America: My Time

Chapter 488 The Impact of Universal Studios

Chapter 488 The Impact of Universal Studios
Profit determines everything; no one will do something without benefit. Everyone holds this view and is unwilling to share profits with others. Therefore, this exchange will naturally not yield any results. Those who are close to British capital probably know about Universal Studios' plans, as well as the Hong Kong government's airport and subway plans, but they will not say it. They are unwilling to share these benefits with everyone; they only want to share the benefits from others.

There are certainly people in Hong Kong qualified to invite John out for a talk; at least Mr. Huo and Mr. Bao are qualified. However, they will not do so. They all understand that if this is John's decision, no matter how much they try to persuade him, it will be of no use. Standard Chartered Bank must have its own considerations and ideas for tightening credit, and it is impossible for them to change their minds just because of their persuasion. Moreover, if problems arise, the favor they would owe would be too great.

In the Universal Studios incident, the Mandarin Oriental Group did not take any action, and John was not informed of their agreement with the Hong Kong government. Even if he came with sincerity, he could not guarantee that the Hong Kong government would not cause any trouble. If they discovered the Mandarin Oriental Group's actions, they might make an exorbitant demand on the Universal Studios project, which would be a loss and would put him in an even more passive position.

John's thinking was correct, and his vigilance was justified. The Hong Kong government has been keeping a close eye on the Mandarin Oriental Group, hoping they will take some action to put themselves in a favorable position in the upcoming negotiations.

What changes have occurred at the Mandarin Oriental Group?

"No, the Mandarin Oriental Group has remained unchanged. If there is any change, it's just that they've increased their overseas investments and have new hotel investment plans in Southeast Asia. Their expansion target is still overseas, not Hong Kong. It seems that Mr. John doesn't trust us much, or rather, he doesn't believe anything we say."

“That makes sense. He naturally has to be cautious with such a huge investment project. Hong Kong is not like Japan. In Japan, he can cooperate with the major conglomerates. The entire Universal Studios project did not require much investment from them; it was almost entirely funded by the major Japanese conglomerates. But that would be impossible in Hong Kong. No one is willing to participate in such an investment. There is no precedent for this in Hong Kong, so it is difficult to guarantee future returns.”

Given the population of both Japan and Hong Kong, it's difficult for Hong Kong's population alone to meet Universal Studios' profitability standards. Therefore, such an investment carries considerable risk. It's understandable that the Hong Kong government is concerned and even distrustful of John because he hasn't taken any action.

"If we want to push forward this major project, we must accelerate the airport plan and the subway plan. Only when these two major projects are officially approved can we convince Mr. John of our sincerity, promote the Universal Studios project, accelerate the development of the New Territories and Lantau Island, and obtain more funds to use for the development of the two major projects."

“Then let’s do it this way. We’ve already given those guys the opportunity. If they don’t do anything, they can’t blame us for not giving them time and opportunity. Tomorrow we’ll bring up the airport and subway plans, and also the Universal Studios cooperation plan to expedite the project’s approval, so as to avoid any unforeseen complications. I don’t think Hong Kong is the only option for Universal Studios. If they are interested in pushing forward with a new Universal Studios plan, Hong Kong is definitely not the only option!”

Hong Kong is indeed not Universal's only option. If the Hong Kong government's terms are not good enough, Universal Pictures will not cooperate with it or invest a huge amount of money. Although there will be a loan from Standard Chartered Bank, without good enough terms, there will be no opportunity for cooperation. After all, such a project would be popular anywhere!

Soon, the bigwigs in Hong Kong learned about the Hong Kong government's plans and what the cooperation between the Hong Kong government and John was about. Universal Studios, such a large project, would indeed boost the entire Hong Kong economy. Just the hundreds of hectares of land alone showed how staggering the investment this project would require. There were also airport and subway plans, all of which were very tempting.

Once these three major projects are launched, they will have a tremendous boost to Hong Kong's economy and change its current predicament. However, all of this depends on the Hong Kong government. Without favorable conditions, it is feared that Universal Studios will not be able to cooperate.

"One hundred and fifty hectares of land—it seems the Hong Kong government is even more eager than we are. Since we've already negotiated with them, we'll move into the development phase. The entire development will be designed by you, ideally in three phases, so it won't put too much pressure on us!" John hadn't expected the negotiations with the Hong Kong government to go so smoothly, and they secured even more land resources, which would be a huge benefit for the future expansion of Universal Studios. However, starting full-scale construction would still take time; at least the designers needed sufficient time to design the entire Universal Studios complex. After Universal Pictures officially signed the agreement with the Hong Kong government, Hong Kong was abuzz. Universal Pictures' design team began working on the Universal Studios Hong Kong project, and Lantau Island in the New Territories immediately attracted the attention of many real estate developers, as the airport and subway plans were also approved.

The emergence of these three major projects will undoubtedly boost Hong Kong's economy. However, this time, the Japanese did not benefit much. The loans needed by Universal Studios were provided by Standard Chartered Bank at the lowest possible interest rate.

John no longer works with Neon Bank, and this time the Universal Studios project did not borrow from Neon Bank. Now that he has Standard Chartered Bank on his side, John has greatly reduced his dependence on Neon Bank.

When news of the Universal Studios Hong Kong project reached Tokyo, those guys couldn't contain their excitement, many banks couldn't help but worry, and they all pointed the finger at Mitsui, believing it was Mitsui's fault.

"It's all those bastards at Mitsui's fault. If they hadn't repeatedly provoked Mr. John, none of this would have happened. They didn't even get a loan from our Japan Bank for such a big project. Mitsui has to give us an explanation!"

"That's not entirely true. Although this incident was somewhat unexpected, it was also within reason. John clearly has Standard Chartered Bank in hand, and Standard Chartered Bank has sufficient funds. Why would John choose to cooperate with us? Although the Mitsui incident did have some impact, it wasn't significant. After all, John is no longer the John we first met. He has enough ability and his own bank. Perhaps such cooperation will become less and less frequent in the future."

"No matter what, Mitsui is to blame for all of this. I just don't understand why they do this, provoking each other's bottom line time and time again. First it was Toshiba, now it's Oji Paper, what will happen next? Are they trying to ruin all our cooperation opportunities? I can't accept this outcome, and neither can Sanwa Bank."

“Mitsui is not acting in their own self-interest, but in the overall interest of Japan. You should all know how important Japan’s demand for iron ore is, and how great its demand for uranium is. This is a sacrifice they are making for Japan.”

"That's true, but they didn't succeed. The iron ore negotiations won't yield any results, and even cooperation between Australian shipping and our Japan is decreasing. We can't accept this outcome! We must improve our relationship with Mr. John, otherwise we'll only drift further away from him. Each provocation will only provoke his resentment!"

"We all understand this and are prepared for it. Things haven't gone as badly as we hoped. The turmoil in the US wasn't resolved quickly, and the PR efforts involving beautiful women have played a significant role. Mitsui, Sanwa, and Sumitomo have all contributed in this regard. Therefore, we can't demand an explanation from Mitsui just because of the Universal Studios Hong Kong project. If possible, I hope everyone here will take action to ensure Mr. John has more beautiful women from Japan. Do you believe there's no other reason behind the quick resolution in Hong Kong?"

They all knew perfectly well that John had women in Hong Kong. In their eyes, there must be other reasons behind the quick success of the Universal Studios project. But these guys were overthinking it. Everything about the Universal Studios project was John's decision, and he wasn't influenced by anyone else.

Unfortunately, the Japanese don't see it that way. They all believe they must increase investment in this area to keep John firmly tied to Japan's ship and make him an 'ally'! These guys are just too crazy; perhaps this is the madness inherent in the Japanese. For the Japanese, once they've made up their minds, they'll relentlessly pursue them. They're now convinced that the previous turmoil was due to the influence of the beautiful public relations women—Naoko, Akina Nakamori, and Hitomi Kuroki—and they want to continue down this path.

At this time, the Universal Studios Hong Kong incident served as a catalyst, making them deeply aware of the crisis and the pressure. Now that such a problem had arisen in Hong Kong, if Taiwan and Europe and America followed suit, Japan's advantages would disappear. They did not want to see such a situation occur, which is why they made this crazy decision. In their minds, this was the best solution and the best choice. In particular, the Japanese government was deeply worried about problems arising in their cooperation with Hughes Aerospace, and they wanted to gain more power!
(End of this chapter)