Two Peasants and a President by Frederick Aldrich Read Free Book Online

way this one is going to play out.
    “Yes, Sir,” he answered. 

8
     
     
     
    An hour after leaving the White House briefing, Benedict was in his seventh floor conference room at Langley.  Huddled there with analysts from his East Asia/China teams, he was listening to what his experts theorized may have occurred in the Far East. 
    S arah Ferguson, one of newest in the department, had begun to earn the respect of her peers for her intellect, though she had also stirred resentment for her outspokenness and the director’s perceived inclination to hear what she had to say over some of her more senior colleagues.  Her striking good looks, while not a problem for some, had a predictable effect on others.
    “Sir,” she began, “up to this point, the Chinese seem to have focused their activities closer to home, mainly the coast of Viet Nam and to a lesser extent Japan.  Aside from asserting sovereignty, their goal appears to be primarily focused on discouraging others from attempting to harvest the abundant natural resources in the area.  But there does appear to be an esc a lation.”
    “An Indian company signed a three-year deal with PetroVietnam and accepted Vietnam's offer of exploration in certain specified areas in the South China Sea.  One of India's amphibious assault vessels, the INS Airavat , while visiting Vietnam, was reportedly hailed at a distance of forty-five nautical miles from the Vietnamese coast by someone identifying himself as the C hinese Navy and warning that his ship was in Chinese waters.  The Indian ship took no action and proceeded unhindered.”
    “Later though, a Chinese fishing vessel rammed a PetroVietnam ship's survey cables while the latter was conducting a seismological survey of South China Sea oil reserves. Of course, as you are all aware, there was also that incident south of Chingua Reef where more than seventy Vietnamese sailors were killed.”
    “In regard to the Philippines, previously the Chinese have fired war n ing shots near their fishing boats.  Last night that may have changed.  China seems to have been, for the most part, reluctant to engage in outright hostil i ties.  The Indian Navy ship that was challenged was a capable warship from a nation with a powerful navy, and it is possible that may have tempered the Chinese actions.”
    “On the other hand, the Philippine Navy is a navy in name only and the vessel that was apparently sunk was a relic of WWII and could have posed little threat to a modern Chinese frigate.  As an interesting aside, nearly every country in SE Asia with a coastline is fortifying its submarine fleet.  Japan alone is adding eight to its sixteen boat fleet.  The Philippines, however, has not a single submarine and are only now making preliminary inquiries into acquiring one.  To China, the Philippines may have appeared to be low-hanging fruit, so to speak, a way to make a point with little danger to itself.”
    “But do we have any concrete evidence that the Chinese naval vessel sank the Philippine craft?” asked the director. 
    Perry Sparks, the analyst with the most experience in Asian navies responded: 
    “Sir, while evidence that it was a Philippine frigate that went down seems compelling, there is no way at this time to connect it with a Chinese warship, aside from radio traffic.  Frankly, I’d be surprised if there were anything concrete at all.  The Chinese typically prefer to maintain deniability or at least uncertainty unless they decide that it is in their interest to be overt.  And right now, demonstrating that they are capable of sinking a far inferior naval vessel would not seem to give them any benefit that a simple threat wouldn‘t accomplish.”
    “I disagree with that, Perry,” interjected another analyst.  “By actually sinking a warship, albeit clandestinely, China has upped the fear factor by several notches.   If I were serving on a warship in the South China Sea, I’d want to make damn sure my life