Sitting in the conference room of Future Building, Kishida thanked the waiter for the tea, but his eyes involuntarily glanced at the clock on the wall.
It was the tenth time he repeated this action since he entered the door.
After talking to Jiang Chen on the phone, he immediately canceled his afternoon schedule and rushed here after his meeting with Zhang Yaping.
When he arrived, Jiang Chen was on the space elevator. It would take more than an hour to arrive in Coro City, so Xia Shiyu arranged for them to stay in this conference room and asked the logistics manager to make them a few cups of tea.
Also sitting in this conference room were several diplomats from the diplomatic team he brought from Nippon that he trusted.
In order to avoid arousing the suspicion of the UA, he came under the guise of electricity negotiations, so he couldn't stay here for long. As for the purpose of his trip, there was no need to guess. Of course, it was for the 50% defense tax.
In terms of the desire for space resources, no country in the world could compare to Nippon. The scarcity of local resources and the divergence caused by industrial development had been a curse on Nippon since the last century. The slightest change in the world economy would cause the Nikkei index to decline.
As soon as Celestial City announced that it would accept foreign capital investment, Nippon capitalists and large consortia swarmed in, especially the rare earth mining project in Lunar City. They were afraid that Celestial Trade wouldn't accept their money.
It was no exaggeration to say that the total investment of Nippon companies in Celestial City ranked third after the UA and Hua, and even ahead of Russia.
It was precisely because of this that the 50% defense tax was so painful for them.
Just as Kishida muttered in his mind, the door of the conference room was pushed open, and Jiang Chen walked in from the outside.
Seeing this, he immediately took the lead to get up from the chair. With a smile on his face, he extended his right hand.
"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you. I'm Kishida, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nippon."
"Jiang Chen, President of Future Group and Celestial Trade. Mr. Kishida doesn't need to introduce himself. We met at the Outer Space Security Summit. "Jiang Chen shook Kishida's hand and said with a smile.
When he heard the words Outer Space Security Summit, an awkward expression flashed across Mr. Kishida's face. But as a diplomat, his skin was naturally far thicker than ordinary people. He pretended not to hear the word and warmly shook Jiang Chen's hand.
Since the Resident Evil incident in Tokyo, the Abe cabinet had fallen from power. He had changed his previous political stance and joined the leftists. Because he strongly supported the foreign policy of the new Prime Minister, he continued to be nominated as the Minister of Foreign Affairs after the establishment of the new Cabinet, becoming the only Cabinet Minister who was not replaced by the new Prime Minister.
Of course, this also had to do with the turbulent situation in Ri Nation at that time, and the new Prime Minister was unavailable.
Putting aside those external factors, judging from his way of doing things, this person could be said to be a typical example of someone who changed the direction of the wind.
He stood firmly on America's side at the Outer Space Defense Summit, but when he saw the Earth Defense Alliance doing well, he immediately pretended that nothing had happened.
But as the saying goes, don't slap a smiling person. Jiang Chen also grinned when he saw him bow with a smile on his face. After he let go of his hand, he gestured to the chair next to him.
"Please have a seat."
After Minister Kishida sat down, several diplomats who came with him also sat down.
Jiang Chen walked to the head of the conference table and sat down. He gestured to the assistant behind him to leave and close the door. When he heard the sound of the door closing behind him, he leaned back in his chair and looked at the Nippon delegation calmly.
"Mr. Kishida shouldn't be here to catch up with me. You know, I'm an entrepreneur. There's no need for formalities here. If you have something to say, just say it. "
"Since Mr. Jiang Chen said so, then I'll get straight to the point." Minister Kishida coughed and said, "Isn't the 50% defense tax proposed by your party a bit too high?"
When Jiang Chen heard this, a smile appeared on his face.
"This is a decision made after internal discussion in the Earth Defense Alliance. All member states voted before finally passing this resolution. If you have any objections to this resolution, why don't you discuss it with Hua and Russia first? "
Kishida forced a smile.
"Mr. Jiang, you must be joking. As far as I know, this 50% defense tax is collected by Celestial Trade Space Elevator Operating Company and injected into the Earth Defense Fund in the name of donation. Does the Earth Defense Alliance have shares in the space elevator?"
Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow and looked at the old man in his sixties with some surprise. He didn't expect this Nippon person to not take the Earth Defense Alliance seriously on the surface, but he had investigated it quite thoroughly in private.
However, having said that, the initiative was still on his side.
Therefore, Jiang Chen didn't use any excuses and used the banner of being for all of mankind.
"Fighting against the invasion of extraterrestrial civilization is for the common interests of the international community. In this case, we can't let some people be at the front and the other part hide in the back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor, right? Either pay or contribute. It's fair, isn't it? "
Fair my * ss!
Minister Kishida cursed in his mind.
Using our country's money to support your aerospace company, and then waiting for you to use your advanced aerospace technology to continue to make money from our country. How is this fair?
However, he only cursed in his mind. On the surface, he still had a kind smile on his face.
"You're right. Fighting against extraterrestrial civilization is the obligation of all countries. After seeing the example you have set, we have seriously reflected on our selfishness in this regard. Therefore, we decided to establish an aerospace force in the Self-Defense Force to support the battle against extraterrestrial civilization! "
Jiang Chen didn't speak. He leaned forward slightly and looked at him across the table.
Just as Kishida felt his hair stand on end, Jiang Chen spoke.
"Are you kidding me?"
Although Minister Kishida knew that the conditions he proposed were too much, when he heard Jiang Chen's blatant refusal, he couldn't help but feel awkward. However, the negotiation had to continue, so he had to bite the bullet.
"Then what do you want?"
Jiang Chen smiled, leaned back in the chair again, and said in a relaxed tone.
"It's easy to get rid of the defense tax. Just join us."
When Kishida heard Jiang Chen's words, he immediately jumped up.
"That's impossible! We are allies of NATO. How can we join a new military alliance treaty! "
Jiang Chen didn't care about Kishida's aggressive gaze and said with a smile.
"Then pay your taxes obediently and contribute to the cause of 'ground defense'."
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