Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [14]
He stopped his presentation for a moment as an aide approached the president and whispered something in his ear. The president nodded and waved the aide off, saying, “Go ahead, Admiral, please continue your briefing.”
“The Chinese recognized the potential of this find early on and in 2006 set up what was known as the Chunxiao gas platform, about four kilometers from the EEZ median line. Both nations grudgingly accepted the EEZ line even as they contested it. Japan claimed the platform was extracting gas from deposits under the Japanese EEZ and requested a geologic audit. The Chinese said no dice. The Japanese then sent in their own geologic ship to take surveys, and the Chinese quickly sent a couple of warships out to discourage them. The Japanese geologic ship pulled out, but later the Japanese positioned their own oil platforms and drilling ships about ten kilometers inside their side of the EEZ. This didn’t please the Chinese, but what could they say when their rigs were far closer to the EEZ median line than Japan’s?”
“About one month ago, the Chinese floated into place a massive new sixth-generation oil platform known as Dragon II. It is the beast of all platforms, built in the Cosco Shipyard in Shanghai, and it was to be China’s showcase platform, designed to attract markets for deepwater platform leasing all over the world. Problem is they moved it into a position that was far closer to the contested median line than ever before—roughly two kilometers. The Japanese were furious and had planned to make it an issue at the UN Security Council.”
The president looked up from the notes he was taking and said, “Let me summarize what I think you just said, Admiral: two great nations in dire need of oil and gas—like all of us—have escalated their concerns into a shooting war over a disputed border that lies a mile under the ocean. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s about right, Mr. President. We don’t know the full extent of the damages yet, nor do we have a feel for whether one or both sides will escalate this into a larger war. I expect information on potential developments within the next twelve to twenty-four hours, but for now I just don’t know.”
The heated discussion that followed revolved around a number of what-if scenarios. The president found it useful, but he still had no clear idea of how to respond to the calls he expected to receive from leaders of both countries. When he broached that issue, he triggered yet another testy discussion as to what each of the two sides would ask of the United States.
“Folks,” Burkmeister said, “I truly appreciate your insights. It’s clear that we don’t know where either country will go from here—at least for now. Nothing we can do about that. About all we can do for now is upgrade the alert level of our military forces, continue collecting every possible scrap of intel we can, and be prepared for whatever deals Japan and China will attempt to make.” Looking down on his notes, he said, “Let me recap what we’ve got so far. Japan will probably appeal to us, as a long-time partner in the Pacific, to side with them. That might take the form of a strong statement in their favor, declaring our mutual friendship. They might call on us to send elements of the Seventh Fleet to support them in a joint naval action against China. Depending on their losses, they might ask us to help make good on the oil they lost from their sunken platforms. For sure, they’ll ask us to use our influence with other Western powers to condemn China in the UN.”
He paused, grimacing in pain, and had to