by Uzi Eilam
The security check at the tower’s lobby seemed more stringent to Ronit than those conducted at the entrance to any defense facility. Like the building in its entirety, the manager’s office indicated that its design had benefited from the principles of feng shui. As they sat in the office’s waiting nook, Ronit experienced a supportive peace of sorts.
“I’ll translate what’s being said during the meeting,” the young man informed her. “Mr. Fang speaks solely in Mandarin in business meetings.”
“Hello, Ms. Hart, and welcome to Hong Kong,” the young man translated rapidly. Ronit noticed that Mr. Fang regulated the length of his sentences in order to maintain the flow of the conversation and to refrain from overburdening the translator.
“Thank you, Mr. Fang, for agreeing to dedicate this time to me. I wanted you to know, sir, that people at our bank in Singapore couldn’t believe it when I told them I was meeting you.”
“Quan Lin praised you and, of course, it’s in our best interests to maintain good relations with your bank.”
Ronit paused briefly, grateful for the translation process, which allowed her time to prepare what she would say next. Mr. Fang, sporting a white beard, looked like a Mandarin sage from the history books. He examined his visitor with eyes that radiated wisdom and kindness.
“We know of your achievements in the area of private banking, sir, which have included clients from all over the world,” Ronit ventured. “Our bank has no intention of competing with your activity, perish the thought. I would say it’s better to seek a course of action that will yield advantages and profits for both banks.” Even before the young man translated her statements, she noted a spark of agreement in the manager’s eyes.
“You’ve pointed out a good principle, Ms. Hart, and now we must examine what can be done. What did you hope to achieve in your visit, and how can I help?”
Ronit held her breath. The meeting was progressing more swiftly than she had expected. She had to adapt to the pace of this wise, experienced man.
“Our bank has well-established connections with other banks, financial institutions, and clients in the United States. I was in Israel just a few days ago, and I believe we can build a community of clients there as well. In my meetings with Americans and Israelis, I’ve witnessed the extreme sensitivity to issues of funding crime syndicates and terrorist organizations, as well as funneling funds for money laundering purposes…”
“This sensitivity is indeed justified,” Mr. Fang replied once the young man was done translating. “We here in Hong Kong dedicate a lot of attention to this topic, as does China itself.”
“I’d love to sit down with your people and hear their assessments, which could help me direct our bank’s activity in coordination with yours. I believe the whole topic of monitoring money transfers became more intimidating once cyber means entered the picture…” Ronit didn’t want to specify any more than that. She also refrained from mentioning the defense measures the Singapore bank was employing. She examined the manager’s expression as the young man was translating her statement and discerned a suspicious, cautious gaze.
“Uhm… My main intention is to listen to your people and to learn from them in order to direct my bank in choosing the right course of action,” she quickly explained.
“Don’t worry, madam.” His gaze softened once more, and Mr. Fang’s wise eyes radiated peace. “My people will sit down with you, and I’m sure you can learn from them. I appreciate your directness and honesty.”
This surprising sentiment from Mr. Fang forced Ronit to return to the complex reality in which she was required to account for strategic considerations and tactical traps in the world of international finance. Once again, she felt uncertain to what extent the manager of the bank intended to help her.
“Thank you for taking the time to see me, sir, and I’m looking forward to meeting your people, in the hope that these meetings will pave the way for future cooperation.”
After parting from Mr. Fang with a firm handshake, Ronit spent the entire morning meeting the bank’s executives. All of them spoke English, and Ronit felt at ease. She learned about the Hong Kong bank’s responsibility for printing the Hong Kong dollar currency. The bank’s role in handling conversions of RMB, the Chinese currency, into other forms of currency raised some questions for Ronit regarding the regulation of money laundering by organized crime and terrorist organizations. Some of these questions remained unanswered. Ronit typed summaries of these meetings on her laptop. She kept her bag close to her even when Ming Hua, the young man escorting her, took her on a tour of Victoria Peak as well as many other must-see tourist destinations.
The busy day ended in what had once been a fishing village but had transformed into a prestigious cluster of fish stands and seafood restaurants. The ritual of choosing fish and seafood from the aquarium was familiar to Ronit from Singapore’s seafood restaurants, but once the meal began, she was amazed by the variety and the exquisite flavors orchestrated by the master chefs.
“You’ve had a long, busy day,” her escort said once they arrived at the hotel. “And tomorrow we have more meetings with our private banking team. Mr. Fang asked to conduct another short conversation with you once the meetings are over. And now we’ll let you recoup from this day.”
Ronit arrived at her room, feeling as if she had no energy to review the notes she had taken on her laptop throughout the day. She requested a wake-up call and resolved to dedicate her time tomorrow morning to familiarizing herself with the new information she had acquired during the day.
The hotel gym was once again abandoned, and Ronit began to jog on the treadmill immediately, gradually speeding up. The TV screen was displaying CNN’s daily newscast, focusing on another deadly terror attack in Iraq. As she listened to the CNN reporter’s analysis, her peripheral vision registered two people in jogging suits entering the gym. Several seconds went by before she recalled where she had previously seen the two muscular young men, who stationed themselves on the treadmills on either side of her. They were the curious young men who had sat down next to her during her first dinner at the hotel restaurant. Ronit debated whether to stop running and return to her room or complete her exercise regimen. Gideon’s warnings during their conversation before her flight to Hong Kong were echoing in her ears. As she continued to deliberate, two young women came in, turning toward the stationary bikes. Ronit heaved a sigh of relief, noticed the looks that the young men exchanged, and completed her run.
The hot shower also served as a massage of sorts, calming Ronit down. She decided to stick to the coffee and fruit in the room, rather than going down for breakfast at the hotel restaurant. She powered on her laptop and began to open the file containing her notes, but the computer did not respond. She restarted it again and again. Suddenly, a message in black letters filled the entire width of the screen: “Too many questions. This is your first warning!” Ronit deleted the text, but the message appeared again. Only on her third attempt did it disappear, and the laptop resumed its normal operation
She forced herself to persist, focusing on going over the main points of the previous day’s meetings. What do I do with this? Ronit debated, thinking how happy she would be if Dan Avni were there beside her.
The morning meetings were interesting, contributing information that sounded important to her. Ronit didn’t dare bring up topics related to cyber threats to the banking system and regulation of money laundering. She would share the morning’s events with Gideon and Dan once she returned to Singapore.
“Did you receive good answers to your questions?” Mr. Fang began with nearly no preliminaries.
“Yes, sir. I was impressed by how knowledgeable your people are, and I have some ideas for collaboration between our banks. Of course, I have to raise these ideas with the managers of the bank in Singapore…”
“Of course, madam. Our bank, too, will have to coordinate future steps with Beijing.
I won’t be revealing any secrets, Ms. Hart, when I mention the authority of our party leadership in regard to everything that takes place in the country.”
“I’ve gotten to know that, Mr. Fang, but I thought that the economy and the financial world had brought China closer to a more capitalistic worldview.”
“That is true, but this capitalism, too, is supervised and managed by the party. We here in Hong Kong, along with the business world in Shanghai as a whole, enjoy a certain degree of freedom in conducting our business, but we know we need to coordinate every action with the party leadership’s policy.”
“Thank you for clarifying such an important point, sir. I’ll keep it in mind and take it into account in all my interactions with your organization in the future.”
***
Ronit found herself alone in the Singapore Airlines business-class lounge after parting, with true gratitude, from her escort, Ming Hua. She had not brought up her ominous encounters with the young men at the restaurant and the gym and did not dare mention the threat conveyed through her computer. Her last conversation with the bank manager had raised many questions. Was the all-powerful bank manager merely expressing abstract sympathy? Was he limited in his freedom to act in regard to her bank in Singapore? And what was the meaning of the threat that had surfaced on her laptop? She found herself yearning to share all these disturbing issues with Gideon Ben Ari and Dan Avni. Ronit was happy to return “home” to the bank, feeling that, after her trip to Hong Kong, she had new directions that would prove acceptable to the management of her bank.
Chapter 18
“We have a few minutes before the team meeting starts,” Gideon said to Tan. “Could you say a few words about Singapore’s strategic relations with Taiwan?”
“We have a good relationship with them, and we cultivate it despite the dissatisfaction that the Chinese express in that regard. We need Taiwan’s air and land space for our army’s training.”
“I seem to recall your air force actually conducts its training in Australia.”
“That’s true. We do make use of Australia’s immense spaces, but it is far away.”
“Israel, too, has good relations with Taiwan, and in our case as well, we have to make sure not to aggravate China too much. We appreciate the technological progress there, and we might need their help in the area of electronic micro components. The urgent thing, at this point, is cultivating the relationship in the service of the Singapore cyber defense project, and I suggest we focus solely on this mission now.”
“Let’s stop here, Gideon,” Tan interjected. “The entire team is already here, and we better go into the conference room. We have some serious topics on the agenda, primarily getting the latest details on the chain of events concerning the exposure of the student terrorists.” Tan paused to sip at length from a glass of water on the table. He scanned the faces of the attendees sitting around the table, who were tense and silent, then summarized the case of the students for them, reporting on the decision to arrest them.
“I want to remind everyone,” Gideon chimed in, “that my initial recommendation was to release the three, along with an apology for the police’s so-called mistake on the Johor Causeway. The students were supposed to perceive it as a mistake, rather than an exposure of their true identities. But now, after discovering the stock of ammunition in the basement, we’re dealing with a new situation. It seems safe to assume that Kuala Lumpur already knows that the students’ plot has been exposed.”
“My people isolated each of the three students and started interrogating them methodically. We’re focusing on studying the data discovered on their computers and routinely sharing this information with the investigation team,” the head of the Counter Intelligence Division reported.
“With your permission, General Tan,” Chang Mei said, “I understand that further information has been discovered, which we all hope will prove illuminating.”
“What do you mean?” Tan wasn’t fond of surprises.
“I see that Mr. Avni arrived with a file of information. Why don’t we hear what he has to say?”
“There’s been plenty of communication, properly encrypted, from Malaysia to their people in Singapore. I have evidence of involvement by the Iranian Embassy in Malaysia, especially by Ambassador Ja’afari himself. I’ve also seen some information, albeit limited, indicating a personal involvement by the head of the Malaysian intelligence agency, General Anwar Razek. I’m still going over the analysis of the accumulated material, but I have no doubt that Gideon was right when he said that Kuala Lumpur already knows that something has happened to their agents here.”
“This is important information, and we should find out more details about the intentions of these two generals.” Tan addressed the head of the Counter Intelligence Division. “I request that the interrogation of the three students be expedited, and that we receive ongoing updates. We’re done here for today, ladies and gentlemen, and all of us have a lot of work to do. You, Damia, please come in to see me with the summary of the meeting.”
Gideon, Deutsch, and Dan turned toward the room that had been allocated to Dan in the technology lab. Rogel signaled to Gideon that he would join them shortly, lingering to talk to Damia, a fact that Chang Mei registered immediately. Damia soon resumed her duties, approaching Tan.
“You managed the discussion very well,” she said as she handed him the minutes of the meeting.
“Oh, what’s more important is what’s taking place in Kuala Lumpur. I feel very concerned, and I’m not sure we’ve uncovered everything that’s going on there in regard to preparations for terrorist attacks. Please send this summary to the prime minister’s office and to the minister of defense,” General Tan instructed after turning to browse the meeting minutes, inserting several corrections.
“What do you think is propelling Malaysia to carry out terrorist attacks in our territory?” Damia ventured to ask.
“We still don’t know everything. This is an echo of the old apprehension regarding the Chinese community, before Singapore separated from Malaysia. We still don’t know what part the Iranian embassy in Kuala Lumpur is playing. Iran might be at the bottom of this, or perhaps the motivating force is a local initiative by the new ambassador, Ja’afari.”
“Why doesn’t Malaysia feel threatened by the activity of the terrorist organizations?”
“That might be the case today, but we have to remember that in the distant past, for many years, communist Malaysians were carrying out terrorist attacks in the northern part of the country. It could be that, by virtue of being a Muslim country, Malaysia is immune to such attacks. You have to remember that most of the attacks in our region are carried out by Muslim organizations. They perceive Singapore as a representative of the West, justifiably, in my opinion. And despite Iran being a Shiite country, rather than a Sunni one like Malaysia, the connection to Iran is quite strong thanks to the Muslim religion.”
“So the motive is religious, rather than ethnic?” Damia tried not to think of her family, who observed the rules of Islam.
“So it would seem,” Tan agreed. “But why are you asking? What’s bothering you?”
“First of all, there’s a threat of terrorist attacks here, which, luckily for us, has yet to be realized. It’s bothering you, and so it has to bother me as well. I have family in Kuala Lumpur. Maybe it’s time to go see them?”
“There’s no impediment, but not at the moment, when we’re dealing with so many things.”
***
“How’s the pilot coming along?” Deutsch was asking as Rogel joined the three men at the technology lab. “Did you completely resolve the algorithm bug? And how are the components working?”
“When it comes to building the system,” Dan replied, “I think I’ve overcome the obstacles, and it’ll be possible to operate the system with a large number of sensors.”
“What can we see in the
meantime, Dan? I’m not really caught up,” Rogel apologized.
“I’ve installed a control array that includes surveillance of outgoing communication to Malaysia, as well as communication with sensor-equipped devices, attached to tiny magnets, which I’ve installed on several containers at the terminal.”
“And it’s already working?” Gideon asked. “Can we see it here, on your screens?”
Dan decided to simply activate the system that was a source of universal fascination. For several long minutes, the sights and sounds were displayed on the screens that Dan connected to the control system, and the quiet was disrupted only by the impressed murmurs of his three guests.
“You can see how the optical sensors pick up on movement by people and equipment in the terminal. You can also see that, even with a limited number of sensors, they transmit information to additional sensors and persist in tracking the motion. The sensors attached to the containers show us what’s in the containers, which adds to the information already in the network. The computerized micro components store the information in the system, and we just saw how they transmit commands to sensors that haven’t ‘awakened’ into action yet. I’ve also tested auditory sensors here, and their output is also added to the system’s memory sensors. The full IOT network can receive all of this activity, thus providing us with a precise, evolving, and dynamic defense system. But we’re not there yet,” Dan concluded, looking at the screens with pride.
“Why?” Gideon protested. “What is the system missing in order to become operational?”
“I’m not satisfied with the performance of two out of the five types of sensors that form the core of the system. I want to improve the system by using micro components based on gallium nitride. It’s important to do it before we order large quantities of sensors for the operational system.”
