Tiger's Claw

PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY HEADQUARTERS, BEIJING, CHINA

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

“You had better have an explanation, Admiral,” thundered Shàng Jiàng (Colonel General) Zu Kai, chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army. Zu was short and powerfully built, with a thick neck and large hands. Although a thirty-year veteran of the PLA, his tunic sported no awards or decorations except his shoulder boards. He had reluctantly begun to wear spectacles but refused to put them on unless he needed them to read. “Your orders were to intercept, detain, and inspect that survey vessel and then let it go, not shoot it apart!”

“My apologies, sir,” Hai Jun Zhong Jiang (Vice Admiral) Zhen Peng, commander of the South Sea Fleet, People’s Liberation Army Navy, responded. He was standing before the chief of staff’s desk at ramrod attention. Standing beside Zu was his deputy, Shao Jiang (Major General) Sun Ji. “The crew of the helicopter that was sent out to the vessel saw crewmembers carrying weapons, and the helicopter commander thought his aircraft was in danger and ordered the door gunner to open fire.”

“And shooting up the bridge?”

“The pilot saw a movement just outside the bridge and ordered the gunner to open fire, but instead of firing on the person outside on the observation platform, the gunner fired on the bridge. I am of course fully responsible for this incident.”

“You most certainly are, Zhen,” General Zu said. “Unfortunately, you will probably not be the only one to lose his stars over this.” Zu clenched and unclenched his right fist. “Order a summary court-martial for the captain of the Baohùzhe, the pilot of the helicopter, and the door gunner. Punishment shall be a year at hard labor for the captain, three years at hard labor for the pilot, and execution for the door gunner. See to it immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

Zu looked at the piece of paper handed to him by his deputy chief of the general staff, General Sun. “Before I assign punishment to you, Zhen,” he said, “explain what you have sent me. What is this?”

“Sir, that is called a Common Risk Segment Map,” Zhen explained. “That is the product that survey ships such as the Lady Garner produce. It is a graphical depiction of the scientists’ best estimate of oil and natural gas deposits in an area. We pulled it from one of the laptop computers belonging to the project manager on board.”

“Why did you send this to me, Zhen?”

“Because, sir, it is the first real proof that there are substantial oil and gas deposits in the South Sea and Nansha Dao,” Zhen said, using the Chinese name of the body of water instead of the internationally recognized name “South China Sea,” and also using the Chinese name for the Spratly Islands.

“Nonsense. We have known that for decades.”

“But it has never been proven before in this particular area because the waters near the Nansha and Xisha Islands have been contested for so long and no exploration has taken place, sir,” Zhen said. “This is the first scientific proof that oil and gas are not just present, but present in amounts vastly more than believed.”

“Zhen, everyone already knew that oil, natural gas, and probably many other minerals could be found in the South Sea,” Zu said angrily. “What is your point?”

“My assertion, sir, is that now is the time to move to occupy and fortify the Nansha and Xisha Dao,” Admiral Zhen said. Xisha Dao was the Chinese name for the Paracel Islands in the northern South China Sea, also long contested by many nations and also thought to have significant mineral deposits. “We have administered the islands for years, and we have fought several small skirmishes over them, but we have never militarily occupied the islands except for occasional patrols.”

“Do you remember our battle with the Americans and Filipinos, Zhen?” Zu asked angrily. “How many ships did we lose? A dozen? More?”

“I fought in the Battle of the South Philippines, sir,” Zhen said. “I was a junior antisubmarine warfare officer aboard the frigate Jiujiang, and I was on duty when the body of Admiral Yin Po L’un was brought aboard.” China and the Philippines, assisted by American bombers, had fought a brief but intense war twenty years earlier. Although China was preparing to land several hundred thousand troops in southern Philippines, their naval forces had taken a beating, and a withdrawal was ordered; the overall commander of the operation, Admiral Yin Po L’un, committed suicide on the deck of his flagship. “We did not lose that battle, sir—we were just not permitted to win.”

“Zhen, no one cares about the Nansha Dao,” Zu said. “Most of the so-called islands are underwater most of the time. The highest point in the entire archipelago is only four meters.”

“The importance of the Nansha Dao has been made paramount by what the survey crew found—the oil and gas deposits are substantial,” Zhen said. “But what is more important is the strategic location of the islands. With a substantial military force stationed on and around the islands, and a similar force on the Xisha Dao, all reinforced with land-based bombers and missiles, we can completely control access to the South Sea.”

“Do you not think the Americans might have something to say about that, Zhen?” General Zu asked derisively.

“The current status of the American military force is precisely why we need to act now, sir,” Zhen said. “The American military, especially their navy, is the weakest it has been since before the Great War of Liberation. Now is the time to act.”

It was true, Zu thought—the Americans had virtually stopped all major shipbuilding and aircraft projects, while China was building more and more ships and buying ships from around the world that they simply did not have the capacity to build themselves. “I applaud your aggressiveness on this subject, Zhen,” General Zu said. “I do not know if the president or central committee is as anxious as you to directly challenge the United States, but circumstances may present an opportunity. I should like to see a plan.”

“My staff and I have been working on a detailed plan for many months, sir,” Zhen said. “I will finalize the draft and transmit it right away. Thank you.”

“And I will leave your punishment up to the minister of defense and the president,” Zu said, “but unless it is discovered during the upcoming investigation that you directly ordered the gunner to open fire on the survey ship, I think you are sufficiently distant from the incident to take any blame. You admitted full responsibility to me, which I accept. Direct your commanders to avoid such actions in the future without a clear and unambiguous order from higher headquarters. You are dismissed. Return to your headquarters.”

“Yes, sir.” Zhen saluted, turned on a heel, and departed.

Zu lit a cigarette and sat back in his chair. “Do you think I was too easy on Zhen, Ji?” he asked.

“Yes, sir, I do,” General Sun replied. Sun was a young general officer with very little operational or leadership experience, but he possessed a finely tuned analytical mind and a real talent for playing and manipulating the political aspects of the ministry of defense, something Zu knew he himself didn’t have the skill or desire to do—he knew that he had to have a man like Sun on his side to avoid having him as an adversary. “I like Admiral Zhen. He is aggressive and not afraid to go on the offensive. But I do believe he had something to do with that helicopter crew opening fire on that survey ship, and if he escapes any punishment at all, he may be emboldened to do something like that again, without asking for permission. That could be dangerous. A man like Zhen with a weapon like Silent Thunder, who thinks he has unspoken permission to open fire on an American flagged vessel, could be trouble.”

“I too like Zhen, and I think his aggressiveness is a great advantage and something that is sorely needed in our military, especially our navy,” Zu said. “I am looking forward to reading his plan for Nansha and Xisha Dao.”

“The Americans, together with their Asian and Pacific allies, will not stand for China occupying those islands,” Sun said.

“I want to see Zhen’s plan for taking them on,” Zu said. “He was right: America is at its weakest level in decades, and so are all their allies. We could have more aircraft carriers in the Pacific than they in a year or so, if we continue to get the funding we have requested. Look at Zhen’s plan when you get it, have the Plans Department look it over, then brief me as soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir.”

Zu stubbed out his cigarette. “Let us see what President Zhou says about taking Nansha and Xisha Dao,” he said. “The president is always saying that the South Sea belongs to China, but he does very little about enforcing it. If he is presented with a plan to do exactly that, will he go forward?”