The Shark Mutiny (2001)
Page 51
Admiral John Bergstrom was seething at the loss of two of his top commanders, and it took Admiral Morgan five weeks to persuade him not to resign. Admiral George Morris recovered and returned to Fort Meade. His newly promoted personal assistant was Lt. Commander James Ramshawe.
The Chinese ambassador to Washington, His Excellency Ling Guofeng, ran into the most thunderously hard time from Arnold Morgan. The U.S. National Security chief, forced to admit U.S. involvement in the destruction of the Naval base at Haing Gyi, made it crystal clear that the United States would tolerate no further Chinese expansion into the Indian Ocean and its confines.
He told him the United States could, and would, make their actions on the Burmese coast look like kids’ stuff if the Beijing government ever again elected to tamper with the free passage of the industrial world’s oil supply.
The Admiral actually stood up and lectured him. He told him that Beijing now understood what happened when the American superpower was riled. “Just you remember, Ling, behave yourselves. No more adventuring in foreign waters. Because if you do, we’ll hammer you again.
“Okay. Okay. I guess you don’t care. You got Taiwan, which is what it was all about in the first place. The price you pay is to know that’s as far offshore as you guys are going. At least, it is as long as I sit in this chair. As for your most-favored-nation status, you can forget all about that.”
The ambassador stood up to leave. He nodded curtly and headed for the door. And as he opened it, Arnold Morgan said quietly, “Pax Americana, Ling. And don’t forget it.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t quite understand,” replied the ambassador.
“Go figure,” grunted the Admiral, rudely.