On November 14, the 9th year of the Republic of China, the "Nanjing Negotiations" began.
The Chinese and Japanese negotiators are tit for tat, and neither one is willing to give in, but this is only on the surface. The Japanese are far more anxious than the Chinese.
The general strike in Qingdao is still going on. Every day that passes will increase the losses of the Japanese people. Now the Japanese government is under extremely huge pressure.
They can't wait to solve it as soon as possible in the shortest possible time!
But the Chinese are not in a hurry. They have plenty of time and can afford to waste it.
On the very day when the "Nanjing Negotiations" just started, Japan received very bad news: various vicious "cases" occurred frequently in Taiwan.
In response, the Japanese side demanded that the negotiating plenipotentiary, Japanese Minister to China Emirikichi Obata, must resolve the Qingdao issue as soon as possible.
Under such pressure, one can imagine the urgency of Obata Eikichi.
For the negotiations that will start again on the 15th, Obata Eikichi is already ready. Yesterday, everyone just briefly discussed the conditions and requirements of both parties, but today, as soon as the talks started, he immediately went straight to the topic.
However, within the agreed time for negotiations, China’s chief negotiator, State Prime Minister Wang Qinglu, and second-place negotiator, Chinese Foreign Minister Gu Weijun, failed to arrive.
As Obata Eikichi waited anxiously, time passed by minute by second...
About 20 minutes later than the previously agreed time, Wang Qinglu and Gu Weijun arrived late.
Just when Obata Eikichi was about to protest, Wang Qinglu already said with an apologetic expression: "Mr. Minister, I'm sorry, I just received a call from the president. It was delayed. It was delayed."
The other party had already apologized first, and Obata Eikichi snorted: "Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Chief..."
As soon as the words were spoken, Gu Weijun already said: "Come on, bring me some tea."
Xiaobata Emirati didn't know what the other party wanted to do. Gu Weijun held a small bag of tea in his hand and said with a smile: "Mr. Minister, this is the Dahongpao that my friend brought me. It is very expensive. I heard that Mr. Minister likes tea ceremony.
No matter what, we have to taste it today to express our apology."
"No need..." How could Kohata Eikichi be thinking about drinking tea at this time?
"Must, must." Gu Weijun asked someone to bring the tea set without hesitation, and while making tea, he said: "Mr. Minister, negotiations are negotiations, tea tasting is tea tasting, don't let it be affected by the affairs between the government and the government.
To our personal feelings..."
There is nothing Obata Eikichi can do.
The most important thing in the tea ceremony is the word "slow", and slow work produces careful work.
After drinking a cup of tea for nearly an hour, Obata Eikichi finally let out a long breath: "Okay, I've tasted the tea, can we start negotiating?"
"That's enough." Wang Qinglu smiled slightly: "Now we are proposing a new amendment to the first item of the conditions proposed yesterday..."
Wang Qinglu slowly stated the new correction plan and the reasons why this amendment was necessary. This first point alone delayed the time for another half an hour.
That's right, China's negotiating policy has only one word:
drag!
The Chinese can afford it, but the Japanese cannot!
The Chinese side would often explain a certain point "carefully and patiently" for more than an hour. Often just after Wang Qinglu finished speaking, Gu Weijun would smoothly add countless additional comments...
In half a day, Wang Qinglu and Gu Weijun arrived 20 minutes late, drank tea for an hour, and "worked slowly and carefully". One morning, the negotiation had just reached the first, third, and first items of the Chinese negotiation conditions.
After checking the time, it was 11:30. Wang Qinglu stood up and said, "It's time to have lunch. Mr. Minister, negotiations are negotiations, and eating is eating. China is a country of hospitality and etiquette. We have prepared meals. Mr. Minister, please
Let’s take a seat together.”
"No, I can just eat it myself!"
At this time, how can Obata Eikichi still have the energy to eat?
Who would have thought that Wang Qinglu and Gu Weijun would not agree at all, so they tried hard to persuade Xiaoban Qiuji to agree to have dinner together.
At the banquet, Wang Qinglu and Gu Weijun talked about the past and the present, from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, from Confucius and Laozi to Sino-Japanese relations. The meal lasted more than two hours.
Xiaoban Qiuji was anxious, but Wang Qinglu and Gu Weijun were calm.
Obata Eikichi reminded them several times to pay attention to the time, but Wang Qinglu and Gu Weijun always said "it's not busy, there is plenty of time" to deal with the perfunctory Japanese minister.
After finally finishing the meal, Wang Qinglu said that she had poor health and had to rest for half an hour after eating.
After saying that, regardless of whether Kobata Eikichi agreed or not, he just closed his eyes on the recliner that had been prepared...
Xiaoban Qinglu was anxious and angry, and Gu Weijun kept trying to persuade him. After waiting for another half an hour, Wang Qinglu finally "rested" and the negotiation started again...
The process was exactly the same as in the morning... It means that on the 15th, nothing substantive was negotiated...
Eikichi Obata knows what the Chinese want to do, and he also knows that their goal is to "drag"!
But there was nothing he could do!
You can't blame the Chinese for using such tactics.
It was as expected by Eikichi Obata: the Chinese side was still like this on the 16th and 17th.
For three whole days, the negotiations made no progress at all!
When the negotiations ended on the 17th, Obata Eikichi received bad news. The "Ichimamaru" freighter loaded with important supplies that Japan urgently needed was exploded and silenced, and Japan suffered heavy losses.
Moreover, there is a high possibility of another large-scale riot in Taiwan. What is even more frightening is that Chinese warships and soldiers are gathering in the Fujian area and may intervene in Taiwan at any time.
The United States, Britain and France also jointly sent a call to Japan. They do not want to see instability in the entire Far East due to the confrontation between China and Japan. As the Chinese said, they now have only one common enemy:
The Bolshevik Soviet government!
The Qingdao issue remains unresolved, which is detrimental to China's interference in the Russian revolution. Russia's cold winter is coming, and at this time, all energy must be devoted to Russia.
In fact, the great powers also have another purpose: the Japanese occupy all the interests of Qingdao, which makes it impossible for the European and American powers to intervene, which has caused them great dissatisfaction.
Qingdao must be opened up, not controlled by Japan!
The general strike in Qingdao is still going on, and the Japanese losses are increasing. European and American powers are exerting pressure and constantly forcing the Japanese government. At this time, Taiwan begins to be in chaos again.
Japan no longer has the energy to take care of so many things. Their top priority is only one:
Taiwan!
"The 'Nanjing Negotiations' must be concluded as soon as possible, and appropriate concessions can be made! However, we must not make any show of weakness in front of the Chinese people..."
This is the new order Obata Eikichi received!
This makes him very embarrassed. He has to give in but cannot show weakness? And the Chinese are simply stalling there. They can even stall for several months...
In fact, Obata Eikichi didn't know that Wang Qinglu and Gu Weijun were also under a lot of pressure.
Despite the support of the government, the current situation in Qingdao is already very bad. The lives of Chinese people in Qingdao are in trouble due to strikes, market strikes, and school strikes.
Although those Chinese in Qingdao have no complaints.
If the Qingdao issue is not resolved for a day, the government and the president will not feel at ease; if the Qingdao issue is not resolved for a day, the government and the president will not be able to give a satisfactory explanation to the people!
But at this time, we need to stay calm.
They had to wait, appear indifferent to the negotiations in front of the Japanese, and compete with the Japanese for patience.
No matter how much pressure is on you.
If anything goes wrong and the other party discovers that you are actually just as anxious as they are, the initiative in the negotiation will soon change hands.
So for Qingdao and the country, they must do this...
...
November 18, 9th year of the Republic of China, the fourth day of the "Nanjing Negotiations".
"Mr. Minister..."
As soon as he heard the words "Mr. Minister", Obata Eikichi felt a headache. He quickly said: "Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Chief Minister, I don't think we should be the same as we were a few days ago, and don't delay any more time. This doesn't matter."
In any case, I think we can start a formal negotiation directly today."
Wang Qinglu and Gu Weijun laughed.
"Okay, we also hope to have a formal negotiation..." Wang Qinglu said with a smile: "But before the negotiation, we would like to inform Mr. Minister of good news. In Kdonsnoyarsk, I bravely
The Chinese army has launched a general offensive and defeated a large number of Soviet Russian troops. The decisive battle of Kdonsnoyarsk will soon end with our victory."
Obata Eikichi reluctantly showed some smile.
Well, the Chinese are proud, and so can the Americans, British, and French. They got what they wanted, and Japan became even more isolated...
Previously, Japan even hoped that the Russians in Kdonsnoyarsk could resist the Chinese attack and reduce the status of the Chinese government in the hearts of European and American powers, reversing Japan's passive situation.
But now it seems obviously impossible...
The victory in Kdusnoyarsk will make the Chinese more confident and have more negotiating capital, and will also make European and American powers more inclined to favor China in diplomacy.
Obata Eikichi has already felt that something is not good. This negotiation is likely to end with a complete victory for China.
There is absolutely no way for me to reverse this situation.
What you can do now is to do everything you can to get as many benefits as possible for Japan!