"The fishing boat was impounded, and you want to repeat the Galaxy incident?"
"Official statement: Release quickly or bear the consequences."
"Nandao statement: The inquiry was controlled in accordance with normal procedures, there was no abuse, and the crew members are in good condition."
"The crew has still not shown up and their safety is in doubt."
"The ships are intact and there has been no conflict. The South Island calls on all parties to remain calm."
In the office, Li Xiang frowned and looked at the constantly refreshing news reports, with an expression on his face as uncomfortable as eating shit.
He never expected that the other party would actually do this!
Just as he had judged from the beginning, conflicts in public opinion will ultimately boil down to real-life games.
Just a few weeks after news was released here about the launch of the second Type 055 aircraft carrier and the start of construction of a purely domestic aircraft carrier, the other side immediately retaliated and started a farce of "arresting spies."
It is obvious that their purpose is not to keep the exercise secret at all, and certainly not to challenge China's authority on the sea.
Because the sea area where the incident occurred is not at all the core area of dispute between the two parties.
Their purpose is obvious, which is to further warm up public opinion in China and force public opinion to change toward populism, thereby coercing the officialdom and influencing official decision-making from the bottom up.
How effective is this?
It is true that Chinese officials rarely have their decisions influenced by public opinion, but when a certain kind of public opinion reaches its peak, the officials have to make compromises out of the need to maintain stability.
Originally, this was just an insignificant chip, but when it was put on the table with other chips, its seemingly inconspicuous face value became extremely critical.
In particular, the opponent attacked intensively in a very short period of time, and even turned into a combination of punches.
Economically, the electromechanical plant incident has heated up, militarily, the so-called "dirty exercise materials" have been thrown out, and now, diplomatically, a fishing boat conflict has been deliberately created.
I have to say that the other party's professionalism in controlling public opinion is indeed frighteningly high. Not to mention it is not as good as the United States, but it is still a head above water compared to China.
It is indeed an organization that has been serving as the watchdog of the United States all year round, relying on barking to get food.
Thinking of this, Li Xiang felt more and more that the situation in the South Island needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. Otherwise, if they were allowed to continue to develop, Yan Ge alone would gradually turn into a big problem.
The BBC is completely incompetent in front of them. Judging from the trend in the past two years, when the BBC can only write some obviously biased and embarrassing articles, the cyber army in the South Island has evolved to grasp hot social issues. .
What about demolition, what about urban management, what about criminal police.
What about the future? What will be the trend in the future?
Feminism? Military marriage? Animal health?
Environmental friendly? Medical trouble? Internet security?
There are so many cards they can play.
To avoid this risk, it is impossible to rely solely on symmetrical competition and passive defense.
The only way to get rid of them once and for all is to take them down.
——
Even if it is not captured in a physical sense, their trust must be destroyed.
The road is long and long.
Li Xiang shook his head and continued reading the news he had just grabbed.
After collecting all the required public opinion data, he closed the computer, picked up a pen, and wrote down a few key questions on paper.
Judging from the current public opinion, if we want to solve it, we must start from several aspects.
First, there is no doubt that rapid rescue of the captured crew members must be achieved through strong means and pressure.
Otherwise, the weaker the official performance is, the stronger the people's rebellious psychology will be, and the more serious the backlash will be.
Secondly, the discussion about the so-called "middle line" brought about by this incident also needs to be resolved quickly.
This could serve as an opportunity for officials to formally propose not to recognize the center line and conduct routine crossing patrols.
In this way, a small step of progress can also bring comfort to the people, allowing them to withdraw from the extreme emotions of "one step to achieve success".
The third point is that when the opponent's offensive is obviously accelerating, we must also come up with a reverse plan as soon as possible.
Superiors have been discussing this historic and strategic issue intensively, but until now, they have not been able to reach a consensus.
What is the appropriate length of time for the so-called "deadline"?
Is it one year, two years, or three years?
Should we take the initiative to trigger it, or should we wait until the other party loses patience and take action?
These are all problems.
Li Xiang had not participated in this discussion before, because he felt that he was just a mediator after all and could not interfere in such top-level decisions.
But now, even if he doesn't want to take care of it, he must take care of it.
Because if we don’t care anymore, public opinion will collapse.
After writing all the questions, Li Xiang checked them again, then walked out of the office with the note. First, he reported to his immediate superiors. After the review was approved, he went directly to Chen Guo.
——
The scope of this incident is too wide, and it can no longer be handled by a single intelligence department. It is necessary to rely on the power of Spark to seek help from a higher level.
After reading the note in his hand, Chen Guo couldn't help but sigh.
"The enemy is very stubborn. Your analysis is very accurate and covers basically all the problems we are currently facing."
"However, the suggestions are still too general. With this material, I can't communicate with my superiors."
"What, it's not good to keep it on paper?"
"Yes."
Li Xiang nodded slightly.
That's the good thing about communicating with smart people. Many things don't need to be explained thoroughly, or even said, for the other party to understand.
"Then let's talk about it face to face. Let's not mention the second and third items. This one is too top-level. What about the first item? What do you think?"
"As for the first issue, I still consider the ideas of 'equal treatment' and 'reciprocal retaliation'."
"It doesn't make sense to be reasonable. If we don't use our chips, they will definitely keep detaining us until we can't bear it anymore."
"After all, as long as these people are in their hands, their advantage over public opinion will exist."
"If you want to force the other party to submit, to put it bluntly, you can only use people as replacements."
"But the person used for exchange cannot be the criminals we have arrested, nor can it be other important and key figures--I mean, it is best to arrest them now."
"Understood."
Chen Guo nodded slightly, then continued to ask:
"Where to catch it? Also from the sea?"
"I can't comment on the specific details - but I want to say, it can't be about catching spies."
"There is no one else here, and I won't hide with you anymore. They are arresting innocent people, so we have to arrest innocent people too."
"This sounds rather vicious, but it is indeed an effective way to solve the problem."
"Okay, I will consider it. Have you communicated with your immediate superior?"
"We have communicated, we have obtained authorization, and we are in agreement."
"That's no problem. I'll report it. However, the final plan may not completely refer to your suggestions, but there shouldn't be much change in terms of ideas."
On the other side, Kaohsiung.
Lin Xianhai and his crew have been brought to Kaohsiung for three days.
During the past three days, he had been locked up in this simple, narrow, and damp "apartment". Not to mention taking a shower, even going to the toilet had to be carried out with handcuffs and a blindfold.
This situation made Lin Xianhai, who had calmed down, notice something was wrong - to be honest, he was not a good, law-abiding citizen from the beginning. Before he inherited his father's business and ran a boat, when he was young and ignorant, he was jailed for fighting. Went through several rounds.
What he is most familiar with is the "sharpening" routine used by case investigators.
Let you squat in the worst environment for a few days first. When you are done with the torture, you are no longer hungry, you are no longer tired, and you will be much more cooperative when you are interrogated again.
And now, these people in the South Island seem to be doing the same thing.
what is this?
What exactly do they plan to get from themselves?
Lin Xianhai didn't believe they were catching any "spies" at all. Just look up the navigation records to find out about this kind of thing.
The only possibility is that people like myself have become their bargaining chip.
And it is a bargaining chip that must be cooperated by one's own side in order to be effective.
Thinking of the news about the South Island he had seen before going to sea, Lin Xianhai finally came to his senses.
Instead of being caught out, he gave the other person a pillow.
I'm afraid they have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. But they and their ship were sent to their doorstep so stupidly.
Thinking of this, Lin Xianhai immediately became vigilant.
However, before he could prepare, the door to the "apartment" or cell suddenly opened.
Immediately afterwards, a man in a suit walked into the room and said to Lin Xianhai pleasantly:
"Boss, I am the legal aid lawyer assigned to you by the military. You should also know the specific charges."
"You and your crew have been charged with illegally entering a military restricted area, stealing military intelligence, violent resistance to law, and intentional injury."
"It can be said that each of these crimes is very serious."
"If it turns out to be true, unfortunately, I'm afraid you won't be able to return to China in the short term."
As he spoke, the man in the suit observed Lin Xianhai's reaction, trying to find the panic look on his face.
But unfortunately, after hearing these words, Lin Xianhai not only did not panic, but actually wanted to laugh in his heart.
Going back twenty years, when he first entered the police station, the police officer there also threatened him that he was suspected of intentional homicide.
"so what?"
Lin Xianhai's eyes were somewhat provocative.
After knowing that the other party had plans, his original nervousness relaxed - the worst he could do was break the jar, so what was there to worry about?
Seeing his reaction, the man in the suit was slightly stunned, but he quickly adjusted and resumed his "professional" demeanor.
"So, the military hopes you can cooperate."
"They will ask you some questions, and as long as you can answer them truthfully, they will treat you lightly or even drop the charges against you, as appropriate."
"How about it, do you want to think about it?"
"I don't have any information to tell you - besides, if you want to know information about China, wouldn't it be a bit ridiculous to find it from a fisherman like me?"
Lin Xianhai's tone was unkind. At this moment, he had broken away from the fear of being pointed at a gun and restored his thorny nature.
"Of course it's not an intelligence issue. You think the military is...well, it's too bad."
The man in the suit smiled and continued:
"We will only ask you some general questions, and I can assure you that I have read them all and there is absolutely no classified information."
"At most, it will only involve your work - where to go fishing, what is the route, whether you deliberately avoid warships, etc."
"These questions are just to confirm the true intentions of you and your fishing boat."
"That's fair, isn't it?"
Lin Xianhai looked at the man in the suit in surprise and asked in disbelief:
"Is it that simple?"
For him, what the man in the suit said was indeed too incredible.
Are they so disciplined?
If you really follow the rules, will you arrest yourself?
What are you talking about?
However, the man in the suit nodded solemnly and replied:
"It's that simple."
This time, it was Lin Xianhai's turn to hesitate.
Logically speaking, if you just answer these questions, you really have nothing to lose.
In the worst case scenario, if the other party really asks a sensitive question, you may not be able to answer it.
Thinking of this, he finally nodded and said:
"Then do as you say."
"very good!"
The man in the suit nodded with satisfaction and continued:
"In order to ensure your right to know, we need to communicate the content of the questions in advance. This is part of legal aid."
"I will teach you how to answer so that your rights are not violated."
With that said, he took out the documents he had prepared long ago from his bag, spread them out and handed them to Lin Xianhai's hand.
"Here's the list of questions, let's take a look at it now?"
Lin Xianhai nodded slightly and looked at the long list of questions on the document.
The man in the suit sat directly next to him and began to explain one by one:
"Look, the first question is your daily operating area."
"On this point, you just need to answer truthfully. According to our understanding, you mainly conduct fishing operations along the coast of Xiamen. Is this correct?"
"That's right."
Lin Xianhai replied.
"That's no problem, just explain it directly."
"The second question is, you have never encountered such a situation in your daily operations. In other words, you have absolutely no illegal record before, right?"
"There is no illegal record."
Lin Xianhai suddenly felt something was wrong. This feeling was exactly the same as when he was lured to confess before.
But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't find any loopholes in it.
So, he had no choice but to follow the guidance of the man in the suit and continue reading.
"The third question is, when you are operating, you will consciously avoid our control areas, such as staying away from the center line, staying away from our fishing grounds and sea areas, right?"
".That's right."
"So you actually know that there are some places that you shouldn't enter. This time you entered, just by mistake, right?"
Hearing this, Lin Xianhai suddenly raised his head.
At this moment, he figured it out.
He knew what the other party wanted.
They want to use their own words to speak out and achieve the rationality of so-called "actual control."
Lin Xianhai did not have much education, but he knew that if he admitted that he would never go to a certain piece of land in the countryside and that he would consciously avoid a certain piece of land when doing activities, it basically meant that he knew that piece of land. It doesn't belong to you.
But do I have to cooperate with them?
Seeing Lin Xianhai's actions, the man in the suit seemed to realize something.
But he remained calm and still made a "professional" statement to Lin Xianhai.
The conversation between the two went smoothly, and after only half an hour, they completed the so-called "legal aid."
After getting Lin Xianhai's confirmation and taking a short rest, soon, someone entered Lin Xianhai's room and began to "make up" him.
According to the man in the suit, this is a necessary step in "public inquiry" because it will be on TV.
Lin Xianhai did not resist, but after finishing his makeup, he took a quick look at himself through the other party's reflective foundation box.
And just at this glance, he had already made a decision in his heart.
A few minutes later, the public inquiry began.
The female police officer sat opposite Lin Xianhai and asked her first question:
"Where is your daily fishing area?"
Lin Xianhai smiled slightly, deliberately rubbed his face with his hands, and replied:
"Shallow sea fishing grounds of the South Island."
"This is our most familiar and favorite fishing ground."
“We have never avoided people and we have never been chased away.”
"By the way, I have good food and housing here, so the people of the motherland don't have to worry, and there's no need to rush to save me."
(End of chapter)
