Chapter 690: Demonstrating United Front Value
In fact, the finance ministers of Germany, France and Italy are not all loyal supporters of the euro.
But regardless of their past attitudes, now they are definitely a community of interests with highly consistent goals.
Now that the euro has been issued and the timetable for replacing the local currencies of the euro zone countries has been clearly announced, there is no way back except the possibility of insisting on pushing for a unified currency.
Moreover, three months ago, they personally went to ring the bell at the launch ceremony of the euro.
It’s only been three months!
If something really happens, others won't care what your "original" attitude was, nor will they care about such a big thing that has lasted for so many years. There must be more than one promoter behind it.
I will only think that you, an old boy, did this in the first place.
The blame will definitely fall on the three of them in the end.
Of course, this is fair.
After all, if in another timeline, the euro took off directly after its issuance, countered the US dollar and directly became the world's most mainstream currency and led Europe to revive...
The credit will also fall on the three of them.
It is possible to take advantage of the situation and directly form a party to participate in the election, become a powerful figure in the political arena and leave a name in history.
However, they underestimated the determination of the Americans in this matter and overestimated the "independence" of the Europeans.
Fortunately, at this time, it's not too late...
"Contacting Chinese people is really a top priority."
Schäuble nodded in agreement, but then changed the subject:
"However, now their central bank and the Ministry of Finance have not expressed their stance. Whether the reason for this is that they really have not reached a unified opinion, or they deliberately want to delay time and observe the subsequent development of the situation, it is impossible because we have spoken out. Just ask and give a clear answer honestly.”
"Based on my experience in dealing with Chinese people over the years, in this case, if we ask directly, the opponent will probably start kicking the ball directly, and at most they will say some innocuous words to deal with us."
"Then you have to give it a try. You can't just sit back and wait for death."
Kahn was already a little unable to sit still:
"Moreover, they have not made an official statement, but at the same time they have put pressure on us on a commercial level. This posture shows that they are also afraid that the euro will really collapse. Now they just want to occupy a favorable situation as much as possible before the negotiations. As long as If we test it a few more times, we will always get a response.”
According to his thinking, although China has great appeal and influence in emerging markets, in terms of hard power, it is only a country with the seventh largest GDP, and is not even as good as Italy, the most powerful among the three countries here.
Even if a lion opens its mouth wide, it doesn't have such a big mouth.
Therefore, the "cost-effectiveness" of letting the other party express their opinion will never be too low.
But Schaeuble obviously didn’t think so:
"The combined economic size of our three countries is six times that of the Chinese people. If we do what you say, our posture will be too low..."
The German economy is now the third largest in the world, and riding on the east wind of the reunification of the two Germanys, the Germans are still at a stage of relatively inflated self-confidence.
Although rationally I can think of "asking Huaxia for help", emotionally I don't want to appear too demanding.
Europeans have this virtue.
The mouth is too upright.
"It's better than this."
The Italians have indeed cooperated with China a lot over the years, so Vesco's mind is more flexible than his two colleagues:
"Since the Chinese are exerting pressure on us through enterprises, we can also use the same method to test their conditions in turn."
"Anyway, most of the companies we have contact with are state-owned enterprises of the other party. Even if their statements cannot be directly equivalent to the official ones, they can at least represent their official intentions to some extent."
"Is the company... sure it's reliable?"
Schäuble was still a little hesitant, but his attitude clearly relaxed.
"As long as both parties have this intention, even a table tennis player getting into the wrong car can be an opportunity to break the ice. Why can't companies..."
Vesco still has some research on China.
This idea is a compromise, which not only satisfies Kahn's urgent need to solve the problem, but also makes Schäuble's side justified in terms of face.
So the three quickly reached a consensus.
"In addition, this matter must be kept confidential, I mean, from the Americans."
Before leaving the conference room, Vesco emphasized to the other two people:
"There is a saying in China, which is to build a plank road in the open and build a warehouse in secret."
"It's best to secretly find some middle-level companies who already have good personal relationships with China to test. Don't leave any trace on the outside. Just say that you are following the delegation to inspect the project, or simply discussing business. In this way, the United States Even if people have good intentions, they will focus on those important people.”
The other two people don't know much about Chinese culture, but countries around the world actually have classic expressions like this, so it's not difficult to understand.
Kahn thought for a moment and quickly thought of an opportunity:
"If this is the case, I remember that the European Aerospace Defense Group is expected to have a trip to China in May... It seems that a cooperation agreement was signed two years ago, and the location and policy of the factory there have been decided. This time it will Let’s examine the production capacity there and determine which production capacity and processes need to be moved there.”
EADS, the parent company of Airbus and Eurocopter.
Although it is considered a Dutch company geographically, in essence, the French have the absolute say in it.
Seeing the other two people lowering their heads and thinking, Kahn continued:
"The scale of such a delegation is large enough, the time spent in China is long enough, and the itinerary is complicated enough. It even has to be divided into three parts and go to three different places at the same time. All it takes is to put a few reliable people in it and It’s not difficult to get things done.”
"But if the current trend continues until May, the credit of the euro may not even be comparable to the ruble... At least there is gold in the Russian central bank vaults."
Vesco shrugged and said in a strange tone.
During the 1990s, almost all the gold reserves of European countries were placed in the United States.
So they just said that if the time comes to use precious metals to support the value of the euro, it will basically be equivalent to losing everything.
"May was the original plan. Now that the situation has changed so much, it makes sense to go earlier. You don't have to worry about this. I have personal connections that I can use..."
Kahn obviously has something in mind:
"Furthermore, I can see that China has attached great importance to the aviation manufacturing industry in recent years. We will take advantage of this opportunity. First, we can use increasing the proportion of industrial transfer as a significant bargaining chip. Second, there is a high probability that we can directly see to the more influential officials there.”
"After I took office as Finance Minister, I specifically read the memorandum on the entire process of our negotiations with China two years ago. At that time, it was just a simple business cooperation between the two parties at the beginning, but halfway through, all important leaders from both sides were involved. It finally evolved into an official agreement between China and the EU.”
This incident, and the series of operations behind it against the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger, can be regarded as a typical victory for the EU against the United States in the past two years, and it has also greatly inspired Europeans' confidence in integrating Europe to become a world pole.
So the other two people obviously knew something about the details.
Now that Kahn mentioned it, I suddenly felt that the future was much brighter.
"Okay, I agree."
"I agree."
Past success is always satisfying, so Kahn specifically mentioned the case two years ago.
Of course, there is also a certain inducement component.
For example, "If we can repeat the operation two years ago, then the three of us can make a comeback."
"In this case, how about directly adding some personnel from our financial institutions and central bank to this delegation? If we need to talk, it can be more direct."
"No, I'm worried that the people from the central bank are unreliable. If they are sent there too early, they may be exposed..."
"Anyway, move faster. If you wait even one more day, big trouble may occur..."
"..."