Beiyang reactionaries

"Chairman Duan, and..."

"Mr. Hull, I won't say anything else. The Marshall Islands have been managed by Japan since the First World War. Therefore, I think that with the Marshall Islands as the boundary, all the islands belong to the United Asia Organization. There should be no problem. Perhaps some of these specific islands are not suitable for joining the Asian Federation, but I think the Marshall Islands should be a member of the Asian Federation. Your country’s intention is not to turn them all into the Hawaiian Islands Is it the same?"

Duan Xun shook his head.

Roosevelt's Cordell Hull's judgment was largely sound.With the Mariana Islands as the boundary, the Yap Islands and Illian Island are China's bottom line.China will never give up these islands because they are too close to Southeast Asian countries.Once European and American countries are allowed to control here, the whole of Southeast Asia will depend on their faces.As for the Marshall Islands, the Gilbert Islands, and the Tuvalu Islands, this is what China is striving for.

In fact, Duan Xun really didn't expect to ask for too much.

But who made Japan so powerful that it destroyed the Panama Canal and directly hit the United States.Although the Panama Canal has been largely repaired, it will soon be reopened to navigation.But the blow to the United States in the past six months has been very heavy.Not only bombed the Panama Canal, Japan's attack on the US military in the Pacific battlefield was very successful.

That's why Duan Xun's appetite became bigger and bigger.

"Chairman Duan, our country has never thought of including those Pacific islands in our scope. But what our country wants to know is, in what capacity are these Pacific islands included in the Asian Joint Organization?"

"Regional representative?"

"Chairman Duan, since the purpose of the Asia United Organization is anti-colonial, isn't it good to let these islands join in the name of the region?"

Cordell Hull doesn't have much time in China.

He must reach an agreement with China as soon as possible to cut off the arms trade between China and Japan.Only in this way can the United States reduce losses on the Pacific battlefield.Therefore, after seeing Duan Xun's statement, Cordell Hull did not get too entangled in the issue of the Pacific Islands.

Because specific island matters cannot be discussed today.Those islands need to be discussed one by one. This cannot be discussed by Duan Xun himself.Today's negotiation between the two is just to determine the general direction again.

Besides, Cordell Hull also understood what Duan Xun meant.China will not give up on the Marshall Islands, but using the Marshall Islands as the dividing line is only China's general idea.The other islands centered on the Marshall Islands are completely negotiable.Including the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu Islands, and Samoyed Islands, all of which can be discussed.

With Duan Xun's statement, specific issues can be discussed with other people.

Duan Xun smiled.

Duan Xun understood what Cordell Hull meant.Cordell Hull, or the United States is worried that China will turn these Pacific islands into Chinese land.So remind China, remind Duan Xun, don't go too far.

"The purpose of the Asia United Organization is to support national liberation and independence. We will help those Pacific islands to become independent and make them an independent country. They will also join the Asia United Organization as an independent country in the future."

740

On August 1942, 8, when Duan Xun and Cordell Hull met for the second time, they had already reached an agreement on the general direction and consensus on many issues.It also set the tone for Cordell Hull's visit.

On September 1942, 9, Duan Xun and Cordell Hull met for the third time.

This time the two sides exchanged some views on the world situation, but did not talk about specific content.The specific content of the negotiation was discussed between Cordell Hull and Wang Jingwei. Duan Xun only formulated a strategy in the general direction and did not care about the specific content of the negotiation.

On September 1942, 9, Cordell Hull left Beijing.

He came to Beijing on August 1942, 8, and left Beijing after staying in Beijing for less than a week.Cordell Hull is the Secretary of State of the United States, and he is very busy with work, so it is impossible to stay in China for too long.Moreover, the three countries of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union are planning to hold a high-level meeting in the Soviet Union to discuss the next step of cooperation.The main reason is that the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union want to discuss with the United States to allow the United States to open up the content of the European front.So Cordell Hull needed to get to this meeting.

But don't look at it for a short time, but Cordell Hull is the Secretary of State of the United States, and his independent power is much greater than that of the US special envoy Stilwell.Therefore, Cordell Hull quickly reached an agreement with China on many issues that Stilwell did not discuss.Because of some concessions, Cordell Hull can decide for himself.But Stilwell had no such power.

This is why high-level talks are required after many issues have entered the core.

During this negotiation, Cordell Hull, on behalf of the U.S. government, supported China as the leader of Asia, and stated that the U.S. has absolutely no territorial claims on Asia, especially East Asia and Southeast Asia, let alone any colonial ideas.For the Philippines, the former colony of the United States, the United States supports the complete independence of the Philippines under the framework of the Asia United Organization.The United States will not interfere in any form with regard to how the Philippines becomes independent.They also agree with China's proposition that the Pacific islands should serve as a barrier to Asia for the sake of Asia's security.

As for the specific Pacific islands, Cordell Hull and Wang Jingwei had a lot of debates, after all, each island has its own strategic position.However, Duan Xun and Cordell Hull have the same views on the general direction, so some minor problems will not affect too much.Cordell Hull disagreed with China's decision to use the Marshall Islands as its boundary and all the surrounding islands to join the Asian Federation.

After some debate, both sides took a step back.

Cordell Hull recognized the close relationship between the Marshall Islands and Asia and therefore supported the Marshall Islands' membership in the Asia Federation.However, the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu Islands, and Samoa Islands have no relationship with Asia in history, nor will they affect the security of Asia, so they do not support their joining the Asia United Organization.China agrees with this point, stating that it will definitely remove the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu Islands, and Samoa Islands from the Asian Joint Organization after the war.However, China also has requirements that the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu Islands, and Samoa Islands should not become the land of any country. The United States must ensure that these three islands establish independent countries.Moreover, the United States must ensure that it will not build military bases in these three countries, which will exacerbate tensions in the Pacific Ocean.

In addition to these three islands, the United States is most concerned about the Solomon Islands.

Because the Solomon Islands directly threaten Australia and New Zealand to the south.Therefore, the United Kingdom has always attached great importance to the Solomon Islands, and the Solomon Islands have always been a British colony.After several days of discussion, Cordell Hull agreed that the Solomon Islands should be temporarily placed under the trusteeship of the United Asia Organization until the Solomon Islands became independent.But Solomon Islands should not be a member of the Asia Federation.

China agreed not to make the Solomon Islands a member of the Asian Federation, but China demanded that Britain not be allowed to return to the Solomon Islands.Before independence, the Solomon Islands must be under the sole trusteeship of the Asian United Organization, and the Solomon Islands will be independent within ten years.

Of course China has also made promises.

That is, starting from January 1943, 1, China completely terminated the arms trade with the Axis countries, mainly the arms trade with Japan.This meeting is a semi-closed discussion.

Cordell Hull came to Beijing for a secret visit.But it didn't say how secret it is, and all countries that should know know it.In the end, Wang Jingwei and Cordell Hull signed the "Sino-US Beijing Agreement", which included all the above contents.However, this content is not public content. It is a secret meeting between China and the United States, a secret meeting between China and the United States for the division of power.

The result is that both China and the United States are relatively satisfied.

The "Sino-US Beijing Agreement" became a very important document in the world order after World War II.Because the post-war Southeast Asian pattern and the Pacific pattern are closely related to this agreement.

"Chairman, after the United States really wins on the Pacific battlefield and takes control of these islands, what will they do if they don't fulfill their promises? Although the US Pacific Fleet has always been at a disadvantage in the Pacific battlefield, with the current production capacity of the United States, it is not easy to recover. It's not difficult. In the future, the United States will inevitably have a large-scale fleet in the Pacific Ocean. If we go back on our word, we can't fight them, right?"

Wang Jingwei was a little worried.

After all, none of the islands currently under discussion between China and the United States are under China's control.Now it is controlled by Japan, and after the victory of the United States, it will be controlled by the United States.Will the United States obediently give up these islands?

"They will keep their promises."

Duan Xun smiled.

Then he said: "When this war is over, what Britain and the United States are most worried about will not be the Pacific Ocean, but Europe. If they don't pay attention, Europe will become the territory of the Soviet Union. This is something they cannot accept. At that time, the United States will Automatically honor commitments without confronting our country in the Pacific."

Duan Xun was not worried about this at all.

Europe has been the political center, economic center, and cultural center of the world for hundreds of years. Whoever controls Europe controls the world.Not to mention anything else, Europe has the most scientific and technological talents and industrial talents in the world.

Europe is the easiest to develop.

Although they were battered to pieces by the war, their educational base, talent base, and industrial technology are still there.As long as money flows in, they will be able to get back on their feet in no time, and they will be able to quickly become an industrial powerhouse again.Compared with those colonies where illiteracy is everywhere, it is not the same thing at all.

Not to mention anything else, if other colonial countries want to catch up with the foundation left by hundreds of years of education in Europe, it will not be possible to complete it in ten or twenty years.Therefore, it is a half-baked level to talk about Germany and Japan standing up again from the ruins.Europe is so important, it is absolutely impossible for Britain and the United States to allow the Soviet Union to redden the whole of Europe.If the Soviet Union really reddened the whole of Europe and integrated European countries, then the Soviet Union would become the new hegemon of the world.Therefore, as long as the Soviet Union is strong after the war, the biggest enemy of the United States will inevitably become the Soviet Union.

In the Pacific, the United States has to make some concessions.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for the United States to have enough strength to stop the expansion of the Soviet Union in Europe if it confronted China in the Pacific Ocean.

"Vice Chairman Wang (Wang Jingwei), you and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should think carefully about why we cut off military trade with Japan. We must find a reasonable reason, but it will not cause China and Japan to completely fall out. Excuse."

Cutting off the arms trade between China and Japan cannot be cut off just because it is cut off, there must be an excuse.

"Yes."

Wang Jingwei nodded.

But Wang Jingwei quickly smiled and said, "Chairman, this excuse is actually not very difficult to find. Let me just say the most direct one, the Taiwan issue, the South Sakhalin Island issue, and the South Kuril Islands issue, any one of them can be an excuse." .Of course, these places are all territorial disputes. If these are used as an excuse, it is likely to exacerbate the tension between our two countries. Let’s talk about other things, such as the North Korean issue. In the agreement reached by our two countries last year, Japan promised to withdraw a division of troops from the Korean peninsula this year. But this year Japan used various names to keep troops on the Korean peninsula. Just like the newly established road guard police force, there is a full mixed brigade The establishment, the number reached 8000. There are only so many railways on the Korean Peninsula, and a brigade is needed as a road guard. And they expanded the military police force, saying to the outside that it was to rectify the military discipline of the newly established army of the Korean Empire, but their military police force The scale is a mixed brigade. Japan also established a garrison brigade in the Korean Empire, with a size of about 5000 people. Japan uses this method to retain their troops in the Korean Empire. The Japanese army agreed to withdraw this year The army on the Korean peninsula, even if their number is revoked, there will be no problem, because there is only one number left in this division, and the army is completely empty. If we turn a blind eye to this kind of thing, then nothing will happen. No, but if we bring it up, it's an excuse."

"Ah."

Duan Xun nodded.

Sometimes that is the case.

If the two countries really want to turn their faces, there are many, many excuses to come up with.