Empire of the Ring

It was accusing Kazakhstan of absorbing and integrating powerless neighboring countries with its plausible packaging of a federation.

It was like the pot called the kettle black, but China had a good reason.

Azerbaijan planned to purchase J-20 fighter jets produced in China but withdrew its purchase plan with the signing of a peace treaty with Armenia.

It was not possible to purchase Chinese fighter jets at a time when the peace treaty required the reduction of its troops.

A deal worth billions of dollars was broken, so it was no wonder the Chinese government was upset.

The J-20 fighter was a stealth fighter developed by the Chinese government after several failures.

China’s defense industry had grown to the point where foreign countries such as Pakistan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, were showing willingness to purchase its fighter jets.

Either way, for China, Kazakhstan was a thorn in its side as the project which it had been putting efforts in for several years was scrapped.

The Azerbaijani government was very embarrassed by the Chinese government’s protest.

China had been at odds over what to do, saying that the fighter jets to be delivered to Azerbaijan was already being manufactured in factories.

It threatened Azerbaijan that the fighter jets in production would be wasted if the export failed. It was not true, as China could export those fighter jets to another country in the future.

China’s reckless move was to take the deposit paid by the Azerbaijani government.

In this difficult situation, the Azerbaijani government requested the Kazakh royal family’s help.

Since the economy was still recovering from the foreign exchange crisis, the Azerbaijani government wanted to get the deposit back to help the national economy.

Under such calculations, Azerbaijan’s prime minister rushed to the Kazakh royal palace in the Arirang royal territory.

Youngho, who was visited by Prime Minister Rasizade, was at a meeting with him and Jong-il.

“I understand your situation, Mr. Prime Minister. So, the Azerbaijani government would like to get at least a part of the ten percent down payment for the fighter jets, but China is pressuring to take over the finished product unconditionally.”

“Yes, Your Grace. China is pressing us to pay a penalty if we can’t buy it.”

“It’s a funny situation. It’s like China wants war in the Caucasus.”

The Azerbaijani government paid 120 million dollars to China as a down payment for 30 jets.

It was also a waste to not get the deposit back, but China was even demanding a penalty for breach of contract.

Moreover, China was threatening the Azerbaijani government that if the penalty was not paid, China would stop various development projects it promised to invest in Azerbaijan as well as preventing Chinese tourists from visiting the country.

“What does the president say?”

Youngho wondered what Aliyev was thinking.

It was a contract made before the peace treaty, and he could bring in jets using China as an excuse.

Aliev had every reason to bring in fighter jets.

However, in the aftermath of the introduction of fighter jets, the Caucasus would again enter a tense phase.

“The president said he would give up the purchase of fighter jets. Cabinet ministers think the same way as the president. We can’t do anything to dampen the peace mood.”

It was relieving to hear that the president would give up the fighter jets.

“Then can you delegate this matter to our royal family?”

Prime Minister Rasizade’s face quickly brightened up at Youngho’s proposal.

“If Your Highness comes forward, China will dare not do anything. It’s a shame, but our government’s capacity has not been able to deal with China’s pressure.”

He seemed to think that China could not do anything to the Kazakh royal family as its power was great enough to move even Putin of Russia.

“The royal family should help a hundred times if necessary. The people trust the royal family, so how can we sit back when the country is in trouble?”

Youngho confidently said, but he did not have any plan to deal with China.

He was going to face it first and deal with it by adapting to the situation depending on China’s response.

***

“Why did you accept it?”

The two were on their way back from the airport after seeing off Prime Minister Rasizade.

Park Jong-il, who had been silent throughout the meeting with the Azerbaijani prime minister asked.

“He came all the way here to ask for help. Of course, I should help.”

“You don’t mean to put me ahead, do you?”

Park Jong-il drew a line in advance just in case Youngho decided to send him.

“Hold on, that was a good word. I was going to move the ambassador to China, but I guess you can go to China.”

“Gee, I knew this would happen.”

“Think of saving Azerbaijan’s economy and work hard, alright?”

“Aliyev’s slush funds will improve the economy at once, so why do we need to convince China? We can just ignore the penalty. Just because Chinese tourists don’t come, it doesn’t mean the country will collapse.”

Park Jong-il had been urging to retrieve Aliyev’s slush funds.

“If we touch Aliyev now, there will be bloodshed. I’m just trying to figure out where he’s hiding the money.”

“He’s invested more than three billion dollars in the U.K. alone. Azerbaijan’s economy will be able to breathe if we just retrieved that.”

“Are you saying it because you’re not confident in dealing with China?”

“They won’t return the deposit just because we ask for it. How do you deal with those who want to even collect penalties?”

Youngho also did not want to say anything to China for just 120 million dollars.

But there was nothing like this as a way to show the power of the Kazakh royal family to the people of Azerbaijan.

The Aliyev government had to pay the penalty, but if the royal family came forward and retrieved the down payment, the status of the royal family would be higher than ever.

“We have a big weapon, too. What would China say if we would close the railroad that goes through Kazakhstan?”

“We’ve just normalized relations with China, and you want to make it worse again for Azerbaijan?”

“It’s our federal state, so there’s a cause.”

“They think we’ve destroyed the sale of fighter jets. They’ll hate us.”

“But they can’t ignore it at all. I’m sure they’ll like it if we suggest activating the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.”

Kazakhstan previously made the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was formed by China in the center, and it was meaningless.

Russia and China were the only ones left as the members, as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were not active after being incorporated into the Kazakh Kingdom and even Uzbekistan became inactive due to Kazakhstan’s influence.

“I wonder if China will like our royal family’s intervention.”

“Inform the Chinese government that I have a plan to visit China. Then the reaction will be different.”

China had recently been making foreign policy a top priority.

This was because of its One Belt One Road project to expand China’s influence in all directions.

However, the Chinese government was embarrassed by Kazakhstan’s unfavorable attitude toward it while other countries were acting in China’s favor.

In this situation, the Duke of Kazakhstan’s visit to China was definitely desirable.

“You want to meet the president of China, just to get the deposit back?”

“No, what is there to ask when the leaders of neighboring countries simply meet? I just want cooperation.”

“I don’t know if China will really welcome you. I’ll be glad if they don’t do anything harmful to you since Kazakhstan has been in its way every time.”

“We will see. Don’t worry, no matter how ignorant an organization is, they won’t harm the leaders of other countries.”

“You must really want to go to China.”

“Of course, I’m going to go and meet the president of China. If they treat the Kazakh royal family badly, there will be a cause to turn back on China.”

If the Queen and the Duke of Kazakhstan went to China and were not treated properly, how would Central Asian people see China?

“I see a problem brewing, why don’t you just stay here than regret later?”

Rather, it was what Youngho wanted.

He wanted to draw a clean line with China. China was the one to regret if the ties were broken, not Kazakhstan.

For Central Asia, China was no help anyway.

China was the country that was draining Central Asia’s money with its cheap daily necessities, but now the production of daily necessities in Central Asia was on track enough to endure the people’s demand without Chinese products.

Thus, Youngho was confident that Kazakhstan was in an advantageous position in dealing with China.