would also offend others in the industry, and thus prevent us from ever doing business in New York again. So, in practical terms there is no remedy.”
“Is this a temporary thing? Surely this difficulty will pass, will it not?”
“Fang, we also do business in Italy, with the House of d‘Alberto, a major trendsetter in European fashion. They also canceled their relationship with us. It seems that the Italian man our police killed comes from a powerful and influential family. Our representative in Italy says that no Chinese firm will be able to do business there for some time. In other words, Minister, that ‘unfortunate incident’ with the churchmen is going to have grave consequences.”
“But these people have to purchase their cloth somewhere,” Fang objected.
“Indeed they do. And they will do so in Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan.”
“Is that possible?”
Ren nodded quickly and sadly. “It is very possible. Sources have told me that they are busily contacting our former business partners to ‘take up the slack,’ as they put it. You see, the Taiwan government has launched an aggressive campaign to distinguish themselves from us, and it would appear that their campaign is, for the moment, highly successful.”
“Well, Ren, surely you can find other customers for your goods,” Fang suggested with confidence.
But the industrialist shook his head. He hadn’t touched his tea and his eyes looked like wounds in a stone head. “Minister, America is the world’s largest such market, and it appears it will soon be closed to us. After that is Italy, and that door, also, has been slammed shut. Paris, London, even the avant-garde marketers in Denmark and Vienna will not even return our phone calls. I’ve had my representatives contact all potential markets, and they all say the same thing: No one wants to do business with China. Only America could save us, but America will not.”
“What will this cost you?”
“As I told you, one hundred forty million dollars just from the Butterfly account alone, and another similar amount from our other American and European businesses.”
Fang didn’t have to think long to calculate the take the PRC’s government got from that.
“Your colleagues?”
“I have spoken with several. The news is the same. The timing could hardly be worse. All of our contracts are coming due at the same time. We are talking billions of dollars, Minister. Billions,” he repeated.
Fang lit a cigarette. “I see,” he said. “What would it take to fix this?”
“Something to make America happy, not just the government, but the citizens, too.”
“Is that truly important?” Fang asked, somewhat tiredly. He’d heard this rubbish so many times from so many voices.
“Fang, in America people can buy their clothing from any number of stores and manufacturers, any number of marketers. The people choose which succeeds and which fails. Women’s clothing in particular is an industry as volatile as vapor. It does not take much to make such a company fail. As a result, those companies will not assume additional and unnecessary risks. To do business with the People’s Republic, now, today, is something they see as an unnecessary risk.”
Fang took a drag and thought about that. It was, actually, something he’d always known, intellectually, but never quite appreciated. America was a different place, and it did have different rules. And since China wanted American money, China had to abide by those rules. That wasn’t politics. That was practicality.
“So, you want me to do what?”
“Please, tell your fellow ministers that this could mean financial ruin for us. Certainly for my industry, and we are a valuable asset for our country. We bring wealth into China. If you want that wealth to spend on other things, then you must pay attention to what we need in order to get you that wealth.” What Ren could not say was that he and his fellow industrialists were the ones who made the Politburo’s economic (and therefore, also political) agenda possible, and that therefore the Politburo needed to listen to them once in a while. But Fang knew what the Politburo would say in reply. A horse may pull the cart, but you do not ask the horse where it wishes to go.
Such was political reality in the People’s Republic of China. Fang knew that Ren had been around the world, that he had a sizable personal fortune which the PRC had graciously allowed him to accumulate, and that, probably more important, he had the intelligence and personal industry to thrive anywhere he chose to live. Fang knew also that Ren could fly