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“The United States, in order to rebuild its largest city, had to come up with a new plan, something that has never been conceived of before. I am pleased to tell you that in this, we have succeeded. The richest country in the world, China, has agreed to become our partner in rebirth.”

This was a particular phrase the President was proud of. He made it seem as if it were the United States’ idea to divvy up Los Angeles.

“China would not loan us this money. They are aware of the fact that we would not be able to pay back a debt of this size for a century, if ever. So a new idea was born. The Chinese government has had phenomenal success in building great cities. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to visit Shanghai or Beijing or Tianjin have marveled at the magnificent architecture. The great area known as Southern California, the very same area that now lies in ruins, has the capacity, when up and running, to produce billions and billions of dollars each year in revenue. From its ports, to its farms, to its science, to its entertainment industry, what now lies dormant is about to change. And the Chinese are going to be a big part of it. They have formally agreed to help America bring one of her greatest cities back to life.

“In helping us with such a great task, they will, for the first time in history, become our partners. They will share in the cost and share in the revenue. The old-fashioned way of borrowing colossal sums of money and forever paying it back will no longer work. The amounts are too great. So we will give China a real interest in rebuilding Los Angeles.

“Chinese citizens will come and live here and work side by side with hundreds of thousands of Americans on the greatest building effort the world has ever seen. And out of this catastrophe will emerge a new friendship, a new partnership, and a new city.

“America and China have always had much in common: love of life, love of commerce, love of the future. And now we will enter that future together. Never in history have two great countries joined as one in such an ambitious project. But sometimes in life there comes a moment where a nation, just as an individual, must take a step that has never been tried. That moment for us is now. And so we welcome China as our partner in the rebirth of Los Angeles. We ask God to bless this historic moment and we ask all of you to give us your blessings as well.

“Thank you, my fellow Americans, and good night.”

The reaction from the room was a sustained applause and a standing ovation. It was important that the nation saw this. The President believed strongly in first impressions and he wanted the country to see that at least his people were on board.

And now all they could do was wait. Wait for this to sink in and see how America reacted. Again, the President was calm because there was no other choice. He was surrendering. But it was an economic surrender, which had been happening for decades anyway. This was just the moment that made it official.

The audience for the speech was the largest ever for a presidential address. And the city with the biggest audience was, of course, Los Angeles. People watched there in huge crowds gathered around screens set up in the remains of parks and malls, on street corners, everywhere. It looked like a scene out of 1984, thousands of people gathered around as a giant head spoke to them. The reaction was unanimous: pure excitement. No one whose life had been destroyed—which was everyone in that city—gave a shit about who or what was going to make it better. If the President had told them Nazis were coming to rebuild their homes, they would have cheered, so certainly the Chinese were welcomed with open arms, as they had a good reputation in the United States to begin with. They were smart, their gang activity was at the low end, they kept to themselves, and, of course, their food was great, which is very important in accepting people from another part of the world. It was the main reason why the Russians and Germans