Magister Negi Magi is owned by Ken Akamatsu and Kodansha Ltd. Tokyo in Japan, and by Funimation and Kodansha USA in the United States, NOT by me.
Other characters are also the property of their respective creators and owners, not me.
Some characters created by kafka'sdragon for his 'Markham Chronicles Negima' story are used here with his permission.
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"World War One was the war that might have been stopped with diplomacy, but nobody tried with any seriousness… Would War Two might have been stopped through the early use of force, but all anyone wanted to try was diplomacy…"
-unknown; possibly Sir Winston Churchill
Mage War
Chapter Twenty-nine: The Five Nations Conference
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(Tokyo Five Nations Conference, U Thant International Conference Hall, United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan, November 3rd, 2021)
"This is National News Network's Carol Lindstrom Reporting. Behind me is the U Thant International Conference Hall, where the negotiations to resolve the issue of China's demand that Taiwan reunify with the mainland are being held. Despite months of back and forth proposals and counter-proposals, little progress has been made; causing many in the international community to express concern over what seems to be the increasing likelihood of a war between the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of China.
Last month the Japanese Prime Minister; Tomori Akawa; suffered a minor stress-related heart–attack. Coming a day after a PRC fighter collided with a ROC fighter and both were lost along with their pilots over the Taiwan Strait; there were some who worried his withdrawal from direct involvement in the Japanese delegation might lead to the collapse of the talks he labored so hard to arrange.
Fortunately his second; Minister of Finance Ayaka Yukihiro; stepped forward and after only a slight delay; managed to get the scheduled meetings back on track.
Manny Pacquiao; President of the Philippine Islands; recently telephoned Minister Yukihiro to give his thanks for her efforts after the withdrawal of Prime Minister Akawa; and to express his hopes for future positive progress in the negotiations…"
(Main conference hall observation gallery)
As the door to the gallery clicked and opened, Hiro Sasuki looked up and watched as Dao Lingshen, the PRC Director of Security, entered. The Chinese man turned briefly to make sure the door closed and locked securely before walking over and pulling out a hard candy on a stick.
Shaking his head, Hiro politely refused the offer. Dao had been an occasional smoker when he arrived in Tokyo, but seemed to have given that up some time since… He suspected the catalyst for the change had been Satsuki Yotsuba; the head chef of Chao Bao Zi, the caterer for the negotiations; but knew better than to make an issue out of it. "Not much going on right now; they've pretty much given up for the week; and are waiting for that elementary school class we did the security check on earlier to come in and present them with some pictures."
Chuckling; Dao placed the green tea candy between his teeth and cheek, then leaned against the gallery railing. "I've just come from where they're waiting… A number of the children were quite frightened by the 'big, mean, Chinese security man.' One of them though; a young girl named Concordia; was quite unafraid… She positively gave me the stink-eye… Isn't that what you explained you did to me when we first met…?"
Sakurako Shiina's little girl hadn't been the only one throwing charged looks around the waiting room… During the time he'd been there; Hiro had noticed Cycilia Akashi; the instructor for the class that was going to present the pictures; giving him quite the wary look…
…the odds were she didn't want to kill him anymore over his history with her daughter Emily…
…probably…
In any case; as soon as it was prudently possible, he had made his retreat, and come to the observation gallery. "Yes, that's the correct saying…"
Savoring the subtle flavoring of the treat Satsuki Yotsuba had encouraged him to trade in his cigarettes for, Dao pulled on the hard candy as a door opened and the elementary school students in Cycilia Akashi's class began filling into the area below.
Even though such things were becoming increasingly common in Japan; especially around the Beanstalk Space Elevator; Hiro noted with interest the reaction of the delegates to the sight of Cycilia's ears and tail. The majority were either surprised or simply curious, while General Feng from the PRC displayed a barely concealed look of disgust. At his side, a brief glance revealed Dao also closely watching the reactions of the delegates. "Have you seen very many mimi-types?"
Down in the conference area, the girl named Concordia had bowed politely, and was handing her picture to Minister Li. As Dao watched, the Minister thanked the girl for her effort, resulting in a smile which quickly spread across the little artist's face. "There was a cat-girl and several others at the Olympics; but I haven't knowingly met many people from the other world yet…
Wondering how familiar Dao actually was with magic and its ability to create disguises, Hiro nodded in agreement. "Some of my encounters have been a bit rough thanks to magic; but it wouldn't be wrong to generalize things by just saying 'people are people.'"
General Feng always struck Dao as a bit sour to those outside his usual circle of associates in the PLA, but it looked like he was managing to keep that under control as a young boy down in the conference area bowed and handed over a picture. "In response; I'll say that such is both an affirmation and a condemnation."
As the little ceremony below finished up, Hiro couldn't help but grin. "Too true…"
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(PRC residential compound)
At the entrance to the PRC residential compound, Hu Li Long watched as General Nam Feng left in a limousine for Haneda International Airport, and a flight to Beijing. There he would spend the week-long break from negotiations in the company of other high-ranking officers of the People's Liberation Army.
Taking a folded piece of paper from the inside pocket of his coat, Hu opened it up and gazed at the drawing of two hand clasped in a handshake given to him by the little girl name Concordia…
General Feng had departed for his little vacation only because he felt there was no reason to worry Hu would do anything unexpected.
Putting the drawing away and nodding slightly in firm conviction, Hu turned and went to find the delegation's head of security.
Colonel Dao Lingshen was an unlikely ally perhaps; being part of the State Security apparatus; but speaking to him would be the first step in his plan to break the deadlock in negotiations…
Within the next twenty-four hours; Hu knew that he would either be dead; labeled forever as a traitor to the State, Party, and People of the PRC; or on his way to securing the future of all Chinese for the better…
When he reached the biggest common area of the PRC compound, Hu saw Colonel Lingshen sitting in a couch, reading something on a tablet. "Colonel…? I'd like you to make arrangements for a tourist trip to a temple near the Imperial Palace."
Closing his tablet, Dao stood and gave an affirmative nod. "Of course… What is the name of the temple, and when would you like to visit it?
Pulling out a notepaper he'd prepared earlier, Hu handed it over to Dao. "The Gokokuji Temple is north-west of the Imperial Palace; if possible, I would like to go there tomorrow."
Seeing a GPS coordinate notation on the slip of paper, Dao knew he would easily be able to locate the temple and arrange to go there. "I'll let you know if there are any problems within the hour."
Before Dao could turn to leave, Hu held out his hand… "Colonel… One other thing… I'd like you to let Lingling Su of the ROC delegation know about the trip… It wouldn't do if we were to accidentally run into each other somehow…"
His business 'look' instantly coming over his face; Dao gave Hu an intense penetrating gaze for several moments before finally nodding once more. "I'll take care of it right away. That would be unfortunate… wouldn't it?"
As Dao went to take care of his request, Hu had to put out an arm and lean against a nearby wall to keep from collapsing…
…his heart was beating so fast, he felt it might explode…
'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step…' was an old, philosophical saying; and he had just successfully taken an unbelievably dangerous first step and survived…
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(Gokokuji Temple, Tokyo, Japan)
Seeing a lone figure wrapped in a heavy coat standing near to the Kannon-dou of Gokokuji Temple made Lingling Su's heart start to race…
Whenever the one of the two Chinese delegations intended to go visit some location in Japan, they would coordinate so the chances for stepping on each other's toes diplomatically through some accidental encounter would be reduced. Having Dao Lingshen ask for her; specifically; to do so had been odd in the extreme…
Shin Chang thought a desire to visit an out of the way temple partially surrounded by an elementary school just as odd; but he had been convinced to do so by her description of how beautiful the temple's lantern garden was. If what she thought the real reason for the PRC Security Director calling panned out, the cold and the scenery would be the last thing on Chang's mind…
After passing through a Furou-mon gate, Lingling led Chang out onto an open, partially snow covered courtyard.
Two sets of tracks preceded them across the courtyard; one leading to what was likely Dao Lingshen, studious looking the other way and examining either the temple's lantern garden or the sight of the Beanstalk Elevator in the distance. The other led towards a man who turned at the approach of the newcomers…
"Minister Chang, Minister Su… Perhaps now we can discuss things a bit more substantive than everything else which has occupied so much of our time up to this point."
For as long as she'd known Chang, Lingling had never seen him as shocked as he appeared now… Despite that; the man quickly realized the significance of General Feng's absence, and recovered his wits.
"I imagine our time to do so will be restricted; due to circumstances beyond either of our abilities to control; so let us do just that."
Much to Lingling's extreme relief, the two men stepped forward and shook each other's hands.
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(Mid-November, U Thant International Conference Hall, main conference hall observation gallery)
Watching what was happening below, Phillip Markham Jr. saw Shin Chang; head of the ROC delegation: lean towards the smug-looking General Nam Feng.
"Let me make sure I understand what you've just said; If the Republic of China relinquishes any claim to islands in the South China Sea; if we surrender control over the resources, especially petroleum facilities, which we ourselves developed; the People's Republic of China will allow us to maintain separate armed forces until such time they are phased out according to a to-be-developed schedule of integration with the mainland?"
Clearly expecting his opposites to refuse the proposal he had put forth; or at least to ask for a deferral pending a call to Taipei for consultation, Nam nodded.
After glancing aside at Lingling Su, Chang sat back.
"We agree."
Up in the Gallery, Phillip heard an audible gasp from nearly everyone down at the negotiations table; none more so than from Nam Feng himself…
Clearly the General expected some other outcome, since a sudden look of anger came over his face. If this had been a direct negation between the two countries; with no-one else involved; it might have been possible for him to weasel out of what had just happened somehow. If a deferral had been asked for; he could have claimed that the PRC position had changed in the interim. As it was; with the Russians, Americans and Japanese as witnesses, he was trapped by his own words…
Clearly realizing that, Nam sat back in his chair… Eventually he looked over at Hu Li Long and made and brusque gesture.
Nodding, Hu reached towards a briefcase next to him on the table and pulled out a thin manila folder. "Understandably it is a bit rough, but here is a copy of the proposed schedule for PRC takeover of the facilities that were identified and confirmed as belonging to Taiwan, during our discussions over the last several months…"
Taking the folder, Chang opened it up and spread the contents out. He and Lingling Su studied the documents for several long moments before compiling them once more and placing the folder to one side. "We have no objection in principle to this rough schedule. Is it correct to presume that the finer details will be defined based on the success of these talks as a whole?"
Nodding as he did so, Hu reached for and retrieved another folder. "Now that an agreement has been reached concerning the short-term disposition of military forces belonging to Taiwan; I would like to move on to discussions related to governmental integration… Other than basic levels of representation; I have several proposals concerning protections for Taiwan and its people, until such time as the program for integration is completed."
As he continued watching for the rest of the afternoon, Phillip noted with interest that General Nam Feng seemed to have been knocked completely off his game…
Whether or not that was a good thing might be another story; without his normal, seemingly out of firm opposition complaints though; Minister Hu and the two representatives from Taiwan made rapid progress until the talks adjourned for the evening.
General Feng's look as he got up to leave was extremely sour… Phillip reminded himself to speak about the matter to Ayaka later, when the two of them met to share their observations concerning the day's events…
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(PRC residential compound)
"How wonderful General Feng! To think that the first breakthrough in negotiations would come from such a controversial proposal! Thank you for suggesting we put it forth this morning!"
As he tossed his military cap onto a desk, Nam Feng glared at Hu Li Long… It seemed painfully obviously that the moronically smiling idiot had no clue what the ultimate purpose of this conference was… "Yes… Quite wonderful."
Equally plain was that in just a single day, more progress had been made than should have even been possible before the end of the year.
Many in the Politburo would be pleased by such news; but others wouldn't be quite so ecstatic… Even though it meant leaving the easily pleased fool Hu Li alone for a while; Nam knew he would need to return to the mainland to consult with his associates in the PLA.
Just then Dao Lingshen came into the room to ask if there was anything he needed to know about the next day's schedule. Before he could do so; Nam hustled him back out through the door… "Did Hu Li go anywhere I should be aware of while I was gone last week?"
Without hesitation, Dao shook his head. "Dr. Long visited several nearby temples and the Imperial Gardens. As per instructions for such things, I was with him the entire time."
Still irritated, Nam ground his teeth and stood there staring at the floor… Eventually he relaxed and looked back up at Dao. "Make arrangements for me to return to Beijing; if anyone asks why; tell them the sudden progress requires that I report to the Secretary General directly."
When General Nam started moving towards his personal rooms, Dao stepped aside slightly, nodding once as he did so. "I'll make the arrangement right away, General Feng."
tsuzuku
Author's Notes:
The opening quote attributed to Sir Winston Churchill may in effect not be a direct quote; but instead a paraphrase of things he said at different times. I would have sworn before writing this chapter that the quote belonged to him; but have been unable to identify a direct source.
PRC: People's Republic of China, (mainland China.)
PLA: People's Liberation Army, (military forces of the PRC.)
ROC: Republic of China, (the island of Taiwan.)
U Thant International Conference Hall, United Nations University: A real facility which exists in Tokyo today.
Manny Pacquiao: A famous, contemporary Philippine boxer rumored to have political aspirations.
Cycilia Akashi: Formerly Cycilia Sevensheep; Cycilia has by this point married Yuuji Akashi, Yuuna Akashi's father. Cycilia is of course also the mother of Valkyrie Brigade officer, Captain Emily Sevensheep.
'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step…': Saying, or variation of a saying, attributed to Lao Tzu; purportedly from the same time period as Confucius; or roughly the Fifth Century.
Gokokuji Temple: A lesser known temple in Tokyo; Gokokuji Temple is located a short distance northwest of the Imperial Palace, and is famous for surviving both the 1923 Kanto Earthquake, as well as the bombing of Tokyo by American forces towards the end of World War II.
Kannon-dou: Main hall, or main part of a Japanese religious temple.
Furou-mon: A type of temple gate.
Next: A stereotypical single person's companion during Christmas in Japan…
