Dragon Fire

Military Headquarters, Western Hills, China

‘Two cruise missiles have hit the control tower and runway at Xiamen civilian airfield,’ said General Leung. ‘We should respond by targeting Okinawa.’

‘Not yet,’ said President Tao. Holed up with the military, Tao had managed to cling on to the authority of his presidency. As soon as he emerged, leaving the general to his own devices, he would lose it. ‘A missile launch on Okinawa would force us into a war which has no decisive end. It is against our doctrine of yizhan ershang, winning a victory with one strike. Let us try to follow the line which Comrade Song outlined on CNN. Let them strike us. We will use our air defences to intercept the missiles. We will not strike back. We will try to secure Matsu and Kinmen by the morning, and challenge the Western democracies to recognize Taiwan if they wish.’

General Leung: ‘Then I suggest you tell President Hastings that. We occupy Matsu and Kinmen. Taiwan Island reverts to the status quo. They send no more missiles against our facilities.’