Chapter 47: Liberation of Korea (5)

Li Runshi knew he was not a god. He was a man of retentive memory and broad learning, having attended the Paris Peace Conference after World War I as a member of the Chinese delegation. At that conference, the British Prime Minister had remarked, "Giving Upper Silesia to Poland would be like giving a monkey a pocket watch."

The Korean comrades had not seen much of the world, and they certainly didn't have a leader like Chen Ke, who, while perhaps lacking in some maturity, had received an excellent education. *On Practice* stated that everyone must complete their understanding of things through practice. However, insight and knowledge relied on education; relying solely on practice was too inefficient. Regardless of his own level, Chen Ke had at least contributed all his knowledge without reservation. Armed with this knowledge as preparation, the People's Party wouldn't go too far astray even if they were just mimicking the motions. Added to this were the democratic discussions within the Party, as well as criticism and self-criticism; soon, a large group of comrades would be able to stand on their own. After this period of contact, Li Runshi did not believe the Korean comrades were inherently inferior in any way. It was just that their level of insight and knowledge was too poor.

But at this conference, the Korean comrades had to make an appearance. The People's Party Central Committee had stated clearly that this was a meeting where the Great Powers would interfere in the affairs of other nations, and Japan and Korea had to duke it out here.

Of course, the talks were not entirely about Korean affairs. When Great Powers got together, they had to discuss serious business, and Li Runshi's other job was to talk business with foreigners.

Recently, the domestic organic chemical industry had broken through the threshold of high-temperature cracking technology, and Chen Ke was working his heart out training these departments. Chemical fiber products were being finalized, while products like phenolic resin and plexiglass had already begun trial sales on the international market. The response in the international market was quite good. According to China's foreign trade policy, while China expanded its exports, it would also increase imports. Domestic production of 10,000-ton ships was also on track, with shipyards working desperately to produce steamships. The shipping departments were working just as hard to haul raw materials back.

On the world market, sweet crude was relatively expensive, while sour crude was cheap and sold poorly. China had managed to solve the desulfurization technology, including the subsequent collection and reuse of sulfur. Large amounts of sour crude in the Middle East had no takers, and China had bought quite a few sour crude oil wells. One of the topics Li Runshi had to discuss with Britain was the acquisition and transport security of this portion of crude oil.

As always, Chen Ke did not attend this meeting, so Li Runshi had to take full responsibility for the negotiation work. The People's Party was going to organize a tanker fleet with a total tonnage exceeding 100,000 tons to handle the transport work. Without the cooperation of the British, this transport work simply could not be completed. If it were anyone else, having to consider all of this might have worked them to death. Li Runshi did not look for trouble, but he was never afraid of it. Through such negotiations, Li Runshi found that he could see the economic pulse of the entire country clearly.

Before setting out, Li Runshi wrote a letter to his friend in the military and fellow poet, Chen Shijun. It was a lyric poem written in reply to one of his. The conference location was set in Washington. The Americans had no small ambition; not having joined the League of Nations, they tried their best to convene international conferences on American soil. During the Washington Conference a few years ago, there had been a naval limitation treaty, but this time there wasn't anything of that sort.

In late July, the Washington conference regarding Far Eastern issues finally convened. Before it began, Li Runshi gave some gifts to the representatives of various countries. These were plexiglass wind goggles, as well as ordinary sunglasses. Not only were the lenses made of pure, transparent plexiglass, but the spring hinges on the temples were also of the outward-opening type, capable of flexing outward by a dozen degrees. They were extremely suitable for people with wide faces. These fine parts seemed to present no difficulty in imitation, but manufacturing them required considerably high processing technology. Those in the know would understand at a glance. Not to mention the new material that was plexiglass.

The attendees were all people of great status and didn't care at all about these little trinkets. The talks went straight to the main subject: exactly how to solve the current problem in Korea.

The United States had been shouting about national self-determination, even though they would absolutely never give the Indians the right to self-determination. For this Korean matter, the United States played the same old tune, demanding that the Korean region implement national self-determination under international supervision.

This hostility-filled approach immediately met with strong opposition from Japan. National self-determination for Korea was destined to mean Korea restoring its nationhood. The British also immediately expressed their opposition. If Britain supported Korean self-determination, it would be tantamount to selling out Japan. If Korea could have self-determination, then could Britain's colonies have self-determination? Could India have self-determination? Could Ireland have self-determination?

The Soviet representative had originally come to the meeting purely to act as a bystander. They had been blockaded for several years and needed an opportunity to return to the international community. The Chinese comrades had fulfilled their promise and continued to suppress Japan, leaving Japan with absolutely no strength to threaten the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union's original purpose was just to come and show support, shouting a few phrases when it was time to speak. But as soon as they saw this American "national self-determination," the Soviet Union keenly discovered the meaning behind it. The Americans also held a strong attitude of opposition towards the colonial system. Regardless of whether the United States had invaded the Soviet Union or not, at least this stance coincided with the Soviet Union's stance. Thus, the Soviet Union was the first to express support.

France very quickly understood the United States' intent. Even if the French representatives had no intersection of interests with Japan, they likewise firmly opposed national self-determination.

Listening to the speeches of the representatives from various countries, the Korean representatives felt so aggrieved that their tears almost fell. What the hell did Korea have to do with Britain and France? Yet Britain and France were openly interfering in Korea's internal affairs. It must be stated that among the Korean patriots, there was still considerable apprehension regarding China. If Korea restored its traditional relationship with China, they could accept it. However, there were also Korean patriots who worried that after driving away the Japanese, the Chinese would annex Korea. Now, listening to the speeches among the world powers, the Korean representatives no longer had any mind to worry about China. Compared to these wolf-like foreign countries, the Chinese comrades were truly as warm as spring toward Korea.

Leaving Korea aside, the six Great Powers were divided into two camps. China, the United States, and the Soviet Union clearly had consistent positions, while Britain, France, and Japan, as supporters of colonialism, maintained that same old imperialist style. As the victimized party, Korea had absolutely no right to speak.

The first day of open meetings broke up in discord just like that.

The interests of the Great Powers were diverse; discussions on the Korean issue might end in discord, but within each country's delegation, there were naturally various business representatives. The business representatives enthusiastically convened discussions in their own fields. The petroleum agreement between China, the United States, and Britain was progressing quite well.

The United States was the largest oil producer and refiner in the 20th century. Britain occupied such a large territory in vain, as their actual utilization was quite limited. Before China developed the Yumen Oilfield, China was once thought to have no petroleum resources. Now that there was the Yumen Oilfield, it counted as an "oil-poor country," and the United States very much wanted to become China's oil supplier.

The British naturally refused to hand over such a large market on a silver platter. Both Britain and the US wanted to know how many tons of crude oil China wanted to import a year. The Chinese side, of course, refused to be extorted for no reason. The British side controlled the dominance of the world oil market, and the price at the British crude oil exchange was the weathervane for world prices. No matter how large the production of Texas oil in the United States, they did not have pricing power. Therefore, once China and the United States could reach an oil supply agreement, it would directly toss Britain aside.

After China finally gave the figure of 20 million tons of crude oil a year, the contention between Britain and the US immediately became fierce. By the third day of negotiations, after the Soviet representative "learned" of the news, they also barged in. All three countries wanted to fight for this big Chinese market.

The Chinese side had just two requirements: the price had to be favorable, and the supply had to be stable. In this regard, Britain's advantage wasn't actually that much greater than the United States'. After all, the distance from the Middle East to China wasn't that much shorter than from the United States to China. Britain's advantage lay in having a lot of high-sulfur oil that others didn't want. So in the end, the British were allocated a quota of 10 million tons, and the United States also obtained a quota of 10 million tons. The price was far lower than the ordinary world price.

As for China's requirement to handle its own transport, this was also agreed to by both countries. Anyway, the number of Chinese tankers was extremely small; the majority of the transportation profits would still be scooped up by British and American shipping companies. Theoretically, after settling such a huge deal, the British business representatives were in a great mood. Since 1923, China's trade in new silk stockings and plastic products had become very large. With this, Britain could easily balance Sino-British trade. They could also hold a large part of China's oil lifeline in British hands.

The various business negotiations alongside the Korean issue were in full swing and proceeding quite smoothly. However, the core issue for which this conference was nominally convened—the Korean issue—had made no progress throughout.

The Japanese representative publicly proposed that all countries should work together to extinguish the Korean rebellion and hand over the "Korean rebels" to Japan for disposal. The American representative continued to make things difficult for the Japanese, raising the issue of Japan wanting to kill all Koreans. The Japanese side naturally refuted this with all their might, attempting to tell the participating countries that these were rumors.

The Korean representatives finally got a chance to speak. They brought out a large amount of evidence proving that Japan was purposefully slaughtering and exterminating Koreans. From the mines of death in northern Korea to the massacres of Koreans in Japan. Of course, Korea did not forget to prove that the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty itself was a fraud. The signatory was not the King of Korea at all, but a treaty signed privately by a powerful minister below him.

Speaking of the heartbreaking parts, the Korean representatives couldn't help but weep. This sorrowful crying actually had some infectious power.

Finally, the British side proposed that this matter could not be resolved according to national self-determination. Japan could guarantee to treat Korea absolutely kindly, but nations could not use interventionist means to split Japan's inherent territory.

"Inherent territory, is it?" The Soviet representative gave a heavy snort. During the Tsarist era, Russia had also interfered in Korea and had even gained significant benefits. So the Soviet representative simply asked in a mocking tone, "Inherent territory from which period, exactly?"