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rights. The Americans—well, they had sold their souls for cheap Chinese goods for Walmart. American corporations were investing billions in China. The Americans would not go to war over Vietnam’s or the Philippines’ rights in the China Sea. Probably. The trick was to raise that probability to a certainty, and the way to do that was to weaken the United States Navy, to do it in such a way that it could never be proven who was responsible. Japan made that mistake when they attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941; the Americans knew precisely who was responsible and vowed revenge, which they took in full measure.
    The admiral finished his cigarette and lit another. He stood at the window with unseeing eyes, thinking back.
    “You have the floor, Admiral,” the Paramount Leader had said. The Central Military Commission met behind locked doors in an underground conference room deep inside the August 1st Building in Beijing. The Paramount Leader was also chairman of the CMC, general secretary of the Communist Party of China and president of the People’s Republic of China. He was a technocrat, one of the new generation, ten years younger than the admiral, and a politician to the core. A champion of the military, he gave them the money they needed to build weapons for the twenty-first century. Consequently the military were among the chairman’s most ardent supporters. But support was a two-way street: The military needed the party, and the party needed the military to enforce its will upon the people. Neither could exist without the other.
    Admiral Wu recalled that he had pushed his chair back and stood. Every eye in the room was on him. He had made a bold proposal ten days before. That day was the time for decision. Yes or no.
    The admiral was the senior officer in the People’s Liberation Army Navy. He knew that the Central Military Commission had already met and discussed this matter. That this item was on today’s agenda meant they hadn’t yet said no.
    “Comrades, we have before us a historic opportunity, one presented to us by the vagaries of American budget politics and the excellence of our cyber-espionage program. There are risks, which I will discuss, and yet great rewards if this thing can actually be accomplished.
    “As you know, the United States heavily influences events and politics in the western Pacific and the countries around its rim, including China. Especially China. America cannot be ignored or disregarded because of the power and might of the United States Navy. That navy keeps the puppets on their throne on Taiwan. That navy prevents China from claiming the oil it needs from the seabeds of the China Sea. Lower-cost domestic oil would stimulate our economy, slow the drain of foreign exchange. Our future rests on our economy. We must control the China Sea. The American navy lowers our influence with all our neighbors, except, of course, the one we wish we did not have, the People’s Republic of Korea.”
    Admiral Wu’s small audience of seven men—four politicians and three other uniformed officers, the senior officers of the military—chuckled, which relaxed the admiral, who was at heart a gambler. He was willing to bet China’s future on this one weird chance that fate had sent their way. He had to convince them.
    “Comrades, it will take two generations for the Chinese navy to match the United States Navy ship for ship, plane for plane. It matters not how powerful our army, how mighty our air force. Upon the sea and under it, the United States Navy rules. We have been given an opportunity to change the odds. To level the playing field for at least twenty years.”
    The admiral pushed a button, and a photo appeared on the screen at the end of the table. In it were five aircraft carriers, nestled to piers. Beyond them were a variety of other ships, including assault helicopter carriers, destroyers and frigates. At the bottom right of the photo in English were the words “U.S. Navy photo.”
    “Two