly.
Soon, the deployment of additional local troops to the border had begun, and several pictures of ambiguous armored weapons and new-type missiles were seen.
The pictures came out at 6:40 a.m. The local military media had not reported them. However, the old and new policies of the neighboring country and the armed forces of various nationalities already had those pictures.
In the building occupied by the old policy, a group of people had a grim expression and gloomy eyes as they sat around a large conference table. A leader seated at the front had his face so dark that it could not be darker anymore. He threw the photos onto the conference table angrily as he shouted, “This is what you guys thought? Have a look at these! New missiles, armored weapons… They’re all out; what else can you say!”
“There’s a phrase from China, you all are just a group of frogs sitting under the well and watching the sky! You think China is weak? You think they will only tolerate others? You think they will not make a sound? Have a look now! This is the Chinese surface-to-air missile that they showed in their grand celebration last year! You all will be dead if they send these few missiles over! They can say it was just an exercise; will you all believe it?”
“Missiles, tanks, armors, three regiments, thousands of people suddenly decided to exercise? Do you think they are actually doing exercise?!”
The leader was so angry that he slapped the table, and everyone sitting around held their breath, silently accepting the anger.
“The ambassador sent by China told the new policy that he would leave on time without waiting for any negotiators who arrive late at the 7 o’clock negotiation… Commander-in-Chief, how about, let’s wait. If the Chinese ambassador does not leave at 7 o’clock, then we can send someone over immediately.”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief, the Chinese ambassador, and others are already used to waiting for people anyway. Since they are used to waiting for people, we shall let them wait again this time. They want to use “exercises” to deter us; heh, China is not a big Western country!”
“You can ask him to wait. Our negotiator will set out now and will arrive at about 7:20 a.m.”
“Call them first, say that you have to deal with urgent matters temporarily, so you can’t arrive in time.”
“Yes, we will call at 6:50 a.m. and ask the Chinese ambassador to wait for us for another 20 minutes.”
“I think that’s doable.”
“We can say that there was a temporary delay, so we called in advance to explain the matter to them. By doing this, we can also show how much we value the importance to this negotiation and our respect for the Chinese.”
Qin Xiu arrived at the negotiation site at 6:50 a.m. The old policy called at 6:51 a.m. They said that they had an urgent matter to deal with temporarily and hoped that the Chinese side would understand. They also asked the Chinese ambassador to please wait for them for 20 minutes; they would arrive on time at 7:20 a.m.
The call from the old policy gave the new policy and National Armed Forces negotiators a relief. It was not that the old policy negotiators didn’t want to go, but they had no way to arrive on time because of a sudden urgent matter.
“We’re very sorry, ambassador; please wait another 20 minutes. The negotiator of the old policy will definitely arrive.”
“We are very grateful for China’s understanding and support. We would also like to ask China to forgive us for the hasty negotiation this time. Sometimes, there are certain things that we cannot avoid easily. We can only do our best to do better.”
The negotiators of the old politics did not arrive on time. The negotiators of the two parties had already expressed their goodwill to Qin Xiu and to China, hoping that the Chinese side would continue to support the neighboring country and jointly maintain the stability of the border between the two countries.
