the economic damage to China was tremendous when America, its largest customer, sustained a terrorist attack. When terror or even credible threats of an attack occurred, American consumers simply stopped spending, destroying Chinese jobs. The attack last October had proved this again.
Once the senior members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China addressed the economic damage that Islamist terrorism directed against the West, particularly against America, was inflicting on the Chinese economy and modernization plans, they arrived at the only answer that made sense to them.
The discussion surrounding the implementation of their answer continued at the most senior levels for some time. By the time it made it to the rest of the Politburo it seemed to have been a nearly resolved plan of action awaiting only the right time.
Into this Deputy Yong had injected his concern over demographics, seeing it as a likely way to, as Americans said, “Kill two birds with one stone.” How apt a phrase, he thought as he considered the smoke dribbling from his nose and rising lazily toward the ceiling.
He sipped from a cup of coffee, now nearly empty and tepid at best, inhaled again from his American cigarette, and considered some more.
Because of both ignorance and tradition China now had a deficit of approximately eight million females in the age range of 0-14 years of age. The deficit aged 15-30 added another twenty million. Nearly thirty million males already born would never find a mate, would not reproduce, drastically aging China, as well as failing to create another generation of consumers or workers, harming the long-term vitality of the nation.
Another puff and another sip, this time draining his cup. He set it down softly, still deep in thought.
The post-puberty problem would be more difficult to fix, he knew. If only we could find eight million females not yet at puberty. The younger, the better, of course, due to assimilation issues, as well as weaning them from their parents and societies, whoever and wherever they were. And another 10-20 million who had already reached their reproductive years. 30 million females…
And there his idea had sat for fourteen months, gathering dust in the distant reaches of his mind.
Then the premier had presented the plan regarding terrorism – a way, really not only to stop terror on their markets in the West, but to end it wherever it was found. A plan of incredible breadth, just not yet finalized; awaiting… something… to give it that final push.
From the back of his mind had come a single word: Demographics. He presented it to the interest and growing excitement of the Politburo. It was the final piece of the puzzle.
The Politburo listened, accepted, decided. Now they were moving forward. Logistics was a challenge, but one that could be overcome.
He rose, walked to the doorway, turned off the light and left the room. Logistics were for others.
His idea, now his plan, had raised the estimation of him by members of the Standing Committee. More importantly, a solution now existed for China’s gender imbalance. There now would be wives for millions of young Chinese boys when they came of age, and for millions of young Chinese men needing women. Those who understood the issue knew that China would become old long before it would become rich and powerful. Now this could, and would change.
And that was a very good thing.
4
Dallas
Tuesday, 12 March, 21:10 hours GMT (16:10 Local)
Tom Palmer watched as the last of his teams of men and their families boarded the third, and final, chartered China Air 747.
Each aircraft was configured for all First Class seating, with seats that could be laid flat to become beds for the overnight, 13-hour flight. The aircraft held 192 passengers and a full complement of attendants.
Tom’s team included the 87 men and women in his employ, his entire company. Adding their spouses and children made a total of 484 passengers. The first aircraft had loaded and departed LAX fifteen minutes ago. The second now taxied toward the runway. Once he boarded this 747, his company no longer would have a US presence, but would have moved to China, and a very lucrative and family-friendly multi-year agreement. An agreement and opportunity good enough that none of his employees had thought it advisable to reject.
Yes, they’d be leaving America, but as oil workers understood better than most, it had become a global economy staffed by people willing to accept global assignments.
He knew, as did every member of his team, that this was a gamble. But it also was a challenge, the kind his men liked. From what he knew of his men’s families, the women had married these men because they liked the challenges, too, and because they liked the kind of men willing to accept big challenges, to go out into the world head-on, take what it had to give, for better or worse, and move forward.
Tom and his employees and their spouses – the Chinese had understood the psychology of American families, and particularly wives, quite well, it had turned out – had made an escorted trip to a city similar to the one being built for them. “Their” city had not quite yet been completed at the time; now it was.
The city they had visited was the model for theirs. It had excellent proximity to a very good hospital in a quickly-growing urban area. The school was first-rate, and the young teachers all smiling, happy and bilingual. Tom particularly had been impressed with the numbers of books on the shelves. Too many of the classrooms he had seen in America lacked good books – hell, they lacked any books once you got past First Grade where a teacher still read to her students. Maybe. Here the shelves were stocked with excellent books. At least he could tell the titles in English; he assumed the Chinese titles were of similar quality.
The school had excellent sports fields, too: soccer fields, even two baseball diamonds, a Little League-size and a High-School-size, he knew by looking at the basepaths. There were large grassy spaces on which to run and play and be kids, and an indoor gymnasium with a full field house, including basketball courts, handball and racquetball. Outside of school hours, the facilities were available to the families and workers whenever they wished.
Their hosts had put on a presentation at which the teachers introduced themselves, talked intelligently regarding their backgrounds and expectations, including their lesson plans for each year as the students progressed. It was evident that their children would receive a better education here than in the deteriorating public schools at home.
He – and the parents – liked everything they saw and heard.
The nearby city provided high-speed rail connections to Shanghai, Beijing and other Chinese cities, as well as shopping, theaters and other of the quickly-increasing varieties of Western conveniences that the Chinese enjoyed as they modernized, moving to cities from rural farms in the tens of millions over the past few decades.
Tom watched “his” families walk up the jetway, some hesitantly, others not, nearly all with some level of trepidation mixed with eagerness. They were on their way to a new place, a new opportunity, and a new challenge.
As he watched he thought back to that day - only eight weeks ago, he realized - when he first had met the Chinese man next to him.
“Let me get this straight,” Tom had said, intrigued, to the Chinese man across the table.
Sitting in a booth
