1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Since early in the morning, this place had been bustling with activity.
Thanks to the China people, it wasn't just the chattering reporters, but also the representatives of civil society groups and opposition lawmakers who read scripts like recorders. They were making things difficult for them almost all the time, as if this could solve the problem.
However, this wasn't what really troubled the White House.
With the completion of the Earth-Moon economic integration strategy based on the Moon Palace and the establishment of the special economic zone in Guanghan City, they had been completely left behind.
They were still able to compete with China in the aerospace field some time ago, but now they had almost reached the point of no return.
To put it bluntly, in the face of mature controllable fusion technology and plasma propulsion technology, there was very little room for chemical rockets to survive. They didn't lose in strategy, they were purely stuck in the technical bottleneck.
But in any case, they lost.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that they were unable to continue this space race. The most important thing now was not how to win, but how to end it "with dignity".
"The latest news, this time from the China National Space Administration … They have announced the road map of the Mars colonization plan to the United Nations and the International Space Organization. They intend to build a permanent settlement of 200 people on Mars within five years for scientific research and exploration activities.
"In addition, according to the latest information from the Arizona observatory, the Xu Fu colonial ship has successfully left the Earth-Moon system. According to the current acceleration, it will reach Mars orbit as soon as the 14th."
The president listened to the report of his subordinates with a tired face. He sat behind the desk and rubbed his eyebrows with his index finger and thumb.
From the moment he took office as president until now, he did not know how many white hairs he had worried about the future of the country.
Among the many presidents in the history of the United States, there was probably no one who was more miserable than him.
If he had to pick one, he was willing to bet that it would definitely be his next term, or at least after his term.
"Continue to pay attention … Apart from waiting for good news from Lunar Gateway, there is nothing we can do for the time being."
Director Carson, who was standing in the office, had an awkward expression on his face. He pretended not to hear it and looked away.
Worried about the president's negative attitude, the Secretary of State frowned and spoke.
"It's not a good idea to do nothing. Judging from the current public opinion, the people are already dissatisfied with our inaction. I'm worried that if this continues — "
The president said impatiently.
"So do you have any good ideas?"
"I wouldn't call it a good idea, but … I think it's at least a remedial measure."
"Oh?"
"Although many Americans don't want to admit it, in fact, we have lost the best period of competition." The Secretary of State glanced at Director Carson and said, "Their Tiangong is far ahead of our Lunar Gateway. The lunar scientific research station and the ILHCRC collider have won the support of the international academic community. It is unrealistic for us to delay their economic development through the space race."
After a moment of silence, the Secretary of State continued.
"If we continue to drag things out like this, we'll be the ones being passive."
"My suggestion is to end this meaningless competition as soon as possible and get our relationship back on track as soon as possible. If we can't defeat them, then working together is the best choice for both of us. "
The office was silent.
Although he knew that this was the best choice, the courage required to make such a choice was not something that an ordinary person could produce.
Perhaps it was the wrong decision to start this competition.
But it was too late to say anything now.
Someone had to step on the brakes for this out-of-control train.
After a long silence, the president finally let out a sigh and slowly spoke.
"You're right.
"It's time to end this."
For some reason, when Director Carson heard the president say this, he felt as if he had aged a decade in an instant.
No matter what, Carson heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this.
Before coming here, what he was most worried about was that the president would stubbornly carry out the Mars landing plan, and then throw all the problems onto the next president.
If this were the case, it would be a disaster for the United States.
Fortunately, he was still rational. It wasn't too late to step on the brakes.
"We need an opportunity to repair bilateral relations, an opportunity that the people of both countries can accept and give us a way out."
Now that the decision had been made, there was nothing to hesitate about.
The dispirited aura on the president's face was swept away. He had completely let go of everything and regained his confident expression.
The Secretary of State was satisfied that his boss had made the right choice. He nodded with a relaxed expression and spoke.
"Yes, we all need such an opportunity. The International Union of Materials Research Societies award was a good opportunity, but unfortunately, it was turned down by Lu Zhou. "
He paused for a second and continued.
"However, even though Lu Zhou can't come himself, I heard that his student will go to Boston to represent him at the April conference of the International Union of Materials Research Societies. At the conference, the student will report on his paper published in Future."
The president frowned slightly and said, "A scholar usually has many students.
"But there is always one special student, such as Ms. Han Mengqi." A confident smile appeared on the Secretary of State's face. He continued, "According to the information we have investigated, she is Chen Yushan's cousin. Needless to say, Ms. Chen's identity is the one who was engaged to Lu Zhou some time ago. According to China's customs, Academician Lu should be regarded as Ms. Han Mengqi's … 'brother-in-law'. "
Because the pronunciation of this word was strange, it took him several times to pronounce it correctly.
The president looked at the Secretary of State strangely and spoke hesitantly.
"You can't … give her the annual award of the Union of Materials Research Societies."
"Of course not! The International Union of Materials Research Societies won't accept such an absurd thing, but … we can find a substitute, such as setting up an award like the International Progressive Young Scholar Award and award it to her in the name of the International Union of Materials Research Societies. "
A smile appeared on the Secretary of State's face as he continued in a confident tone.
"Then, we can use this opportunity to invite her and other winners to the White House dinner. The China ambassador will also be there."
"If China also wants to repair relations with us."
"Everything will be a lot simpler."
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