Monroe Doctrine

by James Rosone

  “How dare you speak to me like that!” Minister Han shot back.

  Riley shrugged his retort off as she stuck her chin out, adding, “I would like to point out two key provisions of the Monroe Doctrine our nation has and will continue to enforce. Provision number three, the Western Hemisphere is closed to future colonization. This includes economic colonization, something your nation has been pursuing as you enslave and ensnare these nations in crippling debt and proxy ownerships of their ports, rail lines, and airports.”

  She leaned forward, picking up steam. “Provision number four, any attempt by a foreign power to oppress or control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States. Your arming of the military forces in this region and your positioning of tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers in these countries is a clear and present danger to the United States and our allied nations. This secret arms buildup will be tolerated no more, Minister Han. We have discovered what you are doing and now we are calling your bluff. You have fourteen days to begin withdrawing your military forces from Latin America or these new sweeping sanctions will go into effect.”

  Minister Han chuckled quietly at her accusations, which only made her angrier. “We will veto any resolution you put forward in the UN to sanction China,” he asserted, practically hissing. “Our forces are in these nations at the request of their leaders. America cannot dictate to them, or us, where our military can train or who they can train with.”

  The British Foreign Secretary, Dudley Phipps, proclaimed, “Minister Han, our government has independently verified what Secretary Riley shared and presented. Our French and German colleagues have also verified the data. The COVID virus that originated in China was created in a lab and it was genetically modified to be even more contagious and specifically target certain segments of the world population. Worse, your nation developed a vaccine prior to its release and made sure your allies had it before you unleashed it on the world. This means you knowingly did this with the intent of killing tens of millions of people. What China has done, Foreign Minister, is not only tantamount to war, it’s a war crime and a crime against humanity.”

  “Not tantamount to war,” growled Igor Primakov, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs. “This was the first strike against the world by China.”

  Minister Han turned in his chair to face his Russian counterpart. “Not you too, Igor? After all the Americans and the West have done to Russia, you are now siding with them?”

  “This virus has ravaged my nation. Oddly, it appears to be focused in our eastern provinces, which just so happens to border China. But none of our Chinese guest workers appear to be sick with the virus, only Russians. Now we know why. China is trying to wipe our population out so you can move in and take our territory,” the older Russian accused. When he finished speaking, he pulled his face mask back up across his nose and mouth. At seventy-one, he was clearly in the demographic most at risk of the virus.

  “Enough!” barked Minister Han as he stood up, pushing his chair back forcefully as he towered over them. Placing his hands on the table in front of him, he glared at the permanent members of the UN Security Council. “It’s your word against ours and the World Health Organization, which has sided with us. As a matter of fact, our virologists are coming to the conclusion that this virus was most likely created at the Soviet facility Aralsk-7 in the 1980s. Our experts believe it is the Russians who built this bioweapon, unleashing it in China to destabilize our country and ruin our economy and then blame it on China in an attempt to turn the world against us.”

  Igor didn’t respond right away. Then he laughed. Not a chuckle or a soft laugh, but a deep belly laugh that echoed in the confines of the room. When he finally regained control of himself, he looked at Minister Han. “We know what you are up to, Han. Russia stands with the rest of the Security Council in condemning you for this wanton act of aggression. If we created the COVID virus like you said, then how come you not only had a vaccine for it, you had already distributed that vaccine to your allies?

  “No, Han, your country weaponizing this virus and unleashing it on the world as you did is a war crime according to the Geneva Convention of 1929. If China wants to avoid a conflict with Russia, then you will pay for the damages you have inflicted on our nation. Until then, we will terminate all cross-border trade between our two nations and deport all your guest workers.”

  Now it was Minister Han whose countenance changed. The veins on his forehead became visible—he was incensed. Instead of responding, Han turned on his heel and stormed out of the private meeting room with his entourage in tow.

  Once Minister Han left, Edison announced to the remaining permanent members of the council, “It is important that we all stay unified against China going forward. You can bet they will use their considerable resources to rally as much of the world as they can to their side.”

  “After what we heard him say to Igor, I think it’s safe to say we know how they will frame this narrative,” said Dudley Phipps. “I think it’s more important than ever that we get the facts and evidence out there as quickly as we can. The Chinese are, if nothing else, masters of manipulating information.”

  *******

  Four Hours Later

  National Security Advisor’s Office

  White House

  Washington, D.C.

  “Hey, boss. I think you better turn on the TV. The Chinese president is making a big announcement at the People’s Hall in Beijing,” Mike said urgently as he poked his head into Wilson’s office.

  “Thanks, Mike” was all Wilson muttered as he searched for the remote on his desk. Finding it, he turned the TV on to one of the news networks.

  The broadcast showed an image of President Yao Jintao giving a speech in what was the equivalent of the White House’s East Room. The Chinese president had a translator standing next to him as he spoke to his state-run media.

  “The last six months have been a trying time for China and the rest of the world. The SARS-CoV-3 virus, also known as COVID-24, has ravaged China and much of the world. I regret to inform our nation and the world that this virus appears to have been maliciously used against the peace-loving people of China by the West.

  “For the last three decades, we have experienced an economic miracle as hundreds of millions of our people have been brought out of poverty through our economic revolution. Right now, China is on the cusp of leading the world into the fourth industrial revolution, which is taking place in the fields of quantum computing and artificial intelligence. Sadly, there are nations who do not want to see China become a world power or leader of humanity. These nations, who frame themselves as the bulwarks of democracy, the champions of liberty, will stop at nothing to remain in power and subjugate the Chinese people to serve them.

  “In the last several days, our intelligence service obtained confirmation that this COVID virus was, in fact, genetically engineered in a lab and then weaponized to be used against China. The virus was originally developed by the Soviet Union during the 1980s. It was locked away and never used until now.

  “Three years ago, during the Sino-Russian border clash near the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk and the Chinese city of Heihe, the Russian president realized there are now three Chinese citizens for every Russian citizen living in the Russian Far East. Fearing assimilation of their provinces, the Russians set into motion the release of the COVID virus in China with the intent of killing hundreds of millions of our people.

  “The Russians, however, could not accomplish this on their own. They enlisted the help of the Americans. While Foreign Minister Han has been working with the American Secretary of State to negotiate a fair and equitable trade deal between our nations, the Americans were secretly spreading this Russian-made virus throughout our country. The virus first spread in the city of Chengdu. From there, it spread to the rest of the country.

  “While this nefarious plan by the Russians and Americans was being concocted, Minister Han f
ostered an economic and military relationship in the Caribbean between the people of El Salvador, Cuba and Venezuela. It was this close relationship with these three nations that led to us finding a quick cure to this virus and allowed us to begin manufacturing a lifesaving vaccine.”

  The Chinese president paused for a moment as he motioned for someone off camera to bring something forward. In a somber expression, he continued.

  “At first, I did not want to believe that America or Russia would do something so terrible. But over the last several weeks, I have been shown a series of intelligence reports ranging from videos to intercepted communications and other pieces of classified information that has confirmed what I have told you. One piece of intelligence that ultimately convinced me was a secret recording of a conversation between the president of Russia and the US president during the Davos World Economic Forum, just six weeks before the outbreak of the COVID virus.

  “As a world leader, I believe it is incumbent on me to be forthright and transparent with my countrymen and the world. As such, the raw intelligence we have obtained and collected will be posted online for all to see so that you can come to your own conclusions. Right now, I would like to play for you the conversation that was captured at Davos, which I believe is the most damning evidence of all. But please, do not take my word on this—watch the videos we’ll be posting, read the transcripts of intercepted phone calls and the emails. Then you can draw your own conclusions about what the Russians and Americans plotted. I encourage the citizens of these nations and the world to demand the elected leaders of these nations be removed from power. They are a danger to us all, and to world peace. What they have unleashed on our planet should be considered a war crime if there ever was one.”

  While the Chinese president was finishing his speech, a stand with a flat-screen TV had been moved into position next to him. Once Yao concluded, the TV came to life.

  The image was partially obscured by security agents as they sought to give the presidents of Russia and America a bit of privacy to talk. It was clear from the background around the two world leaders that the video had been taken at Davos this past January.

  Hey, I remember that meeting, thought Wilson. He had been in attendance. Why am I not visible? What about my Russian counterpart? he wondered frantically. They had both sat there, taking notes as their bosses were talking. Something isn’t right about this video, Wilson thought. We need to pull our own records. We can use them to refute this…

  The more Wilson looked at the video, the more he realized it really did look like the two presidents having a private conversation. Then the audio of the two men became clearer and louder than the background conversations. However, it was obvious to Wilson as someone who had been there that what was being said was not an accurate depiction of that day’s events.

  It wasn’t possible to hear everything the two world leaders were saying, but it was clear they were talking about China and how they were overtaking the West. The Russian president appeared the most concerned, especially when he brought up the challenges they were encountering with the Chinese along their enormous border.

  “The Chinese are flooding our border with immigrants in the Far East,” said the Russian president. “My government now estimates there is close to a three-to-one ratio of Chinese to Russians living there. Worse, they are dumping tens of millions of rubles into the market, buying everything up in our cities. Then they only rent apartments or office space to Chinese-owned businesses or workers. They are steadily annexing our provinces away from us.”

  Wilson remembered that conversation clearly. The Russians had been legitimately concerned about the matter. It was one of the issues that was bringing Russia closer to the West—how to deal with an expansionist China.

  The American president appeared to lean in as he whispered something. “Are you sure you want to move forward with releasing the virus? Once that genie is out of the bottle, there’s no way to put it back in. If what your scientists say is true, this virus will spread across the globe very quickly.”

  “We will announce a vaccine for the virus six months after it’s been released,” the Russian president replied in an equally hushed tone. “By that time, it will have ravaged China, and we’ll have accomplished our goal. Just stick to the script. This will work.”

  That’s not what they said! The more Wilson watched the video, the more appalled he was by what he was hearing. There was no way this video could be real, regardless of how legitimate it looked and sounded. His mind immediately flashed back to several intelligence reports he had read about a technology called deepfake. The NSA, CIA, and DNI had all been warning for months that this new technology could be used to manipulate voter turnout or the results of the coming presidential election. It was scary. Looking at the video and thinking about the technology involved, Wilson felt like this was the nightmare scenario the intelligence community had warned them about.

  Reaching for his phone, Wilson placed a call to his friend Patrick over at the NSA. The man picked up on the first ring. “Hey, Blain. I take it you’re calling about this Chinese news conference?”

  Lifting an eyebrow, Wilson wondered if they had a camera in his office. “Yeah, Patrick, how’d you know?”

  Wilson heard a slight chuckle over the phone. “Easy—it’s fake and it’s about to cause a whole lot of trouble for us all over the world.”

  “Patrick, are you guys on this?” Wilson asked, his voice practically shaking. He steadied his nerves. “We’ll need the NSA to come out strong with a statement on this soon, and I don’t mean your spokesman. You need to have the Director come out and make a statement. We’ll need all hands on deck to counter this bonfire before it turns into a raging inferno.”

  Wilson saw the news ticker update at the bottom of the screen on the TV as the president of China resumed his speech. US and Russia unleashed COVID-24 on the world to take down China, according to Chinese President …

  “Patrick, I need to make some more calls. Get on this and let me know when the Director will make a statement. I need to go talk to the President and the Press Secretary,” Wilson said and then hung up the phone before Patrick had a chance to say anything further.

  Standing up, Wilson grabbed his sports jacket and went over to the Oval Office. As he passed the Press Secretary’s office, he motioned for her to come with him. The two of them made their way over to the office of Albert Abney, the President’s Chief of Staff.

  As they approached, they could see he was already having an animated conversation with several of the President’s advisors about what the Chinese had unleashed.

  Abney turned when he saw the two of them approaching. “Ah, there you are, Blain. We need to get the President briefed. You and I both know that conversation never happened. Hell, we were both with him the entire time he was around the Russian president. They didn’t even show us in the video. Come on, we need to talk with the boss.”

  *******

  Oval Office

  “There you both are,” remarked President Alton gruffly. “What the hell was that?!” He pointed angrily to the TV, which showed the various networks on a split screen. Most of the talking heads were aghast at the prospect that the US and Russia would unleash COVID on the world, all to take down China.

  Wilson was the first to speak. “It was a deepfake attack, Mr. President. The Chinese edited Albert and me out of the video entirely, and they manipulated the audio of the video to say what they wanted it to say.”

  The President didn’t normally swear, but he let loose a string of obscenities at what was happening. He smacked his desk in anger, so hard that his hand from it. He took a deep breath and let it out, trying to control his rage. “I have to make a prime-time address to the nation,” he said. “We need to let the networks know we will require some time. We have to set the record straight.

  “Blain, start working on putting together the intelligence piece on this,” the President ordered as he looked at his National Security Advisor. “I
need handouts we can give to the press. We also need information we can post on the White House website. I want the Director of the NSA to talk about this deepfake technology and how the Chinese just used it in an attack against our nation. It’s critically important that we get this information out to the public immediately. Not tomorrow, or the next day, like right now.”

  A flurry of activity was set into motion as the White House and the government went into overdrive to try and counter the growing narrative that the US had somehow had a hand in unleashing this horrid virus that was ravaging the world.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Blockade

  Port of Mariel

  Cuba

  Esteban Ochoa watched in curiosity as the large roll-on, roll-off ship began the process of offloading its cargo. The ship was clearly a civilian ship, manned by deckhands and workers wearing civilian clothes, so he found it odd to see them offloading military vehicles.

  Turning to Colonel Mateo Diaz, the man who was in charge of this operation, Esteban asked cautiously, “Those vehicles are massive—what are they?”

  The smug colonel grunted at the question. “Not that it concerns you, but that is a WS2400 series heavy-duty missile launcher and transporter. It will make sure those Yankee bastards don’t try to do something stupid to us Cubans and our new Chinese allies.”

  Esteban nodded in acceptance. “So long as they keep the Yankees and that damn virus they unleashed on the world away from us. That’s all I care about, Colonel.”

  Colonel Diaz placed a hand on Esteban’s shoulder as he leaned in. “I like you, Esteban. I was told you were a good Party man. I’m glad you are running the port. I’ve heard you’ve done a great job at making sure this place is safe and secure for our new allies.”

  Smiling, Esteban nodded.

  The two of them stared at the vehicles streaming off the ship. There were a lot of those heavy-duty vehicles being offloaded.