Empire of the Ring

Youngho called the China’s special envoy and asked for a change in the Silk Road project, saying that Kazakhstan would pay for the road and railroad construction of the Central Asian section. The envoy was flustered to hear the unexpected proposal.

The reason why China made the road’s route through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan regions was to exercise China’s influence over Central Asia, but if the section was left to Kazakhstan, China’s plan would be scrapped.

“Your Highness, if you want to be in charge of Kazakhstan’s section, that could be arranged, but the rest of the section is diplomatically complicated.”

“I’m sure the Chinese government already knows that Kazakhstan is the leading country in Central Asia. But if we can’t even be in charge of the railroad work, how will the southern Central Asian countries think of us?”

“…”

“There are about 120 ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan. If we choose to live alone, they’ll think that we’ve abandoned Central Asia because all 120 ethnic groups are from all parts of Central Asia.”

“Do you know how much money the Chinese government has poured into Central Asian countries? It’ll be impossible to give up on that now.”

“I don’t mean that China should give up. I’m just asking that you’d tell our stance to the Chinese government.”

“I can’t give you any answer at the moment. I’ll let you know after I go back to my home country and consult with government officials.”

“Kazakhstan’s delegation will visit China next month regardless of the Chinese government’s schedule. Please come to a conclusion by then. If we can’t come to a conclusion, we won’t participate in the project. We’ll return the cost of the construction of the Kazakhstan section to the Chinese government.”

“Your Highness, it’s too premature to make such a decision. Shouldn’t you give our government time to review it? Please consider the complex international dynamics.”

Youngho acted as stubborn as he could, in order to give the impression that the Duke of Kazakhstan was a greedy man who was ignorant of international relations. He had to act aggressively this way so that China would have to give in even some parts of the construction. That was the only way that Kazakhstan would be able to participate in the project in the rest of the Central Asian regions.

China had lent a lot of pork-barrel loans to Central Asia while working on rail and road construction. Youngho wondered how China would react to Kazakhstan’s sudden request to change the plan.

The Prime Minister and other ministers were excited about Youngho’s action. Although Youngho’s request was ridiculous and ignorant, China might be interested in his request since China could be relieved from the astronomical amount of invested funds if Kazakhstan helped.

“It was a divine move for you to hold a cabinet meeting while the special envoy was still here.”

“If I can get Ericsson’s praise, I guess I can go on the international political stage now.”

“So far, your success in business was only possible due to your great political sense. Your move to hold the military fair was also great as well as your request to China.”

“I wonder if my move would have worked without Kazakhstan’s resources.”

“There are many other countries that have a lot of resources, but not as many countries are geographically in an advantageous place as Kazakhstan. You’re taking full advantage of that.”

“Well, the compliment makes me feel better. Keep going.”

“Hahaha… You’ve worked out the Aegis destroyer issue smoothly as well. It was kind of an adventure for Koç Holding.”

“Nothing has been decided yet. I’m going to ask to build a ship to a country who actively participates in the arms industry exposition this time.”

“Take advantage of your home country. It’s a country that can make enough weapons suitable for Kazakhstan’s military. It should be a win-win business for both. You don’t have to be too partial to Korea, but don’t bother to exclude them. Korea will be happy as long as you have ties with it.”

***

It was a known fact that Korea, a resource-poor country, was looking for resources.

Doctor Park Young-sun used to be on a Korean resource exploration team before he settled down in the autonomous state after meeting Youngho. He knew Korea’s situation well.

Korea had some resources, but most of them were only produced in small quantities or buried deeply, so their prices were too high. The reason why Korea was so excited about the new government in Kazakhstan was because of the resources that Kazakhstan had. Since Youngho, who was Korean, became the Duke of Kazakhstan’s royal family, Korean people were expecting some benefits from it.

A number of Korean companies and bureaucrats visited Kazakhstan under the pretext of supporting the arms exposition, of which H Corporation was the most active.

The company’s president Kim Joo-hyuk had been pestering Youngho whenever he could, but this time he brought a car assembly plant project with him proudly.

“Your Highness, I’m glad to be able to return your favor this time.”

“Central Asia is huge, but the total population is less than 100 million. I’m afraid you’ll lose money by building a car assembly plant here for nothing.”

“We’re thinking of producing multi-purpose vehicles. Vehicles like trucks and sport utility would be more efficient here. Of course, we plan to do assemble trucks and buses here.”

“Would it be possible to have a technology transfer also?”

“It’s not high technology. Of course, we will offer that.”

“We don’t have a lot of related companies here, so you’d have to bring in parts from Korea. How are you going to afford the transportation cost?”

“There are many routes to bring them to Kazakhstan. You won’t have to worry about that part.”

“You’re not going to get them through China, are you?

Since Youngho was in the middle of taming China, he wanted to stop H Corporation from bringing parts through China.

“We can bring them in through the Vladivostok, so it shouldn’t be too much of a burden.

“I was scared that you’d say you’ll use the Chinese route.”

“No, we’re not going to cross the Chinese continent in any case.”

Kim Joo-hyuk said it with a firm face. He could not make such a face unless there was a twisted business with China.

“China is building One Belt One Road through Central Asia right now. Any company would want to save money on logistics. But, you wouldn’t use that route?”

“We’ll rather trust Russia than to trust China. Our company suffered huge losses because of China’s greed last time.”

“Didn’t the Korean government actively intervene?”

“The South Korean government has no power to deal with China. We’re just waiting for it to be resolved.”

“It doesn’t make sense that the government stays put while its own companies are at a disadvantage.”

“It’s not that the government didn’t try, but what can we do when the government’s arrangement is not enough?”

“I guess your losses were quite huge.”

“We experienced the sorrow of a powerless country this time. We were swayed by China, but we couldn’t protest about our loss. I was so envious of Kazakhstan that raised its voice to China.”

“What a shame.”

“All Korean companies, including our company, are thinking of leaving China, but that is no easy task.”

“Then tell everyone to come to Kazakhstan. If Korean companies come in, it’ll be a great pleasure for us.”

“I’d love to, but we can’t miss the huge Chinese market.”

“Why don’t you make your products in Kazakhstan and export it to China?”

“The Chinese government will make us pay the high tariff.”

“We can do something about that. If the Chinese government will take a tariff against Kazakhstan’s products, China won’t be able to touch a single resource of Kazakhstan in the future.”

There was a definite benefit for being a resourceful country.

Stopping a resource trade could be a threat to many countries that needed the resource.

There was no need to be afraid of damage from the non-compliance of the contract. It was not Kazakhstan that would be regretful, but other countries or companies who would be missing out.

“Your Highness, there are other reasons why we want to build a car assembly plant here.”

“Feel free to go on. I know that your company has been working hard in Kazakhstan, and I’ll help you if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“I’m planning to make an electric vehicle battery cell here.”

“Why do you have to make it here?”

“It’s to tap into the European market. Currently, Europe is not capable of producing battery cells. Recently, however, the European Commission announced that several European countries would form a consortium to produce batteries. It’s intended to target Korea or Japan, which are battery powerhouses.”

“Is Korean battery so great?”

“As of now, the global electric vehicle battery market is dominated by businesses from Japan, China, and Korea. Among them, battery technology from L and S companies in Korea are the most competitive. They are providing batteries to finished vehicles produced in Europe and the United States.”

“I see. Your company wants to get ahead in the European market, considering that other Korean companies are going to struggle in the future.”

“We’ve been preparing for this in advance. The electric car market is going to be a big trend. But since we are going to target Europe, it won’t be efficient to produce them in Korea, so we’d like to start from Kazakhstan.”

“If you want to target the European market, you’d have to put Kazakhstan’s label.”

“Yes, you’re right. You could say that Kazakhstan is both Europe and Asia.”

Europe and Asia were geographically distinguished based on the Ural River, and in that case, the Arirang Autonomous State could be called Europe since it was located west to the river.

“With Kazakhstan’s wealth of resources, we’re confident that we can create innovative batteries that go beyond traditional ones.”

“This is good. You could start right away. I’ll invest in it, too.”

“From the royal family?”

“Wouldn’t it be easy to purchase raw materials that way since there are various factories in the royal territory? The necessary raw materials will be supplied to the cost of production. If your company’s skills and our resources are combined together, we’d be able to produce the best products.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“I’m rather thankful. Also, we’ve already set up a new road in Europe. You won’t have to worry about transporting the products.”

“What does that supposed to mean?”

“We’ve already started building the railroad.”

“You mean China’s One Belt One Road business?”

“No. Kazakhstan has already been preparing its own Silk Road. We started the double railroad track work connecting Baku in Azerbaijan and Batumi in Georgia, as well as the railway from Baku to the Persian Gulf.”

“You’ve opened a new way to the Black Sea from the Caspian Sea.”

“Yes. We’ll be able to secure the shortest route to the Black Sea. It’s shorter than the Russian Canal, and we can go to the Indian Ocean without going through the Suez Canal.”

“Russia must have a stomachache.”

“Russia started it first but backed up on its own due to financial problems. It’ll realize that the cost of hitting Ukraine is huge.”

“Congratulations in advance, Your Highness.”

“It’s a little too early, but it feels great to be celebrated.”