America: My Time

Chapter 1133 Pressure from All Sides

Chapter 1123 Pressure from All Sides
"Boss, the Koreans and Japanese have the highest bids right now, but those Korean bastards want some extra benefits and don't intend to complete the transaction immediately. They want to pay us in installments!" Soon, the competition came to a conclusion. The Indians didn't want to offer a higher price and were eliminated immediately. The Americans and Europeans were also eliminated, leaving only the Koreans and Japanese.

John had originally decided to stop ripping off the Japanese, since he couldn't keep exploiting them forever. But this guy insisted on getting involved, so who could he blame but himself? If the Koreans had been more straightforward and paid in full, John wouldn't have hesitated to make the deal. Unfortunately, these guys always had their own agendas and were always self-righteous.

“Abandon negotiations with the Koreans and talk directly with the Japanese. As long as they pay in full, we can immediately transfer all our shares in the Mangala oil field, withdraw from India, and focus our efforts on Kazakhstan!”

Although Japan's economy is sluggish, it doesn't mean that those guys in Japan are without their tricks. The sale of the Mangala oil field was completed very quickly, which was astonishing. Such a large transaction was completed so quickly by both parties, with little negotiation or investigation. Keep in mind, it was an oil field.

It wasn't that the Japanese were particularly generous; rather, at John's suggestion, Asia Energy handed over all the materials to Japan. Otherwise, why would they have agreed so readily and completed the transaction so quickly? Soon, Asia Energy had a significant amount of capital, which was immediately invested in its various projects.

John didn't want the deal to happen so quickly, but the situation with the Indians came too suddenly. Those bastards had no integrity whatsoever, which made John afraid to continue, fearing he would be tricked by them. That's why he let the Japanese guys get away with it so easily, since the current oil price isn't high and the oil fields aren't very valuable.

This time, the Japanese Sanwa Group's Cosmo Oil won the deal, and these guys are all smiles now. But it's hard to say whether they'll still be so happy a few years from now. Although this unexpected incident has also angered John, it has also made him see these Indian guys for who they really are. They have absolutely no integrity, and these bastards are not worth investing in.

John originally wanted to try to buy land from the Indians and build a large farm, but now it seems better to give up. These dishonest guys would just throw money down the drain if he invested.

"Are you sure Standard Chartered is still selling off assets? Does Asia Energy have such a huge funding gap? How much did Asia Energy gain from the dead Russians? Sakhalin Island alone is astonishing, and now Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are investing heavily in it?" HSBC has been keeping a close eye on Standard Chartered, and they were incredibly shocked to discover that the bank was still selling off assets.

"It's not just Asian Energy; after our analysis, we've concluded that Standard Chartered Bank is using this opportunity to raise funds to strongly support Quantum Mining, which also has considerable assets there!"

"That guy is a greedy bastard. He took advantage of the situation to seize so many assets from us back then, and when the Russians fell, he took even more assets from them. He's really insane. Do you think Standard Chartered Bank might be facing a cash crunch right now?"

"It's unlikely. Even if such a situation were to occur, the impact wouldn't be significant. After all, Standard Chartered has the financial resources of numerous companies, and they've consistently been acquiring gold, so they have the capacity to handle any crisis. Attacking Standard Chartered now would likely be futile. With the support of so many conglomerates, we have no way to shake them. If Standard Chartered hadn't already set its sights overseas, HSBC's position in Hong Kong might have been shaken. Without absolute certainty, we shouldn't act rashly. If we anger them, our overseas expansion plans will be thwarted. Standard Chartered is now present globally, except for the US, which is quite puzzling. With Standard Chartered's strength, they could easily accomplish anything."

"The US market isn't easy to enter, and John also has a bank presence in the US. Do you think those guys on Wall Street would sit still if Standard Chartered Bank were to enter the US market? It's just that it's hard to know the true situation of Standard Chartered Bank now. After privatization, we have no idea what the real situation of Standard Chartered Bank is!"

In HSBC's eyes, Standard Chartered Bank is their biggest enemy, because HSBC is also accelerating its overseas expansion, but they chose the wrong time. Standard Chartered Bank has already completed its layout, while they still have many shortcomings!

After John arrived in Hong Kong, he began making numerous arrangements, including with Standard Chartered Bank. He spent several days there, which made the HSBC staff uneasy, but they didn't know what John was up to. If it was just about Asian energy, was it really necessary to discuss it for so long? This wasn't just HSBC's thought; many people in Hong Kong thought the same. John had considerable assets in Hong Kong, and any move he made could have a significant impact on the entire city.

After completing his arrangements in Hong Kong, John also visited some of the Hong Kong business tycoons. Because John had already planned the expansion of his businesses in Hong Kong, there weren't any major conflicts of interest with these tycoons, and the situation was quite amicable. After all, without a conflict of interest, no one would want to offend John, a major figure in the American financial world!

Of course, this also puts pressure on Hong Kong, given that next year marks the handover to China, and many people are worried. John, on the other hand, doesn't have as many concerns, as his investments in China far exceed those in Hong Kong. However, preparing in advance isn't a bad idea, as the Asian financial crisis could also present a good opportunity.

Just as John was making preparations in Hong Kong to cope with the Asian financial crisis, Lee Boo-jin's arrival shattered his peace. She wasn't in Hong Kong for company matters, but rather to receive a request from the South Korean government to invite John to the Busan International Film Festival. Repeated failures had forced the South Koreans to abandon their foolish arrogance and try to emulate the Japanese. "Forget it," he thought, "I don't have that much time. Besides, it's not like I haven't given them opportunities, but these guys are always so petty, nitpicking everything and making everyone unhappy. This time with the sale of the Mangala oil field, I gave them numerous opportunities, but in the end they came up with the idea of ​​installment payments. Now I have no other opportunities for them, and I have no interest in participating in the Busan International Film Festival!"

Lee Boo-jin wasn't surprised by John's answer. She would have refused too; if it weren't for family ties and personal reasons, she wouldn't have accepted this 'task' at all. The Busan International Film Festival—what a ridiculous excuse! Even Hollywood giants weren't attending; how could a big shot like John possibly participate!
"I had no choice!" Lee Boo-jin was well aware of the Koreans' pettiness. The first time was with the Sakhalin Island undersea oil pipeline and the establishment of pipeline companies in Korea. But these guys were too greedy, causing Asia Energy to abandon cooperation with them and transfer these resources to the markets of China and Japan. The same thing happened with the Mangala oil field before. Perhaps these guys thought John was an easy person to talk to, which is why they were so arrogant.

Of course, this is also related to the Koreans' scheming against American capital. After all, these guys have swindled a lot of American capital, so they wanted to take advantage of John. Unfortunately, their idea was destined to fail, and John wouldn't give them such an opportunity! The more these guys scheme, the greater the price they will ultimately pay!

“Fujin, I don’t quite understand. Since Samsung is willing to participate, why is it dragging its feet and insisting on cooperating with others? I don’t believe that Samsung is capable of acquiring the Mangala oil field.” In fact, John had always had this doubt in his mind. Samsung had participated every time, but in the end, it did nothing.

"There's nothing we can do about it. Samsung can't afford to become the target of everyone's criticism. Moreover, if Samsung goes too far in this kind of cooperation, it will also cause a lot of trouble. Nowadays, development in many areas is constrained. Samsung can't afford to monopolize everything, so it can only go with the flow!"

At this moment, John suddenly realized that although the South Korean conglomerates were developing rapidly, they had not yet reached their peak. They still had their concerns and were not yet at the level of absolute power they would later achieve. Of course, there was another reason that Lee Boo-jin did not mention: South Korean arrogance. As South Korea's economic development entered a fast track, they all became incredibly arrogant.

The Daewoo Group was touted by those guys as an 'unsinkable aircraft carrier,' so at this time, the Koreans were brimming with confidence, leading to this series of ridiculous actions. However, John, seeing through it all, wouldn't expose it in front of Lee Boo-jin.

John knew exactly what these Koreans were thinking. Being outmaneuvered by the Japanese time and time again had infuriated them, and they even felt that the Japanese were deliberately targeting them. Otherwise, how could such things happen? So, these guys wanted to use the Busan International Film Festival to negotiate with him again.

John has no desire to have any further cooperation with these Koreans, especially in the energy sector. John believes that if these guys were to ask for anything, it would inevitably be Sakhalin Island's energy resources. However, these resources have already been arranged, and Japan and China can easily absorb them. Moreover, as time goes on, Japan and China's energy shortage will only grow larger. Under these circumstances, how could John possibly pay any more attention to the Koreans and make such a large investment?

Building an undersea oil pipeline requires a significant amount of capital. Although South Korea has a large energy deficit, Sakhalin Island's production capacity is limited, so such an investment is unnecessary. Instead of focusing on trading with South Korea, they should consider persuading China to jointly build another oil pipeline.

Following the success of Asian energy projects in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, John began considering how to sell these energy resources. China was the best partner, but such an investment was no simple matter, involving numerous challenges. As for supplying energy to Europe, John had no such plans, as geographical proximity prevented him from even considering it.

John had no intention of sharing profits with others. The success of Asian Energy was the result of his own meticulous planning and preparation, so he wouldn't heed the cooperation requests from European and American oil giants. Fueled by arrogance, the Koreans might have even more ambitions, perhaps even eyeing Asian Energy. After all, at this time, the Koreans were brimming with confidence; just look at the Daewoo Group's frenzied expansion to see how arrogant they were.

No normal company would dare to make such a crazy decision. You have to understand that Daewoo Group is currently heavily indebted. Even the slightest change in the external environment could be fatal for them, but these guys just turn a blind eye to it.

Although John's companies also had considerable debt, it was all within a normal and controllable range, and there were many calculations involved in managing it. Daewoo Group from South Korea, however, was not like that. In comparison, Samsung's development was the most stable; at least Samsung didn't act recklessly. If Daewoo Group had been more cautious, perhaps it wouldn't have faced bankruptcy later on.

John believes that South Korea's good days are numbered. Once the Asian financial crisis hits, they will pay a heavy price for their arrogance and regret their foolishness.

"Don't pay attention to what's going on with the Koreans. Stay in Hong Kong for a while and get everything settled here. As for what the Koreans think, that's their own business. Given their current situation, they'll pay a heavy price for their choices. Do they really think American capital is so easy to fool? Don't get involved in this mess!" John was very pessimistic about the Koreans' current situation, and he believed that the oil capital led by Soros had already begun preparing for action in Asia.

(End of this chapter)