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2015 North-Pacific Harmony Conference


KaiserMelech Mikhail

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Mikhail smiled. It was clearly a false smile, the kind flight attendants have when dealing with difficult travelers. "Thank you for humoring me. I appreciate your candor, both of you." He turned to face the Japanese woman, "Honesty is the basis of any friendship and should never be overlooked. Russia has no ill-will toward Japan but you hold silly grudges for minor offenses and honestly it's quite petty."

 

He paused briefly then turned to the Tianxian, "You fancy yourselves as world police and your government oozes arrogance, but the world has more failed states than ever before because of Tianxia's heavy handed approach to diplomacy. Nevertheless Tianxia has been our most reliable ally--which is more than we can say for the Athenians, even when they were at their best."

 

He let his hands rest on the armrest, nodded at the delegates, and looked at Abramovich. "Now you may continue."

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The Tianxia representative sat their nodding as the two countries words were translated into 'Yanshun. 

 

The Japanese:  'Yo bro you got some awesome shit.  I'm so jealous.  I want to buy all the awesome kick ass stuff you have cause its freakin bawler.  We really wish we could be as awesome as you.'

 

Then the Czar: 'Yo homedawg, you really kick ass and have demolished all the h8ers.  I wish we could do that as awesome as you.  Something something something Danger Zone.'

 

The Tianxian Representative continued to nod his head as they spoke.

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As it seemed the honesties had been exchanged and more or less been received by all participants, Akasaka-Panina returned to the point originally being discussed. "So, what would Russia like to propose in terms of free trade?" The Japanese envoy sighed internally, hoping to finish the matter as soon as possible, given that the report to the central government already shaped up to be a royal pain.

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"Spacibo, vashe velichestvo," Roman said to the tsar.  "It is quite simple, Miss Akasaka," Roman said in a much more jovial fashion, beckoning for a refill on his cup of tea, "the purpose of a free trade agreement is to reduce tariffs to simply increase the amount goods moving between our respective nations.  Reductions and abolitions of tariffs would be the first step, naturally.  There are very few places in the economy where our nations compete, and as such, trade reductions across the board would be both simpler and more beneficial for all involved.  In addition to this, we would suggest undertaking actions to boost trade capacity between our nations.  In regards to Russia and our southern neighbors, this would be an increase in connections between Russia and Mongolia and China.  Bridges over rivers are sorely lacking between the Far East and the northeast Chinese provinces.  In addition to this, additionally dry ports would be necessary to both handle customs and to move goods between trains due to the breaks in rail gauge between Russian Wide Gauge and Standard gauge.  Between Russia and China and the Japanese Islands, this would likely involve expansions of shipping lanes, more efficient customs processes, and an expansion of key Pacific ports.  While the project will be a major boon to trade, and will provide tens of thousands of good jobs in all nations, the costs of many of these projects are expected to be quite high.  In lieu of this, we propose looser regulations regarding the international sale of infrastructure bonds and investments on foreign stock markets."

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The Japanese envoy thought a bit on the proposal, before responding. "While Russo-Chinese matters I leave to my Chinese colleagues, I think for the trade with Japan, it could be of greater value if either the Transsiberian railway be extented to Tianxian seaports in the Sea of Japan, or Russia works on connections over Sakhalin, while Japan increases its infrastructure between our part of the island and the rest of our country. The Sea of Ochotsk does have hardly any ports of Russia that are open year-round, so expanding ports that will be frozen for half the year is a bit of a waste. On the other hand, establishing connections between Russian holdings North of the Amur and Russian Sakhalin might be a bit costly, if one was to dig beneath the Sea, but it'd be useful for the entire year and would strengthen the Russian regional economy overall. Sealanese from our part to the rest of Japan are considerably more accessible, though in the long run, our government did entertain the idea of constructing a tunnel to connect Karafuto Prefecture with Hokkaido, which would allow an almost continuous connection from Moscow to Tokyo, except for the transition from Russian Wide Gauge to our Narrow Gauge. If considerable amounts of material are to be transported, this may be quite worthwhile. As to what would be traded, we are open to loosen most restrictions for imported goods, though we do insist on imported goods, especially food, to comply with our standards. Given I doubt there'll be much of an issue though for most ressources, I'm quite confident that such won't pose an issue."

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"Both Tianjin and Port Arthur are close enough to Russia to be adequate ports for import and export," Roman said, using the archaic Russian name for the Chinese city of Dalian, "Although they are affected by the difference in gauges between Russia and China, a simple dual-gauge railway can be added to existing rail links to allow Russian trains to access the ports.  Outlying stretches of the Trans-Siberian Railroad and the Baikal-Amur Mainline connect Russia to the free cities of Vanino and Vladivostok, who I am sure would enjoy the extra business.  Add to that the Summer usage of Nikolaevsk-na-Amur, Magadan, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky when it is finished being rebuilt, Pacific ports are not necessarily a problem.  A connection to Sakhalin is feasible, but logistically difficult.  The Nevelskoy Strait is only 7 kilometers wide at the narrowest, so a bridge or tunnel is well within engineering capacities.  The problem is that this point is located at Cape Lazarev, which is in the hands of neither us, nor our allies.  However, if this bridge or tunnel is built, a sizable dry port located on the Sakhalin border could function as both a customs facility for quality inspections, and a location for the movement of cargo between trains."

Edited by KaiserMelech Mikhail
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"Well, as it cannot be avoided, a tunnel further North may have to be considered. It may be more costly, but should still be a feasable option within economic considerations." Akasaka-Panina commented on the issue of the Sakhalin tunnel. "Certainly compared to a Karafuto-Hokkaido tunnel, which would be in excess of 40 kilometres length."

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One we still own Vladivostok, unless your point is that Tianxia stands for freedom everywhere, in which case point taken.  Two the Empire will not agree to any rail switches until the Russian Mascurian Defense Forces spend adequately on their national defense especially navy.  Namely we would require the immediate raising of the Mascurian Navy to full readiness and force levels through the purchasing of our most advanced warships to expedite your painfully slow rearmament.

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Akasaka-Panina looked most perturbed as she listened to the Tianxian demands. "May I ask what reason there is for an increased investment into the Russian Pacific Fleet? I think that the current strengths of the navies in the Pacific is more than adequate and that bringing the Russian Pacific Fleet to the level of the Imperial fleet would not help the overall stability of the region. For what purpose would Russia need to invest into its Pacific capacities? I'm pessimistic as to what other countries in the Pacific may think of such a surge in spending and capabilities."

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"The question remains - what is that something? There's only so many nations in the Pacific and of all of them, the Russian Pacific Fleet already is one of the most massive ones. The Russian Pacific Fleet posesses all the strength it needs to defend its own posessions, especially given your Empire seems quite willing to back them up should there be any greater issues that actually threaten them. Unless Russia is planning on increasing its hard power in the Pacific for reasons other than self-defense, there is no rationale of investing heavily in the Pacific Fleet. If Tianxia and Russia want to bombard some remote minor nation in the Pacific or even the Indian Ocean, the current capabilities are more than sufficient, any further strengthening is hardly going to reassure the powers other than Tianxia and Russia that there exist no hostile intentions towards them on His Imperial Majesty's part. The status quo seems to us most conductive to allowing for a climate of trust and friendship in the long run, which such militarisation will certainly undermine."

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He laughed heartily as he took a sip of his drink, leaning back in his seat.  "Come now, what's the worry honestly?

 

I mean if Russia is properly armed what will it do other than assume its rightful place and contribute to global stability.  What can possibly be threatened by a powerful Russian military force, its Russia its like a big cuddly brown bear?"

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"Cuddly brown bears don't need to arm and armed up bears are not cuddly. How is global stability threatened that a strengthening of the Russian Pacific Fleet is required?", Akasaka-Panina stated, quite serious in her tone. "I think the current position of the Russian Empire is perfectly fine, being a power second only behind Tianxia. Would Russia seek to 'assume its rightful position', whatever that may be, that's hardly indicative of a cuddly bear, but a wild unruly bear, the kind people rightfully fear and defend against before it does harm to one's life and posessions."

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Mikhail's muscles tensed. His voice was still calm, but the slightest sign of irritation at the Japanese and their incessant need to question Russia's motives changed it slightly. "Do you think you have the right to question us, when your own navy is being upgraded, armed and utilized to wipe out world powers?" He rested his fist on the table and extended his index finger toward the Japanese representative, "Your gains in North America will be safe and assured thanks to the non-aggression treaty we agreed to sign here. Be content in that and curb your curiosity before you get your nose cut."

Edited by Justinian the Mighty
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Akasaka-Panina turned towards the Tsar who seemingly had less of an issue to address the issues, for better or worse. "Difference being, the Japanese Navy has started with a minor fleet it has inherited from its times of being only in Northern Japan and has since worked towards a proper fleet to protect itself for the last decade. A fleet capable of protecting our island nation from the threats that existed. Our fleet only recently approached a semblance of proper parity with some other powers in the Pacific, and the collapse of the American Commonwealth has prompted a policy of staying at a level of parity for the time being. But Russia already has a fleet that can match ours and adding to it is just trying to overturn this balance. We seek trade and non-aggression under the assumption that it will lessen tensions and gradually shift from confrontation to cooperation. But a naval armament program of Russia can hardly be perceived as anything other than a program to overturn any semblance of parity with our own Navy, the sole Navy in the Pacific that it doesn't already vastly outperform, except for the People's Imperial Navy which it has no chance of matching for the near future anyway."

 

"Should Tianxia and Russia go forward with a Naval Modernisation Program of the Russian Pacific Fleet to bring it to Imperial standards, there's little we can do about it, but be advised that there's not a great lot of room for interpretation of such a move that fundamentally only serves to threaten our nation. Regardless of words on paper, such actions are not going to allow for much trust and will only serve to poison whatever relations there may exist in the future."

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It could be pointed out that Russia has many more maritime territories than Japan.  Japan only has territory in its home islands and some islands in the South Pacific.  Russia has borders to include the Pacific, the Baltic out the Atlantic, the Arctic, and the Black Sea into the Mediterranean, I hardly see why it'd be shocking and against stability to see Russia modernize for the sake of preserving the ideals we all support.

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"Then it may be worth pointing out that Russia also has more than merely the Pacific Fleet, these other fleets being quite capable of securing its vast holdings throughout the world. In the Pacific the Russians have already a fleet that is good enough to ward off all threats there could currently exist."

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