by Ed Nelson
I handed the phone to the Ambassador with a quick explanation. He grabbed it from me as though it were a lifeline. In a way it was, he was beating the Americans to a trade deal.
After that, he hadn’t time to talk to me as he had aides chasing down contact information for B-W.
It was a civil time of day in London so he was able to speak to the B-W Chairman who would be expecting a call from the Chinese Health Ministry. He assured the Ambassador that B-W would be delighted to have the business and would cooperate in every way. That is if the Chinese had a way to pay. The Ambassador assured him the Chinese had a large line of credit backed by Lord Blackhoof.
This seemed to reassure the B-W Chairman. I didn’t realize that people other than the tabloids paid that much attention to my finances.
This should get me some points with the British FO.
I told the Ambassador I had to fly to Hong Kong to pick up the new American Ambassador. He asked why I was going. I must have looked blank. He pointed out that I was to get him from Hong Kong to Peking, that didn’t mean I had to be on the aircraft.
That hadn’t occurred to me. I immediately had a message sent to my flight crew captain that he was to fly to Hong Kong, pick up the new American Ambassador, and return to Peking. Mr. Cushing was to be given the full use of the plane, including my bedroom.
When they landed in Peking, I was to be notified so I could meet him at the airport and bring him to the British Embassy which had offered its hospitality.
The building we called the British Embassy was temporary housing provided by the Chinese government. It was like an old hotel leftover from the Boxer Rebellion. A permanent building would be acquired later.
The Americans would have to do the same. I wondered if there were many of the buildings left over from the 1900s. These would be desirable because they would have western toilets. I hated the hole-in-the-floor concept.
That reminded me to send another message to my plane. While in Hong Kong they were to pick up some toilet paper, lots of toilet paper!
After that, I went to bed early. I suspected that tomorrow would be a busy day.
I had an early breakfast and read the International newspaper. The Chinese kept up with what was going on in the rest of the world without talking to them.
I inquired about going for a run. I was taken to the front entrance where there was a small contingent of Chinese soldiers providing temporary security. British troops were in transit.
Through an interpreter, my wish to run was made known. I was given a two-soldier escort and we set out. It felt good to be running after being cooped up in my plane for days on end. I ran about ten miles. I made a point of circling back to the Embassy every couple of miles so my guards could be replaced. Long-distance running must not be on the list for the Chinese army.
By the time I got my run in and cleaned up with a fresh suit it was time to pick up Mr. Cushing.
The flight was on time and I was told it was uneventful. And yes, they had picked up lots of toilet paper. I snagged a couple of rolls to take with me. The Chinese didn’t use any, using the same methods as India.
Mr. Cushing wasn’t on board; he had sent several staff members as an advance party. While not thrilled it did make sense. We went to the British Embassy where calls were made to start the process of him submitting his credentials which were sent ahead.
No one was wasting time. After lunch, we were driven to the Forbidden City and taken to Mr. Deng who had set up an office there. I don’t know where the Chairman normally worked but I think many symbolic shifts were occurring.
I introduced the senior staff person, then was escorted from the room.
I met another official. Through an interpreter, I learned that I was being offered my choice of buildings in the old foreign trade zone. Not for free but first chance to buy one. I could use it as my Chinese headquarters. This was the first I knew I would have a Chinese headquarters, but it made sense.
He had a list of buildings for sale. It gave the size of the building, number of rooms, and types, along with the outside area.
Having a sudden thought, I asked if I was limited to one building. After a surprised look, I was told I could buy as many as I wanted.
“I would like to purchase all of these buildings.”
I was going to be the landlord for all the Embassies as China opened.
Chapter 12
The Chinese official got a startled look on his face then did something I had never seen in China, he giggled.
“That is good, the French and Italians will scream the loudest. The British and Americans will end up building their own. It will have to be on these large empty lots here.”
As he said that he was pointing on a map to two twenty-acre lots. By the way, these lots are for sale.”
“I would like to buy them.”
“Of course, there is a small recording fee.”
“Will this cover it?”
I handed him two American twenty-dollar gold pieces. He made them disappear.
“They will do nicely. The only major Embassy you will not own the land, or the building is the Soviets.”
“If it ever comes up for sale let me know.”
“For an honored person such as yourself, I will be glad to.”
Right, I thought, you honor my gold.
I immediately saw the need for a Chinese Headquarters. I asked my new Chinese friend which of the buildings I was buying was in the best condition for immediate occupancy.
Without hesitation, he pointed at one. This was the office of a Soviet business group. They thought that relations between us and the Soviets would permit much trade. The Soviet government never allowed them to make trades, so we repossessed the building.
“Is it ready to move in?”
“Almost, some carpets need to be replaced and walls painted, the blood you know.”
Some repossession.
“I will need to arrange to transfer funds with the Peoples Bank of China.”
“I believe they have arrangements with banks in Canada and Switzerland.”
“That will work, any problems holding these until the funds are transferred?”
“There will be a fee for that service.”
Fortunately, I had several more gold coins on me. From his office, I returned to the Forbidden City by the car provided by the British Embassy. Once there I went to Chairman Deng's office where the helpful official who I had sent me to the real estate office waited.
I asked for his help in obtaining my Chinese passport and any other papers I may need. He had them in his desk drawer. There was a passport made up with my picture in it, all I had to do was sign it. He gave it a final stamp and it was good to go.
There was also a set of travel documents that let me travel anywhere in China as though I were a high official in the Communist Party. I asked him if there were any fees.
“Do you mean bribes, if so, that would be a labor battalion for the bribe-taker or even the death penalty for multiple bribes?”
“What about the person offering a bribe?”
“Twenty years at hard labor at best, maybe death.”
I hoped the real estate guy was careful where he flashed that gold. How many people were handing out American twenty-dollar gold pieces?
He made a phone call to the Peoples Bank and made me an appointment. My driver took me there, it was literally across the street all he did was make a U-turn in front of about a million bicycles and we were there.
At the bank, I met with a senior vice president. It turned out they had handled my letter of credit for the money I had initially loaned China, so they knew the avenues to get money from my bank into theirs.
I opened an account with them and with his help sent transfer instructions to my bank in LA. The money would go from the US to Canada to China.
From this route I thought it would take days, instead, it would be hours, of course, each bank would take one percent of the funds as their fee.
I think bribery was c
heaper. That is if you didn’t get caught.
While I was doing this, I kept track of the time. From the bank, I was taken to the airport where Mr. Cushing should finally be arriving on my plane.
It was on time. I boarded the aircraft to an almost full front section. The Ambassador hadn’t come alone. I was met by an aide and taken to my office where the Ambassador had made himself at home.
I didn’t mind him using the office, but he should keep his damn feet off my desk.
He did stand to shake hands. I decided to let the feet on my desk issue go in the spirit of harmony.
He graciously offered me a seat in my office. This was getting old fast.
“Mr. Jackson I’m glad to meet you. Thank you for providing transportation. This is a nice office setup you have here. With the copy machine, telex, and typewriters I think I will use this until we get settled into a new building.
It shouldn’t take long to find temporary quarters.
What is it with these American officials? First that idiot General now this.
“That won’t be possible. This is a British flagged aircraft. It is Queen’s Messenger One.”
“Nonsense you are an American citizen and I need this aircraft.”
“What does my citizenship have to do with it?”
“I can have your American Passport canceled if you don’t cooperate. You will be stranded here with no way home and the Chinese will make short work of you.”
Where do these people come from? From my suit coat, I pulled four passports, an American, two British diplomatic and civil, plus my brand-new Chinese one.
“Take your pick.”
He picked them up and rifled through them.
He handed them back to me, “Obviously I wasn’t given a full brief on you.”
“Now take your people and get off my airplane.”
He left without further comment his entourage following. I had no idea how they would get to the British Embassy and didn’t care.
Using the onboard telephone, I called Deng’s aide and told him I would like to find lodging at a hotel. Western style if possible. He told me it wasn’t, but they had western-style rooms on the Forbidden City grounds that I was welcome to use. They had been put in for the Soviets when they had good relations.
I figured it was time to move, the British Embassy wasn’t big enough for me and the American Ambassador.
In the meantime, my Bentley was unloaded. A local driver was hired by the flight crew. Harold had a new collection of clothes for me to wear so he joined me on the trip into the city.
My room was an enormous suite. It looked brand new with all the latest in 1940s furniture. Heavy ornate furniture. It was as ugly a room as I have ever stayed in. That said it had all the amenities.
Harold thought the place was great. Of course, he grew up in a Palace that was last updated when Victoria was Queen.
I placed a call to the White House; it only took an hour to make the connection. Once connected I explained to Ken O’Donnell what an ass they had chosen for an Ambassador. He was surprised to hear my story as he had been assured that Cushing was the man for the job.
I told them I wasn’t worried about me as I could ignore him, he should be concerned about his relating to the Chinese. He was acting as though he could send a gunboat up the river to make his points.
I was told they would talk to Dean Rusk and see what was going on.
The bed was comfortable, and I had a good night's sleep.
The first thing in the morning I had a call placed to the Bank of China to check on the status of the funds I had asked for. There now was twenty-five million dollars in my Chinese bank account. I would have to do something with it soon as it was illegal for Chinese citizens to hold foreign currency.
I intended to spend a good bit this morning but would still have eighteen million left. I was reluctant to have it converted to Chinese renminbi yuan as they had no official conversion rate with the rest of the world.
I was told that I should put my dollars into gold, it was illegal for Chinese citizens to own gold, but the British Lord Blackhoof could store his gold in their vaults.
I asked what that would take. It turned out extremely easy as there were huge amounts of gold in their vaults which changed hands all the time. I could purchase gold for a small fee. This fee wasn’t to be confused with a bribe as it was authorized by the bank managers, it was shared by all employees involved.
I arranged the gold purchase and had a bank draft drawn for the buildings and land I was buying. I did have the smarts to have Deng’s aide clear the purchase with both Chairman Deng and Lady Ping. They both wrote back that it was a wise move for many reasons.
I went back to the official real estate office and made my purchase, after paying small fees, not to be confused with bribes.
Chapter 13
My biggest issue now was to find someone to run my Chinese headquarters. I would prefer to find a Chinaman here in Beijing who had gone to school in America, an English speaker who had experienced the culture.
Again, I went back to Chairman Deng’s office for advice. A different person was manning the front desk. They knew who I was, no surprise there, how many round eyes as they called us were in town.
I explained my need. He led me to another room which was filled with filing cabinets. We stopped at a desk barring the way into the room. Fast words in one of the Chinese dialects had the man at the front desk summon another. After short instructions that person went out of sight presumably to find the information.
They returned in five minutes with six folders. They were presented to my guide. Since they were in Chinese, I didn’t have a clue what was said.
My guide went through them and handed three back.
He turned to me, “These two are problems, one gambles more than he can afford, and the other drinks too much. The last one has a good job that is valuable to the state, so we won’t interview him.”
So much for freedom in China. Though it did save me time.
“We will have these three come in for interviews tomorrow.”
We went back to his office.
“I understand that the new American Ambassador was recalled before he could present his credentials. Do you know anything about that?”
“He flew in on my aircraft. I met him before he deplaned and determined he would not serve the American needs so suggested they review his record. It looks like they did, and he was found wanting.”
“That is what we were told, the American government seems to respect your opinion.”
“I don’t know about that, but they are smart enough to listen and double-check.”
“It says much that they listen to you and don’t dismiss your thoughts out of hand.”
“I suppose so.”
I spent the rest of the day going through the eight buildings I had bought. As I had been told some carpet replacement and paint would remove the long-dried bloodstains in the building that would be my headquarters.
All the other buildings needed considerably more work but could be refurbished. Two of them were in better shape so they could serve as the American and British Embassy’s until they built their own.
I left a message for the British Ambassador about the buildings and that he should detail someone to look at them. I had been given to understand by my Chinese real estate person that the Embassy would only be allowed in this area and these buildings.
The real estate office was not like a traditional American company. They were more like the American General Services Administration; they were an arm of the government providing over-the-counter equipment to the various government bureaus.
Among other things they acquired office space or like in this case dispose of unneeded buildings. What they said goes.
The next day I interviewed my three candidates and ended up hiring all three. They were all American educated well-spoken men. One Mr. Wang stood out as he had a Doctorate from Stanford in business administration.
Normally I would give preference to someone who had real-world experience. In this case, he had both. He had returned to China to try to save his family's failing shipbuilding firm.
He worked hard for six years before he had to let it go under. A note in his file said that his father had offended the local communist cadre leader and that the business was forced under by the state.
Meeting Mr. Wang was against all expectations. I thought as a Ph.D. he would be a soft-looking man. He looked as hard as nails with a handshake that would do Popeye proud.
The other two only had master’s and hadn’t run large businesses but I thought they would make good assistants to Mr. Wang. I wanted to overstaff a little to help ensure Mr. Wang’s success and at the same time have a reserve in place if he failed on a personal level.
I called Jim Williamson in LA. That was a hard phone call, not the conversation, the connection. It took over an hour to set the call-up, then it was immediately dropped.
We had to shout to hear the other. I asked him to come to China and help Mr. Wang set up the office here so that it was in close contact with the California offices. The building was in Beverly Hills, but I couldn’t break myself from thinking of it as the LA headquarters.
Jim asked if he could bring his wife as they had no children, and she didn’t work. I told him to bring her and have a good time. I arranged a suite for them at my hotel, a car, and a driver along with a translator.
The hotel concierge assured me that they would arrange a ‘shopper’ to help Mrs. Williamson spend all of Jim’s money. I made a mental note to give Jim a bonus for this trip.
With banking arrangements set up, first office staff in place, and support arranged for them I thought I was ready to return to the US.
To be safe I checked with Chairman Deng’s office to see if there was anything, they needed me for. There wasn’t but there was a request from Empress Ping to call upon her.
I had made my calls from the hotel next to the Forbidden City, so I immediately started to cross the street to the complex. That is when I realized that all wasn’t well in China. I no sooner than stepped outside the door and gunfire started.
