1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3918

After Li Yuande left, Qian Tiandun finally let out a long sigh. His true thoughts on the matter were not as calm as he had appeared; he simply didn't want his subordinates to see his anxious state.

Having spent a long time working overseas, far from the political center, he had accumulated numerous military achievements and enjoyed a renowned reputation both at home and abroad. However, the consequence was a lack of connections within the government, making it difficult for him to accurately judge the Executive Committee's intentions.

In this unexpected situation, Qian Tiandun was unsure whether it was an independent operation by Sing Tao or a secret instruction from the Executive Committee. Therefore, he could not respond immediately and could only ask Li Yuande to check whether any internal personnel had leaked the information.

The temporary requisition of more than twenty technicians for other assignments was actually a minor matter given the scale of the industries currently controlled by the special operations division. However, whether this was an isolated incident or a shift in the political climate forced Qian Tiandun to seriously consider the matter.

Qian Tiandun pulled out a copy of the Haihan Times that had been delivered yesterday. He had actually already browsed through it, but the matter that Li Yuande had just reported made him think that one of the articles might be related to this.

Because of the long distance between the mainland and the mainland, the Haihan Times, which is distributed domestically, often arrives at Fubo Port about two months after its release, so many news items are not very timely.

Truly important news would be announced domestically via telegram, so the domestic newspapers sent to Fubo Port were generally only used as a supplementary means of learning about national affairs.

Qian Tiandun quickly found the article he had read yesterday, titled "Prediction of Overseas Industry Development Trends," and the author was a Times editorial, which often represented a certain official attitude.

However, since the front page of this issue of the Times was a report on the battle in Jiangxi, which took up two full pages, this article published on page three was not so eye-catching.

The article compiles a wealth of data from the industrial, shipping, and trade sectors to analyze the current development trends of Haihan's overseas operations.

When Qian Tiandun saw the article yesterday, he felt that some of the information was related to the situation in the special operations division's jurisdiction, but he hadn't had time to analyze it carefully yet. However, what Li Yuande reported today gave him a wake-up call.

Reading this article again now, Qian Tiandun naturally gleaned some different meanings from it.

The article concludes from data analysis that among the many overseas colonies under Haihan's jurisdiction, only the Sing Tao and Luzon regions have basically achieved self-sufficiency, while other colonies, including the North American region on the other side of the Pacific, still rely to varying degrees on support from the domestic government to maintain their normal operation.

This conclusion is actually correct and does indeed align with the current objective reality.

Sing Tao and Luzon were Haihan's earliest overseas colonies, with over twenty years of development history, so conditions were naturally more mature. Wang Tom, on the other hand, led his troops to North America to open up new territories eight years prior, a relatively short period, and due to the distance, received limited support from within China.

As for the special operations division's deployment to the Indian Ocean region, it has only been three years since then, and the exploration and development of the southern new continent occurred even later, after the special operations division established the Hamban port on Ceylon Island. With such a short timeframe, the achievements are naturally limited.

However, the article's conclusion leads to the prediction that the country will gradually reduce its direct investment overseas, especially in terms of goods and personnel exported from the mainland. The reason is simple: after Haihan moved its capital to Hangzhou, it launched many large-scale infrastructure and industrial projects. These projects require a large investment of manpower and resources, and this demand overlaps with that of its overseas colonies. The country cannot simultaneously meet such a large demand and can only make corresponding adjustments with a focus on certain aspects.

Therefore, after the state tightens the allocation of resources, the various overseas colonies will inevitably be divided into first, second, and third priority levels according to some standard.

These standards are nothing more than the distance from the homeland, the ease of development, and the urgency of the country's need for local resources or geographical location, etc.

In this comparison, the area under the jurisdiction of special operations divisions is clearly at a disadvantage.

Although the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea are of great strategic value, and the energy resources buried deep beneath the sand dunes of the Arabian Peninsula are also important for Haihan's future development, these needs are not so urgent.

Even in 30 to 50 years, the situation in these regions will not change much. In fact, the current oil production capacity exceeds Haihan's current industrial development needs. Therefore, Haihan does not actually need its Indian Ocean colonies to achieve rapid development in a short period of time.

But the situation was different in the Southern New World. Haihan had no competitors there and didn't need to worry about a short-term influx of Western colonists. Now, as long as they occupied the territory, they could basically dominate it all.

Moreover, the area has abundant and easily exploitable mineral resources, especially important minerals such as copper, iron, and coal needed for industrial development. It is fully capable of building several large-scale industrial bases in the area, and then continuously producing various industrial products needed by Haihan at this stage.

It's no exaggeration to say that even within the Han mainland, there are probably few places with the same inherent advantages. Even overseas regions like Xingdao and Luzon, which predated the formation of the Southern New World, cannot compare in this regard.

If Haihan intends to create another industrial center overseas, then the Southern New World would be the best option at present.

Qian Tiandun was actually aware of this and knew the advantages of that side. However, he was not yet certain whether the Executive Committee truly intended to promote the Southern New World.

Qian Tiandun had someone summon Qian Shaobao and informed him of what had happened on Li Yuande's side, as well as his own speculations about the matter.

Qian Shaobao did not rush to express his opinion, but instead asked, "Father, how do you plan to deal with this matter?"

Qian Tiandun said, "The current signs are not obvious yet. Whether it is as I guessed remains to be seen. Go and check the data to see if there have been any changes in the supply of various materials we have applied for from China in the past six months."

"Also, please compile statistics on the number of ships and personnel that have arrived from Sing Tao during this period."

Qian Shaobao replied, "The number of crew members from Xingdao is indeed less than in the first two years, so there's no need to check. Tan Tianlei once explained to me that this is due to the development of Swan Harbor in the Southern New World by the Xingdao region, and it will continue for at least several more years."