Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 484 In Search of a New Order
The Chinese representative was thinking not only of Area 51, but also of Area 51 and its derivative: Hong Kong.

China has always had a considerable influence in Hong Kong.

The dividing line is the Shatoujiao Incident five years ago.

Before that, China existed underground in Hong Kong, in their own newspapers and media spheres, and among the local people who were dissatisfied with Hong Kong's development.

Such existence is widespread and dispersed.

Now, China's presence in Hong Kong is more tangible, encompassing a series of entities such as Hong Kong Shipping, Panda Electronics, Baihua Media, Phoenix Textile, and Panda Bank.

Phoenix Textile was established because of America's military procurement needs during the Vietnam War. Importing from America, Japan, or Korea was not as cost-effective as importing Chinese goods directly from Hong Kong.

In the past, Chinese textiles circulated among the COMECON member states through a format similar to the Leipzig Trade Fair.

Starting in 1968, Chinese textiles began to be sold to the liberal camp through Hong Kong as an export channel.

To be precise, China has always done business with the liberal camp. Countries like France, Free Germany, and England have trade relations with China. They buy Chinese goods and export industrial products. Free Germany even sold its factories to China.

But past trade was one-sided, partial, and selective.

But now, with Hong Kong as the conduit and enterprises as the carriers, the new forms of trade are more market-oriented.

Because the US dollar is so appealing. In this era when the US dollar is still called "dollar," it is much more useful than the rupee, and the goods that can be bought with it are also much better.

This led to varying degrees of decline in China's exports of various goods to Soviet and related countries.

In this era, China was even able to make its voice heard in the International Maritime Standards Committee and had extensive cooperation with Lloyd's of England.

In present-day Hong Kong, England exists in the public eye, controlling taxation and a small number of financial industries.

America devoured most of the financial industry.

As for China, it devoured the manufacturing industry on the periphery of this empire.

And some unknown force can only bark incessantly in the newspapers, calling on England and America to investigate these "special" companies.

After Lin Ran took the manuscript of the memorial for his nephew and refused to do any work, they accused Lin Ran of being a bastard in a Hong Kong tabloid.

The next day, the newspaper was ordered to close by the Governor's Office, and Xue Renyang was even warned.

This caused Xue Renyang to start cursing in his office.

They say America has been bewitched by Lin Ran, unable to see his wolfish ambitions, and that they are America's best partners.

But what are you thinking? In this day and age, only dogs wag their tails, not the other way around.

Even if there were solid evidence, and it was just speculation, America would only choose to suppress it at this point in time.

For America, on the one hand, it was to maintain the opportunity to continue negotiations, and on the other hand, the existence of China in Hong Kong was a good thing for America's interest groups. So no matter how loudly they shouted, America did not interfere with the new status quo in Hong Kong.

The Chinese representative naturally thought of Hong Kong.

If China wants to cooperate with Southeast Asia and treat it as a model of the entire Cold War, and wants to gain influence and economic benefits from it, Hong Kong is the best example. The Hong Kong experience should be promoted to the whole of Southeast Asia.

For China, if it can achieve this, it will not only gain influence, but also bring huge economic benefits.

"Professor, is Hong Kong a suitable model?" the Chinese representative asked softly.

“You’re right. Hong Kong is a case in point. It’s not just a case; it also reveals America’s own inescapable limitations.” Lin Ran admired the other party’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Despite being elderly and having gone through a long negotiation, the other party was still able to make the most accurate judgment and provide the most appropriate example in the first instance.

Indeed, every person who leaves a mark on history has an undeniable brilliance.

Of course, Lin Ran never ignored the other party from beginning to end.

Lin Ran paused for a moment, then his tone became more certain: "Just as the Soviet Union's strength was built on Mercator's projection, America's strength is not limitless either."

As you can see, since the end of World War II, the empire has established an excessively large and burdensome sphere of influence around the world.

From Europe to the Middle East, then to Latin America, and finally mired in the quagmire of Annam.

Their financial capital can expand indefinitely, but the costs of operating and maintaining their physical assets have long since exhausted them.

An empire can devour finance and use capital control to lend and reap profits, but it cannot effectively build and operate ports, factories, and basic livelihoods in every corner.

This is especially true in Southeast Asia, a region with weak infrastructure and a complex political environment.

Hong Kong, under the cooperation of China and America, is far better managed than any of the Empire's overseas spheres of influence.

America needs a sharer, a reliable entity to operate it.

China can play this role.

We should promote this cooperative model, using Hong Kong as a model.

America controls the intervention power of financial capital and the dominant power of dollar settlement, and profits from the financial markets and high value-added industries in Southeast Asia.

America was in charge of lending and collecting money.

Your company is responsible for building the real economy, establishing trade networks, operating infrastructure, and controlling the supply chains of raw materials and finished products. You are responsible for doing the work and making profits.

The White House's current need for a ceasefire is its best bargaining chip.

At this juncture, China has demonstrated its capability and will, making it difficult for the peace-loving Indochina Peninsula to refuse such a proposal.

For America, they could continue to draw blood from this area without investing various resources.

This is a new form of cooperation and an excellent opportunity for both parties to establish a deeper level of cooperation.

Through this alignment of interests, the Hong Kong experience can be rapidly promoted as an indispensable economic order throughout Southeast Asia.

To put it bluntly, this is actually what Japan did later in Southeast Asia.

Initially, it exported manufactured goods and imported raw materials in Southeast Asia. In the middle stage, it promoted the transfer of manufacturing industries and government development assistance in Southeast Asia, ultimately achieving a cumulative economic benefit of hundreds of billions of dollars.

Until the 2020s, Japan's automotive industry had huge economic interests in Southeast Asia.

It can be said that what Japan wanted to do but couldn't do during World War II was achieved in the later stages of the Cold War.

They gain not only trade surpluses, but also long-term strategic benefits from the regional production networks established through industrial relocation.

The Chinese representative listened quietly, his eyes shining brighter and brighter.

He knew that this was not a simple diplomatic deal, but a grand attempt to redefine the rules of great power competition within the Cold War framework.

He took a deep breath, his tone becoming decisive and serious: "This is an extremely bold, yet highly feasible, idea."

Professor, we will seriously consider this plan.

Lin Ran said quietly, "If China is willing, I am confident that I can persuade President Nixon. I believe he will be very interested in this plan."

Lin Ran had always been well aware that the biggest challenge was not persuading Washington, but persuading Yanjing.

After Nixon took over, putting aside Nixon himself's consistent desire for peace talks, Kissinger, the master of realism, also advocated for repairing relations with China.

Both men originally wanted to normalize relations with China, not to push China toward Soviet Russia.

More importantly, it's about the economy; the fundamental issue lies in the economy.

America's financial situation is very bad.

The protracted Vietnam War had already depleted America's economy to some extent.

The military-industrial complex made a fortune, but America didn't get a share of the pie.

Pentagon contracts flowed like a waterfall to Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, Raytheon, and Smith commissioners, who made a fortune, but America didn't get a share of the pie.

At this time, the White House was facing a huge deficit.

These deficits are being made up by constantly printing money, which is relentlessly eroding the credibility of the dollar.

As America continued to issue new dollars to pay for war expenses and domestic welfare, central banks around the world held far more dollars than they could provide in gold reserves.

Some countries are directly casting votes of no confidence in the US dollar through their actions.

In France, for example, de Gaulle publicly criticized the dollar, arguing that it was a super privilege. France has always been a pioneer in de-dollarization. De Gaulle ordered the French central bank to exchange most of its dollars for gold, and they even used warships to transport the dollars back to France.

European countries followed suit.

Throughout 1970, $100 billion of dollars flowed out of the country and was converted into gold and shipped back to the countries in question.

If history hadn't taken a turn, by 1971 this figure would have been $30 billion—not $30 billion for the whole year, but $30 billion for the first seven months. By August 1971, America's gold reserves had dwindled to the point where they could no longer support the dollar's commitment to foreign exchange.

This directly led to Nixon's famous televised address on August 15, 1971, in which he unilaterally announced the closure of the gold window, permanently ending the fixed exchange rate between the dollar and gold.

This also marks the substantial collapse of the Bretton Woods system.

Therefore, for America, if cooperation with China can help them end the Vietnam War with dignity and bring them much-needed stable trade and profits, they will not hesitate to remove China from the list.

For an empire facing economic collapse, ideological biases must always give way to cold, hard national interests.

Of course, such negotiations also have a time window.

The closer it gets to America's decision to quit, the easier it is to negotiate terms. But once America starts quitting, it becomes much harder to negotiate.

They've all given up, and you'll lose your chance.

Therefore, a once-in-a-lifetime window of opportunity is now before us.

Lin Ran didn't speak, but instead drew charts and numbers on the white paper of his notebook.

The first chart is titled America's Gold Reserve Coverage and Circulating Dollars.

The second chart shows America's balance of payments.

The first chart shows the years between 1960 and 1970. The third chart shows the changes in COMEX gold prices from 1968 to 1970.

"Despite the Federal Reserve's insistence on setting the price of gold at $35, the price of gold has already been raised by nearly 12% in the open market."

International capital is voting with real money, telling the world that the dollar is not worth its claimed value.

Hard currencies such as the West German mark and the Swiss franc are appreciating against the dollar at an alarming rate, while inflation in America is eroding the savings of its citizens.

The resentment within America stemmed not only from the casualties among soldiers on the front lines of the Vietnam War, but also from the decline in their actual purchasing power.

The situation has deteriorated to the point that even a serious event like the Hoover affair could not sway the American people to continue supporting the Vietnam War.

These figures clearly demonstrate that America was no longer capable of simultaneously fighting a Vietnam War, maintaining its global standing, and adhering to the commitments of the Bretton Woods system.

The White House is sitting on a financial volcano that could explode at any moment.

China is not now seeking cooperation, but rather acting as a troubleshooter, negotiating an economic order that is most beneficial to both sides.

After Lin Ran finished speaking, he tore off the chart and handed it to the other person: "Once this window of opportunity is missed, it may never come again."

It's fun to default on debts for a while, and it's even more fun to keep defaulting on debts.

If America does not abide by the Bretton Woods Agreement next year, the current terms may not be negotiable at that time.

The Chinese representative made the decisive choice to return to China.

After the other party left, Lin Ran's only task was the Congress of Mathematicians. The congress officials invited him to give a concluding speech at the closing ceremony, summarizing the 60s and looking ahead to the 70s.

It is mathematics, but it is more than just mathematics.

The Mediterranean sunset cast its golden glow into the main hall of the Nice City Council Palace.

This year's congress of mathematicians was unlike any other, being exceptionally long.

In previous years it only lasted about ten days, but this year it lasted a whole month.

This is actually a reflection of status and influence.

In order to satisfy the negotiations between Lin Ran and China, the Mathematicians' Congress was extended to a month, and the mathematicians who attended the congress had no complaints.

People joked that it was like spending a month on vacation in Nice, a place with a Mediterranean landscape.

Inside the hall, nearly three thousand mathematicians from more than sixty countries sat in deep red folding chairs.

The younger generation is excitedly shaking hands with the masters. They need to socialize and gain inspiration from the masters. In the field of mathematics, questions are far more important than answers.

Those bigwigs who didn't want to socialize or didn't need to socialize sat in the corner, occasionally exchanging a few quiet words.

On the platform, a huge blackboard was wiped clean, as if symbolizing that all proofs had been temporarily put to rest at this moment.

Chairman Pierre stood up and walked to the microphone.

He didn't rush to speak, but instead looked around the room.

As he stood up, the conversation in the hall gradually subsided like a receding tide, leaving only the faint noise of the air conditioner.

"Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, in the past thirty days, this French Riviera has not only been bathed in the light of the Mediterranean, but also illuminated by the most dazzling light of human wisdom."

We witnessed Buck's brilliant breakthroughs in number theory, reaching a level of transcendence; we marveled at Hironaka Heisuke's architecturally magnificent theory of singularity resolution; we followed Novikov's awe-inspiring journey through topology; and we were even more impressed by Thompson's profound insights into the classification of finite groups.

These are the four Fields Medal winners this year.

His gaze shifted to his left, where several young award winners sat, smiling humbly at the audience.

"We are here to celebrate the courage of the four Fields Medal winners who have crossed old boundaries."

But we should celebrate even more that we have all crossed borders. We have crossed national borders, language barriers, and the divide between algebra and geometry, discrete and continuous mathematics.

We sit under the same starry sky, holding the same torch, in the eternal pursuit of truth.

Pierre placed his hands lightly on the podium and continued:

"However, as we prepare to leave Nice and return to our university and our institute, please remember that mathematics exists not only in abstract space, but also in this chaotic world we live in."

We live in an era full of contradictions.

We have the capability to send humans to the moon, but we have yet to solve hunger and conflict on Earth.

In some places, our students are on the streets demanding change and peace.

We mathematicians must not isolate ourselves from the noise of the world.

Our logic, our thinking, and our unwavering insistence on the facts are precisely the antidote this world needs most.

Let our thinking no longer be just a game in an ivory tower! Let our wisdom serve the society we live in, to unravel chaos, to seek harmony, and to build a more rational future.

This is our responsibility to this era, and our promise to the younger generation.

Now, let's give a warm round of applause to the professor for his final concluding remarks, and a message of hope that we'll see each other in Vancouver in four years.

Finally, he bowed deeply and extended his hand to the audience as an invitation.

"Hello everyone."

Lin Ran's short sentence was met with thunderous applause from the audience, his influence almost tangible at that moment.

The reporters in the audience knew there would be no Q&A session, but they still raised their hands high, trying to get the latest news about the negotiations from Lin Ran.

"No matter how noisy the world is, truth and logic will always be our common refuge."

War can destroy everything, but it cannot destroy the ideas in our minds.

My good friend Grothendieck declined to come to accept the award because of the war; he is currently lecturing in Annam.

Another of my friends, Steve Smail, was actively involved in anti-war activism and was investigated by the American Congress.

Among the audience was Professor Fan Tingyi, a scholar of Annamese descent, who was particularly concerned about the war in his homeland and hoped for a peaceful end to it.

My predecessors urged me not to focus too much on politics and aerospace, believing that if I had put my talents into mathematics, I might have already verified the Randolph Program.

In particular, my mentor, Professor Siegel, hoped that I could achieve mathematical unification in my lifetime, build bridges between different branches of mathematics, and create new mathematics.

But I think mathematics is more than just mathematics.

In the past sixty years, I have applied mathematics to many fields. As Chairman Pierre just mentioned, mathematics laid the foundation and framework for the entire Apollo moon landing, which is how we sent humans to the moon.

Without differential equations and numerical analysis, we cannot obtain an exact solution for the Earth-Moon transfer orbit.

Without Kalman filtering, we would have no way to accurately determine the spacecraft's location in space with limited computing resources.

Without Fourier analysis and Shannon's information theory, we would not be able to make the sound of Earth travel across the distance of space so that astronauts on a spacecraft could hear it.

Mathematics is so ubiquitous.

And everyone here is so important.

I think mathematicians should not only focus on the world of logic, but also on the real world, and apply what they have learned to reality. I believe that reality will also give everyone satisfactory returns.

For example, at the Mathematicians' Congress four years ago, I proposed that the Four Color Problem could be solved using computer technology. The year before last, scholars from Columbia University and New York University solved the problem using computer technology.

Real-world achievements can also contribute to the theoretical world.

I not only want to build bridges between different mathematical worlds, but I also want to build bridges between the theoretical world and the real world.

I hope everyone can also devote some energy to related work.

Finally, I would like to talk about peace. This year in Nice, I met with representatives from China. In the past, I held talks with representatives from the Soviet Union, and six months ago, I had a discussion with representatives from North Vietnam about our visions for peace.

Later, I failed to stop the war, and North Vietnam portrayed me in the media as a war profiteer who was deceiving them.

I think this is a misunderstanding. There's very little I can do. I'm just a White House staff member; I'm not the owner of the White House, and I can't make the final decisions. I think this is a profound misunderstanding.

My role is to draw maps, design routes, and assess risks, but ultimately, I don't get to choose which path to take.

I was given the responsibility to negotiate and communicate, but not the ultimate authority to stop the bleeding.

This inherent contradiction is the heavy burden I must bear in the real world.

The world of mathematics is my refuge for inner peace; it is my inner Walden Pond.

The real world troubles me, but the world of mathematics brings me peace. I know that the real world is full of imperfections, but I must bear this responsibility.

Because in politics, taking responsibility is not because you have all the power, but because you participate in the process.

Recently, I have also had discussions with politicians from England, France, and East and West Germany.

They are all looking for a stable and lasting European architecture.

What they pursue is essentially the same as what we pursue.

None of us want war to happen again, and we don't want a fourth world war like the one Einstein predicted, where humanity fights with sticks and stones.

We all seek a balance where the future is predictable, rather than dominated by chance, and a peaceful future.

Even if there are a million possible future timelines, and only one of them is one where peace prevails throughout, I still want to find it.

We are all trying to extract order from chaos.

Friends, I think that in the future you can try to use your intelligence and apply mathematics to various fields to make the world a better place, and let us work together for a possible peaceful future.

May we all contribute to peace in our respective fields. Thank you.

(End of this chapter)