127: Peng Lin: Taking advantage of the two superpowers!

As Peng Lin completed the constellation design for the “Beidou Satellite Navigation System” in the Asia-Pacific region, the international situation also became increasingly complex.

Due to the impact of the “Mission Accomplished” military exercise, Long Country obtained an entry ticket to the club of global strategic nuclear powers.

This instantly made Long Country a target for both the “NATO” and “Warsaw Pact” blocs to court.

With the “Iron Curtain of the Cold War” and the “bipolar struggle” in a stalemate, both Pretty Country and the Mao Bear Empire wanted to win over Long Country as a powerful external ally!

Some international experts and geopolitical strategy professors even analyzed that if either Pretty Country or the Mao Bear Empire secured Long Country's allegiance, it would gain an overwhelming advantage over the other!

This naturally made Long Country an international “hot commodity”!

For example, the Mao Bear Empire frequently dispatched delegations from red countries like Poland and East Germany to visit Yanjing, attempting to mend relations with Long Country.

They even claimed they could consider resuming the aid program to Long Country, which had been suspended for nearly twenty years.

Meanwhile, Pretty Country and Western European nations also sent special envoys to visit Long Country multiple times.

Furthermore, the Pentagon stated that even if Long Country did not wish to join NATO, they could provide free avionics technology upgrades for Long Country's recently test-flown J-8 fighter jet.

This was to reduce Long Country's significant disadvantage against the Mao Bear Empire's air force.

For a time, this allowed Long Country to experience the sensation of having two world superpowers simultaneously “feeding” it.

Inside the Ministry of National Defense, everyone's faces showed a hint of joy.

After so many years, Long Country had finally made a name for itself on the international stage!

“Resuming economic and military aid!”

“Helping us upgrade the J-8 avionics technology for free!”

“The Mao Bear Empire and Pretty Country have successively sent special envoys, urging us to quickly agree to various aid agreements!”

“Comrade Peng Lin, what is your view on the current international situation?”

Marshal Xu Yong'an brewed a cup of tea for Peng Lin in his office and asked.

Although Long Country currently enjoys immense prestige on the international stage, this is only because the two world superpowers view Long Country as a breakthrough point to disrupt the Cold War balance!

Once Long Country chooses either side, it will likely immediately become the target of fierce attacks from the other bloc!

Because only by destroying Long Country or making it lose its potential for development can the Cold Warpattern be restored to a state of balance!

Given Long Country's current national strength, it is essentially walking a tightrope; one misstep could lead to complete defeat!

“Chief, if we choose to side with one party, we are indeed likely to suffer fierce attacks from all countries in the other bloc!”

“But only children make choices; adults should want it all!”

“The Mao Bear Empire and Pretty Country both want to aid us, so we should just accept everything without refusing!”

“In short, it's just one sentence: no initiative, no refusal, no commitment, no responsibility, no change!”

Peng Lin took a sip of tea and said with a smile.

“What do you mean?”

Marshal Xu Yong'an looked bewildered, yet he also felt a spark of insight, so he quickly asked.

“No initiative means that our Long Country will resolutely not proactively approach either Pretty Country or the Mao Bear Empire, nor will we actively request aid!”

“No refusal means that no matter which superpower contacts us or wants to aid us, we will not refuse!”

“No commitment means that during the process of contact and accepting aid, relations between the two countries can warm, but we will never make any promises of alliance or agreements to the other party!”

“No responsibility means that aid is aid, but if the other party makes any demands on us, we must state that we bear no responsibility!”

“No change means that our Long Country must adhere to an independent path and not be influenced by either of the two superpowers to make changes!”

Peng Lin continued to sip his tea and explained.

“No initiative? No refusal? No commitment? No responsibility? No change?”

“Can it really be done this way?”

Marshal Xu Yong'an stared at Peng Lin, dumbfounded and deeply shocked.

But in an instant, he felt as if a new world had opened up to him!

That's right, all aid plans were proactively proposed by Pretty Country and the Mao Bear Empire, so why should Long Country choose only one side?

If Long Country only agreed to one side's aid plan, it would inevitably face fierce retaliatory attacks from the other side!

But now, if they followed Peng Lin's “Five Noes Principle” and accepted both sides?

Then wouldn't there be no problems at all?

As for whichever side, the Mao Bear Empire or Pretty Country, felt something was amiss and wanted to stop aid to Long Country, as long as the other side continued to aid Long Country, they would likely worry that Long Country would completely lean towards the other side and would not dare to stop for a while!

Even if, hypothetically, both countries simultaneously stopped aid to Long Country, it wouldn't have any impact on Long Country!

It would simply mean continuing to rely on self-reliance!

“Simultaneously milking the two largest superpowers in the world—this is a brilliant move!”

Marshal Xu Yong'an said to Peng Lin.

At the same time, he finally understood the reason for the constant smile on Peng Lin's face.

It turned out that from the very beginning, Peng Lin had made up his mind to simultaneously outwit both the Mao Bear Empire and Pretty Country!

“Chief, there's one more thing!”

“Military aid is not essential, and the weapons, equipment, and technology of NATO and the Warsaw Pact may not necessarily integrate into our military's newly constructed system!”

“If possible, it would be best to have the two superpowers convert military aid into economic aid!”

“For example, the Mao Bear Empire's cheap minerals and energy, and Pretty Country's vast market, capital, and influence in global capitalist nations...”

Peng Lin looked at Marshal Xu Yong'an and added again.

The Mao Bear's so-called economic and military aid plans were aimed at Long Country twenty or thirty years ago.

Many of the plan's contents and conditions were long outdated and unsuitable for Long Country's current development.

As for Pretty Country's proposal to help Long Country upgrade the J-8, Long Country needed it even less.

As an expert in the aerospace field, Peng Lin was very confident in the research and development of the J-10 fighter jet, so there was naturally no need to risk technical and military intelligence leaks by letting Pretty Country help upgrade the J-8 avionics!

“Don't worry!”

“Our comrades in the diplomatic department are much better at negotiating than we soldiers are!”

Marshal Xu Yong'an smiled mysteriously and said to Peng Lin.

He even planned to immediately report Peng Lin's “Five Noes Principle” to the higher-ups, urging them to quickly make a decision and implement it!

After all, Long Country's current favorable situation was all brought about by the Dongfeng-6 intercontinental missile!

It's better to “milk” as much as possible from the two superpowers now, otherwise, once these two countries realize Long Country's true strategic intentions, Long Country might not be able to get anything even if it wanted to!

And when Peng Lin saw the mysterious smile on Marshal Xu Yong'an's face, he instantly felt at ease!

After all, when it came to strategy, Long Country's older generation of leaders were more adept!

In fact, it seemed Long Country had rarely suffered losses in this regard!

Now, Long Country was at the beginning of its grand reform and opening-up, which was the perfect opportunity to “milk” the two superpowers and get its first pot of gold!

...January 1, 1980.

As the spring breeze of Long Country's reform and opening-up swept across the nation, the world officially entered the 1980s!

After negotiations between various departments of Long Country and the Mao Bear Empire and Pretty Country, a series of close cooperation plans were finally reached!

For example, Long Country could import low-priced minerals and energy from the Mao Bear Empire at cost.

Another example was Pretty Country agreeing to grant Long Country observer status in the “General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,” allowing Long Country to enjoy most-favored-nation treatment under the agreement and engage in global trade!

And at the same time, the Beidou Satellite Navigation System was finally completed!

Ready for launch at any time!