The enormity of what Charlie was asking spinning in his head, Paul said, “Yes, I can. Thank you.”
Charlie stood, letting him know the meeting was over. He handed him the folder and said, “No, thank you. Make no mistake, you will go through professional hell before this is over. To support this cover, I’m going to have to disavow you completely, but I believe the mainland is about to attempt something big, and I don’t think we have a way to stop it. You might very well be our last hope.”
Chapter 16
Han Ming sat in the little office chair provided to him, the swivel seat broken to the point that if he leaned too far back, the entire thing would flop onto the ground. It was yet one more indignity heaped upon him, belying his stature in the larger hierarchy of the Ministry of State Security. As much as he would have liked to make the men around him pay for giving him the broken seat—he was sure it was an intentional slight—he could not, because they held his success in their hands.
He was the head of the ministry’s Third Bureau. The commander of the branch that was responsible for reuniting not only Hong Kong and Macau—known internally as the easy—but also the gem: Taiwan.
He’d made the short drive from his headquarters near the Summer Palace on the outskirts of Beijing to the area known as Zhongguancun, the “Silicon Valley of China.” Inside the sprawling neighborhood of internet start-ups and artificial intelligence research facilities resided the Twelfth Bureau of the MSS—the one dedicated to technology and cyber warfare, and the one he now needed.
He waited until the sycophant finished speaking about the ongoing efforts in Taiwan, then said, “So what’s that give us in the end? A couple of bumps in a poll? What’s the point? The current president is leading handily.”
In truth, Ming had no tolerance for the new world of information operations. He didn’t care one whit about social media campaigns and other manipulation. He was a dinosaur who didn’t understand the new rules. He understood pain and death. That was the only way to succeed. Get someone under your thumb and leverage two things: pain or death, either to someone the target held dear, or to the target itself.
The man briefing cringed at his statement, thinking he’d failed. Yuan Bo, the leader of the Twelfth Bureau, said, “Han, I don’t think you understand how this works. If we get the KMT man elected as president, we can begin building our takeover. We’re looking at this in the long term, doing it without bullets. As the CCP wants. Nobody wants a war.”
Han said, “I do get it, but your efforts won’t matter. Hong Kong has short-circuited all of that. He won’t win. We need to look at the problem set a different way.”
“An invasion is not the way. Kinetic options are not something that will work on the world stage—especially, as you say, with Hong Kong. This way we begin to erode from the inside. If not this election, then the next.”
His words struck a chord with Han. Erode from the inside. Han said, “Maybe you’re right. Maybe there is a way, but not in the manner you envision.”
“What do you mean?”
“You deal in information manipulation, correct?”
“Yes.” Yuan waved a hand to the back of the room, where a westerner was working on a terminal, saying, “We have the best in the world here.”
Not having noticed the man before, Han was startled. Yuan saw his look and said, “Don’t worry, he doesn’t speak Chinese.”
“He’s still seen me. And you, for that matter.”
“He thinks we’re an artificial intelligence research facility. That’s all. Which, of course, we are. What were your thoughts?”
Han glanced back at the man, seeing him engrossed in some video. He said, “I have some assets working for me in Australia from the Fifth Bureau. Working on a penetration of Taiwan’s anti-access/area denial systems.”
Han saw Yuan’s eyes grow wide at the mention of the Fifth Bureau—the one that dealt with the so-called illegals. The one that dealt with death. The Fifth Bureau was the element that was called when all else had failed and the project was deemed important enough that someone needed to be eliminated. Yuan worked for the MSS from behind a keyboard. He believed in his efforts, but he had never seen the sharp end of the spear. And he never wanted to.
Han continued, “Don’t worry about them. You won’t have to interface, but their actions could provide a lever for us to use. What I need from you is exactly what you said: Erode them from the inside.”
“How?”
“Continue working the threads you have. Continue trying to get our man elected, but at the same time, let’s explore attacking the current administration. Generate some angst within the population for their chosen leaders. If we do it right, it could cause a chain reaction that will give us a seam to exploit.”
Yuan nodded, not understanding what was being asked. He said, “We’re doing that. We’ve been attacking them on every available platform. It doesn’t get any traction. They simply don’t like China.”
“Yes, yes, that’s correct. And that’s exactly what I want to use. What does the Taiwanese population most fear?”
“Our takeover.”
“True, but that’s not the fear I mean. What do they fear from their leaders?”
Yuan thought for a moment, then said, “Capitulation to us?”
“Exactly. Can you seed that fear into the fabric of their society? Make it seem as if the administration—while stridently hawking a hard line against the PRC—actually plans to begin increasing ties to us. It will generate unrest. Get people in the streets. Can you do that?”
“I can with some data points on the inside. Some leverage that I don’t currently own.”
Han nodded, saying, “Like what?”
“Videos of speakers, audio of them, images. Something I can manipulate. The more data, the better, to make it seem real. Fakes are easy to spot. Do you have anyone on the inside for that? Someone close to the administration? Can we use Leopard?”
Han said, “Leopard isn’t any help. He’s a damn criminal. Running the Bamboo Triad will help for the unrest, but not for what you want. Honestly, he’s so hot right now I might have to eliminate him anyway.”
Yuan’s eyes widened at how casually Han made the statement. He remained silent. Han pulled his lip, thinking. Finally, he said, “We have a man on the inside. Code-named Ocelot. He’s very highly placed, and we leverage him for information only. He can do it, but he’ll have a short life span. If I use him, he’s done.”
Yuan said, “If your plan works, it won’t matter.”
Chapter 17
Dunkin headed back the way he had come from work, his eyes glued to his rearview mirror. He entered the A9, driving north, and a car fell in behind him. He didn’t recognize it as one of the two from before, but it still caused him angst. He thought about pulling the same stunt he had earlier, but instead just increased his speed. The car disappeared behind him, apparently minding its own business.
Dunkin exhaled, traveled another mile, and then exited the highway, turning onto a two-lane road divided by a median. His girlfriend’s house was a little over a mile away. He saw traffic behind him but was no longer worried. It was a residential area, the avenue lined by houses on both sides. He crossed a creek, the bridge modern with a bike path to the right, the foliage on the sides of the road manicured. He began to relax.