Chapter 914 The Test of the Deputy Secretary-General

Alan Wilson spoke to the Americans, hoping that Washington would use its influence to regulate the increasingly fierce fishery disputes between Newfoundland and Iceland. As for the demarcation of the Gulf of Guinea, the United Kingdom would try to come up with a solution that was not amicable.

"I hope so." Kidston nodded reluctantly, but he didn't believe that any miracle would happen. With so many countries involved, it was not easy to come up with a plan that would not harm peace.

He believes that Alan Wilson is just expressing optimism and does not think that there is anything that can be done.

From this time on, the issue surrounding the demarcation of the Gulf of Guinea was joined by the disputes between Newfoundland and Iceland, which also involved delimitation. Because European fishermen were also the main force in Iceland's transgressions, the United States joined the discussion on this issue.

As Garbo said, with Americans' arrogant self-understanding, it is neither realistic nor rational to exclude them.

Let the United States stay out of the matter through a secondary issue, so that the United States' attitude can make things more logical.

Alan Wilson, who was driving around in a classic luxury car, found any reason to return to London to discuss the solution to the maritime demarcation with the Foreign Secretary and the Permanent Under Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He has already prepared the plan, and now he needs the approval of the cabinet. "The specific plan is a comprehensive solution of a two-hundred-mile exclusive economic zone, continental shelf extension, and island demarcation."

"And we have already negotiated with the Americans to see if we can mediate the dispute between Newfoundland and Iceland. In fact, Iceland is ugly and has caused trouble to many European countries in recent years. It should be educated."

Many of the European countries mentioned by Alan Wilson are actually the UK that bears the brunt.

In fact, now, the cod war has begun to take shape. Since Iceland is affected by ocean currents all year round, the fishery resources are very rich. European countries love to eat cod, especially cod burgers. If you don't eat it for a day, you will feel uncomfortable. Therefore, cod has become one of the fish species with the highest economic value.

But if Iceland has nothing, it can only rely on fishing to make a living, but who doesn’t want to make money floating in the water? The plump cod also attracted many countries to come to fish. The good times did not last long, and soon there were not many cod left.

When Alan Wilson was the chief executive of Newfoundland, he first established an exclusive zone of twelve nautical miles. Iceland followed suit, but the learning ended there. After all, Newfoundland was taken care of by the United Kingdom. At this time, the United Kingdom was not the British Isles, but the British Empire with its vast colonies.

After leaving office, he did not forget to gain favor with Newfoundland. By the way, he sold some destroyers to clear inventory, and helped Newfoundland sign many orders for offshore fishing vessels in the UK's strong shipbuilding industry.

With the help of the United Kingdom behind the scenes, the royal territory of Newfoundland was replaced by a cannon. On the one hand, other countries were strictly prohibited from plundering the fishery resources in Newfoundland waters.

On the one hand, I traveled a long distance to Iceland to make up for my losses during the fishing ban.

The dispute between Newfoundland and Iceland largely stems from this. Two years ago, when Iceland celebrated the tenth anniversary of its founding, it conducted an inventory of the fishery resources that Iceland relied on. The cod fishing volume plummeted, so it followed Newfoundland's example and established an exclusive zone of 12 nautical miles.

But no one cares. In the past two years, conflicts with the United Kingdom have also increased due to fishing issues.

Alan Wilson was not prepared to fight three cod wars with Iceland. Regardless of whether he won or lost, it would be a loss of points for Britain. He was prepared to use Newfoundland and economic means to restore Iceland. If you know the UK well, don’t think that you will be safe just by embracing the lap of the US.

Binding the fishery conflict between Iceland and Newfoundland to the demarcation of the Gulf of Guinea seems to be diametrically opposed. Even Foreign Secretary Morrison and Permanent Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ismay are unable to link the two matters. They can only Waiting for Alan Wilson's explanation.

Alan Wilson explained that by asking the United States to help support the platform through secondary issues, it would increase the rationality of this demarcation of the Gulf of Guinea and at the same time easily solve Iceland, which is always at odds with the United Kingdom.

"This time we can use the demarcation of the Gulf of Guinea to get France, Spain and Portugal to side with the United Kingdom. If we want everyone to be happy with the demarcation issue, we must come up with a resolution on economic blockade. I believe the French will definitely You will be very familiar with this method, the continental blockade policy was invented by Napoleon."

"But we ask for it?" Sir Ismay paused when he said this. The meaning was obvious, and he was suspected of bullying the small.

"So we want the French to propose that the colonies around the Gulf of Guinea, including the Gold Coast and the Dominion of Nigeria, plus Portuguese Angola and Spanish Equatorial Guinea, are barely on the same level as the French colonies. Between Spain and Portugal So we have a tough attitude because we are afraid that if we don't get involved, we will suffer a disadvantage when facing France."

Alan Wilson said, "The two-hundred-mile exclusive economic zone is a fair demarcation method and can unite colonial countries, because not only we have a large number of overseas islands in our hands, but France also has a small population. By using these islands as strongholds and adding the two hundred nautical mile exclusive economic zone, we can draw a large area of ​​​​the sea for exclusive use. In general, both us and the French have taken advantage of this."

This is indeed the case. In later territorial sea area rankings, the United States has two ocean continental shelves plus islands in the Pacific. With exclusive territorial waters of more than 10 million square kilometers, France is the second largest country. It also has tens of millions of square kilometers, not much smaller than the United States.

By the time the two-hundred-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone emerged, the British colonies had almost been lost. It's not like France has retained some islands, resulting in the UK's territorial waters being only half the size of France.

Therefore, Alan Wilson believes that it would be very beneficial to the United Kingdom to propose the concept of a two-hundred-mile exclusive economic zone early. Because Britain now has many more cards in its hands than it did in its original history.

With this concept of territorial waters, the UK will pay more attention to the many seemingly worthless islands that still exist in its hands. The second biggest benefit is the Five Eyes Alliance. In later territorial sea area rankings, the top ten include, but are not limited to, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

The combined territorial waters of the five countries cover an area of ​​approximately 39 million square kilometers.

If this concept is proposed and widely publicized now, Alan Wilson is not willing to calculate it in detail, but it should not be difficult to increase the territorial sea area of ​​the UK to the same level as the United States and France.

Morrison and Ismay, as Foreign Minister and Permanent Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, immediately realized this. The United Kingdom still has a large number of micro-islands in its hands. If the demarcation of the Gulf of Guinea is promoted, it can Reasonably put large areas of sea under British jurisdiction.

In addition to the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal, including France, were also colonial powers. None of them will object. At least they couldn't think of any reason to object.

"Alan, your brain is really rich in association. It's amazing." Looking at Morrison, Sir Ismay understood what the Foreign Secretary meant and said directly, "If you can put Guinea The demarcation of the Gulf has become a good start and can teach Iceland a lesson, which is enough to prove your outstanding ability in the diplomatic field."

"Thank you, Sir Ismay." Alan Wilson bowed his head slightly. Ismay was considered his immediate boss after all. As an official fan, he bowed his head now from the bottom of his heart.

"Alan, we hope to settle things as soon as possible. Thank you for your hard work!" Morrison also gave encouragement. "Letting you come back to shoulder other tasks in the Malayan Colony is because Whitehall is optimistic about your performance."

"I will return to Paris immediately." Alan Wilson looked like he would go through fire and water for Britain. He swore that it was definitely not because there were several classic luxury cars waiting for him to test drive in Paris.

When Alan Wilson walked out of the office, Sir Ismay asked Morrison, "Dear Minister, in fact, all departments in Whitehall are optimistic about Alan's ability. If the result of this negotiation is as he just said, is it possible?" Prove that he is qualified for the position of permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?”

"Don't you Whitehall always value qualifications?" Morrison looked extremely shocked. Does this mean that Alan Wilson is in his thirties and has been unanimously favored by Whitehall?

"This is usually the case, but there are always exceptions. Allen has a large number of overseas properties in his hands, which is the result of his long-term personal management. In fact, even Sir Norman did not expect that when the Overseas Asset Management Committee was established, there would be Such rapid development." Sir Ismay shrugged, "When I asked him to come back, I was originally going to use the funds from the Overseas Asset Management Committee to deal with the economic crisis."

"Actually, I am really old and no longer suitable to work in China because it may cause criticism. If I go to NATO, I won't be so conspicuous."

Morrison admitted that Ismay was telling the truth. The reason no one pointed it out was that Ismay was a soldier and a diplomat. Very few people can combine these two professions.

But as Ismay just said about Alan Wilson, there are always exceptions.

"So, I am going to bid farewell to the oldest deputy secretary in Whitehall, and then welcome the youngest deputy secretary in Whitehall." Morrison said with a wry smile, "It seems that you have already decided, but I hear He said that his second term has not been long, and he also likes to be overseas, so will he be resistant to coming back?"

"Find a way to bring him back next year." Sir Ismay said nonchalantly, "Of course, we still have to see if this meeting on the demarcation issue will produce the results that the UK wants."