Chapter 3499
Chapter 3499
Chapter 3499
In fact, Li Yi does not need to explain much about Hai Han’s fight against pirate forces. Many countries from the South China Sea have personal experience of this.
As early as 1631, Hai Han sent troops to seize Anbuna Island in the South China Sea from the Dutch in the name of combating piracy.
This tactic was so effective that over the next twenty years, Hai Han continued to use similar excuses to launch military operations in various parts of the South China Sea.
The most recent example was last year when the Xingdao garrison dispatched a large number of troops to the waters at the northern end of the Malacca Strait. The external statement at the time was that the troops were clearing out the local pirate forces. However, after Hai Han cleared out several islands that were said to be pirate lairs, it established a de facto occupation of the local garrison.
Anyone who dared to speak out against it would be in cahoots with the pirates and would most likely become a target of attack by the Hai Han army. Most of the countries in Southeast Asia did not have the strength to engage in military confrontation with Hai Han, so many of them had suffered losses from Hai Han's tactics, either overtly or covertly.
But on the other hand, as Li Yi said, Hai Han would indeed strike ruthlessly against pirate forces in order to maintain trade routes. Therefore, wherever Hai Han's troops went, pirate activities would often disappear quickly, which objectively played a positive role in local maritime security.
However, this also leads to the next problem that Li Yi immediately talked about, that is, if a country does not stand on the same front as Hai Han, but is within the influence of Hai Han’s maritime armed forces, then the security of its maritime trade activities will be difficult to effectively guarantee.
Although Li Yi did not name any countries in his speech, anyone with a little understanding of the international situation would easily think of the two countries present.
Both the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty had suffered such treatment. No one would think that their country was stronger than these two unlucky guys and had the strength to resist the rules implemented by Hai Han.
Li Yi advocated that all countries should actively join the maritime security mechanism established by Hai Han, which actually cut off the possibility of other choices for all countries. Not joining means no security guarantee, and the lower limit is the negative examples of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, which completely lost their coastlines.
Yue Shizong could fully feel the gazes directed at him from all directions when Li Li talked about this topic. Some were sympathetic, some were contemptuous, but more seemed to be puzzled. It was probably hard to imagine how a traditional power like the Ming Dynasty could have lost its entire coastline.
Although Yue Shizong was very dissatisfied, he had no other choice. He could not take the initiative to stand up and claim responsibility, let alone accuse Li Yi - that would be really an attempt to cover up the truth.
At this point, there seems to be no better way to deal with it except pretending to be dead and acting as if it has nothing to do with me.
Geng Jimao sneered repeatedly, thinking that the Koreans were really a fox taking advantage of the power of another. They would do anything to curry favor with Hai Han and even dared to mock the Qing Dynasty in such an international occasion. It seemed they really deserved to be punished.
Compared to the irresistible Hai Han, Geng Jimao obviously hated North Korea's servile behavior more. However, given the current situation of the Qing Dynasty, it was probably not an easy goal to teach North Korea a lesson.
After Li Yi finished his speech, Tao Donglai took the stage and elaborated on some of the topics mentioned by Li Yi.
Tao Donglai said that even small countries that do not have the ability to engage in ocean trade can also join the maritime trade system built by Hai Han, with Hai Han providing comprehensive services from cargo transportation to payment settlement, of course including security guarantees.
As long as they sign a trade treaty with Hai Han, they can apply to have their coastline, seaports, and important coastal facilities all under Hai Han's protection. Hai Han will also provide information on cargo sources, training for seafarers, building large cargo ships, and even building ports. This is indeed very attractive to small countries in Southeast Asia with limited power.
In the past, if these small countries wanted to develop their own navigation capabilities, they would inevitably be ruthlessly suppressed by regional powers or Western colonizers. However, Hai Han has now proposed another solution that is worth a try.
As for those clauses in the trade treaty that are obviously more favorable to Hai Han, whether they will harm the long-term interests of their own country is not the primary condition that these small countries need to consider.
If Hai Han can make these small countries prosperous and powerful just like it supported Annan and Korea, then giving up some interests does not seem to be an unacceptable condition.
Of course, the most important thing is the stance. If they choose not to cooperate, they will seem to be standing against Hai Han, and the consequences may be beyond the ability of these small countries to bear. But as long as they agree to cooperate, the specific conditions can still be discussed, and with the protection of Hai Han, they don't have to worry about being suppressed by other countries.
The next guest to take the stage to give a speech was King Zheng Zao of Annan.
Zheng Zao was not dissatisfied with being scheduled to speak after Li Li, because he knew that Li Li's speech was just a starting point, and what he wanted to talk about was truly in line with the theme of this forum.
The title of Zheng Zao’s speech was “Introduction to Establishing an International Maritime Security Mechanism”.
At first glance, this seems to overlap with what Li Li just said, but in fact, Zheng Zao's discussion is closer to the military field rather than the trade field that Li Li talked about.
Zheng Zao’s point of view is that it is not enough to rely solely on Hai Han’s armed fleet to maintain order at sea. All countries should form their own maritime armed forces to jointly maintain peace at sea.
This undoubtedly immediately resonated with many countries. No matter how strong a country is, who doesn't want to have their own maritime armed forces?
But this is not what Zheng Zao really wants to talk about. He quickly raised two related new questions - how to realize this vision and how to ensure that all countries can use the same rules of conduct at sea.
"I can say without hesitation that if you can solve these two problems with your own strength, then there is no need to come all the way to Zhoushan to attend this meeting."
“To resolve these two problems, there is only one way for our country, Annan, to go, and that is to rely on the military alliance system and maritime security mechanism established by Hai Han.”
Zheng Zao’s goal was very clear, which was to promote Hai Han, and his remarks were more radical than Li Li’s.
Zheng Zao suggested that small countries that are unable to form their own maritime armed forces could establish a military alliance and ask Hai Han to provide relevant assistance.
All the warships are built by Hai Han, and all the personnel are trained by Hai Han. In this way, the equipment and command system are inherited from Hai Han, and the relevant maritime safety mechanisms are also easier to achieve unified standards.
Of course, the most important thing is that in wartime, the maritime armed forces of these countries can be seamlessly taken over by Hai Han and incorporated into the Hai Han army's combat system to become a more powerful regional joint fleet.