Saint-Paul-et-Durance, France. It was drizzling.
This small southern town, which was usually undisturbed by the outside world, was now the focus of attention from all over the world.
Soon, the ITER Council's closed-door meeting at the end of the month would be held at the ITER headquarters.
At this meeting, the United States would issue a final inquiry on whether or not China would fulfill the ITER technology-sharing agreement.
If this meeting still couldn't reach a satisfactory result, the ITER Council would initiate a vote and ultimately decide whether or not China would stay in ITER.
Over the past month, the outside world had made many speculations about the choice of the Chinese representative.
However, no matter what the speculations were, it didn't seem like the two sides would reach a consensus on this issue.
Now, this rainy weather seemed to indicate from the beginning that this meeting was destined to not proceed smoothly to the end.
Deputy Director Luo Zhanyuan, who was appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be fully responsible for this meeting, was sitting at the Chinese representative's table. He looked at his watch.
It was 9: 30 am.
The meeting was about to begin in thirty minutes.
Not far away, the American representative, Adam Cohen, was happily exchanging opinions with the European Union representative. From time to time, he would glance at Adam.
Obviously, they had already reached a consensus outside of the meeting.
The expression on his face was still as calm as before, but in his heart, he silently sighed.
Being able to drag this on until now …
He tried his best.
Half an hour quickly passed by. The ITER chairman announced the beginning of the meeting and the agenda for today's meeting.
In addition to discussing whether or not China had fulfilled the ITER agreement, the meeting would also discuss the specific details of the technical route change for the giant controllable fusion machine.
Which was, the various components of the giant tokamak machine that were built by various countries.
After the chairman finished reading the meeting agenda, the American representative, Adam Cohen, was the first to speak.
"Regarding the controllable nuclear fusion technology sharing principle in the ITER agreement, we will once again reiterate our position.
"We believe that China has not fulfilled its international obligations as a member of ITER while accepting ITER technology.
"We have debated this issue for a long time. Today is probably our last meeting to discuss this issue. If you continue to refuse to fulfill this obligation, we will apply to the Council for an arbitration vote on the withdrawal of the Chinese personnel from ITER … "
The moment Cohen finished speaking, there was a commotion in the conference room.
Although most people had already guessed this would happen, the participants still did not expect the US representative to make such a blatant threat at the beginning of the discussion.
If you don't accept it, I'll vote you out.
From the looks of it, there was no room for negotiation at all.
Director-General Motojima Osamu, who was sitting on the conference table, said thoughtfully with a dignified expression.
"Looks like my previous deduction was wrong."
The Japanese representative, Ishida Keiichi, glanced sideways. "What guess?"
"I always thought that the US wanted to use intellectual property issues to pressure China and force them to disclose a series of undisclosed technologies, including superconducting magnets, plasma control schemes, and so on. I didn't expect them to have made up their mind from the beginning. They just wanted to kick the Chinese out."
Ishida Keiichi frowned. "But what's in it for the Americans?"
Motojima glanced at him and said seriously, "Ishida-kun, the so-called benefit doesn't necessarily mean getting something. It can also mean preventing the opponent from getting something."
"Oh really …"
Ishida Keiichi had a thoughtful look on his face.
Seems like there's nothing wrong with this …
But will the result really be smooth sailing? Just kicking China out would make them fall behind the rest of the world in controllable fusion research.
He felt like it wasn't that simple …
After all, he had heard that the chief designer of China's stellarator project was Lu Zhou, who had created countless miracles …
Luo Zhanyuan, who was sitting in the conference room with his arms crossed, responded to Adam Cohen's aggressive stare with a blank expression.
When the ITER conference organizer signaled for him to begin speaking, he reached out and held the microphone.
However, at that moment, the satellite phone in his pocket began to vibrate at an inopportune time.
Luo Zhanyuan felt the vibration in his pocket and frowned. However, he didn't hesitate at all. He reached out and took out his phone.
After all, there were only a few people who could call him at this time …
"Hello?"
"…" Luo Zhanyuan silently listened to the other end of the phone. When he heard a certain sentence, his eyebrows suddenly twitched.
He took a deep breath and spoke in a low voice.
"Okay, I understand."
Another representative sitting next to him secretly glanced at him.
Although it was only a two-sentence exchange, he felt that Chief Luo's tone was completely different from the first sentence and the second sentence.
Adam Cohen patiently waited for the call to end. He then looked at Luo Zhanyuan with a playful expression.
"Do you have anything else to say?"
Luo Zhanyuan put the phone back into his suit pocket and looked at him with a blank expression.
When Luo Zhanyuan saw how confident he was, he suddenly couldn't help but laugh out loud.
When Cohen saw how the Chinese representative couldn't help but laugh, he paused for a second and frowned.
Helms, who was sitting in the US delegation, also frowned. He didn't understand why the Chinese representative could laugh.
"My apologies," Luo Zhanyuan said as he cleared his throat. He put his hands on the table and slowly stood up. He said, "There's an old saying in China, 'If you want to punish someone, you can always find a pretext.' We don't have anything to say … "
This was an unexpected answer, but Cohen wasn't surprised.
Originally, he expected the Chinese representative to argue on this issue, and he would fight back one by one. However, no matter how intense the debate was, the final result wouldn't change.
Cohen cleared his throat, and just as he was about to initiate the voting process, Luo Zhanyuan, who had yet to sit down, continued to speak, causing Cohen to swallow back his words.
"… A month ago, we have already disclosed the necessary data in accordance with the ITER agreement. However, your unreasonable demands and unreasonable behavior on this issue have disappointed us.
"Under the conditions of equality and mutual trust, we are willing to cooperate with you. However, no matter how many times you make unreasonable demands, our answer is still to refuse.
"If that's the case, then we won't waste your time."
Luo Zhanyuan fixed his collar and exchanged glances with the other Chinese representatives. He then faced the venue again and spoke in an unhurried manner.
"I announce on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"From now on, China officially withdraws from the ITER agreement!"
As the powerful voice fell, the entire venue fell silent, so quiet that it was frightening.
Looking around the venue, Luo Zhanyuan's line of sight finally stopped on Adam Cohen's face as he said meaningfully.
He then said, "You guys can have this meeting.
"Goodbye."
He packed up the things on the table and walked toward the door of the conference room.
The ITER chairman looked at the Chinese representatives leaving the venue. He had a stunned expression on his face. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say.
Adam Cohen was the same. His entire body froze on the spot. His facial expression could only be described with three question marks.
Originally, they were supposed to vote the Chinese representatives out of the conference. However, they didn't expect the Chinese representatives to leave before the voting even started.
A commotion spread through the conference room.
It wasn't just the chairman and the American representatives, almost everyone else was stunned.
Helms, who was sitting in the American delegation, looked at the empty seats. For some reason, he felt a little nervous.
At this moment, he should be feeling happy.
After all, kicking China out of ITER was exactly what the White House and CIA wanted to see, as well as what he wanted to see.
Could it be …
China has already completed the controllable fusion technology?
He suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility. However, he quickly shook his head and removed this unrealistic idea from his mind.
No, this is impossible …
No matter what, this is too fast.
On the other hand, the secretary sitting next to the ITER chairman looked at the chaotic meeting room. He lowered his voice and spoke in a low voice.
He lowered his voice and asked, "Mr. Chairman … Should we continue with this meeting?"
The chairman went silent for a while before he spoke.
"Let's move on to the next agenda."
In any case, they had to continue with what they had to do.
In the next agenda, they had to discuss the giant controllable nuclear fusion machine.
Logically speaking, this was an even more exciting topic.
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