Two South Korean sailors had been killed, the newsreader said: one drowned and one struck by flying debris.
Soon afterwards Kai left for the Cadillac Center. In the car he took off his jacket and tie and put on a black Nike puffer jacket, the better to blend in with the other spectators.
The crowd in the arena was mostly Chinese but with a generous sprinkling of other ethnicities. When Kai arrived at his seat, with a couple of cans of Yanjing beer in his hands, Neil was already there, wearing a reefer jacket with a black knitted beanie pulled low over his forehead. The two of them looked like all the other spectators.
‘Thanks,’ said Neil, accepting a can. ‘You got good seats.’
Kai shrugged. ‘We’re the secret police.’ He popped his can and drank.
The Ducks were in their all-white home strip, the Tigers in sky-blue. ‘Looks just like a game in the States,’ said Neil. ‘Even some black players.’
‘They’re Nigerian.’
‘I didn’t know Nigerians played basketball.’
‘They’re very good.’
The game began, and the noise of the crowd became too loud for conversation. The Ducks went ahead in the first quarter, and by half-time they were up 58–43.
In the interval, Kai and Neil put their heads together to talk business. Neil said: ‘What the fuck is going on in North Korea?’
Kai thought for a moment. He had to be careful not to give away any secrets. That said, he believed it was in China’s interest that the Americans should be well informed. Misunderstandings so often led to crises.
‘What’s going on is civil war,’ he said. ‘And the rebels are winning.’
‘I thought so.’
‘That’s why the Supreme Leader is doing stupid things such as ramming a South Korean fishing boat. He’s trying very hard not to look as weak as he is.’
‘Frankly, Kai, we can’t understand why you don’t do something to solve this problem.’
‘Such as?’
‘Intervene with your own military and crush the rebels, for example.’
‘We could do that, but while we’re crushing them they might fire nuclear weapons at Chinese cities. We can’t risk that.’
‘Send your army to Pyongyang and get rid of the Supreme Leader.’
‘Same problem. We would then be at war with the rebels and their nukes.’
‘Let the rebels form a new government.’
‘We think that will probably happen without our intervention.’
‘Doing nothing can be dangerous too.’
‘We know that.’
‘There’s something else. Were you aware that the North Koreans are supporting ISGS terrorists in North Africa?’
‘What do you mean?’ Kai knew exactly what Neil meant, but he had to be cautious.
‘We raided a terrorist hideout called Hufra, in Libya near the Niger border. It has a gold mine operated by slaves.’
‘Well done.’
‘We arrested al-Farabi, the man we think is the leader of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. With him was a Korean man who told us his name is Park Jung-hoon.’
‘There must be thousands of Korean men called Park Jung-hoon. It’s like John Smith in America.’
‘We also found three truck-mounted Hwasong-5 short-range ballistic missiles.’
Kai was shocked. He knew the North Koreans sold rifles to terrorists, but ballistic missiles were something else. He concealed his surprise and said: ‘Armaments are their only successful export industry.’
‘Still . . .’
‘I agree. It’s crazy to sell missiles to those maniacs.’
‘So it’s not done with Beijing’s approval.’
‘Hell, no.’
The teams came back. As the game restarted, Kai shouted: ‘Go, you Ducks!’ in Mandarin.
Neil said in English: ‘You want another can of Yanjing?’
‘You bet,’ said Kai.
*
That evening there was a dinner for the visiting president of Zambia in the State Banqueting Room of the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square. China had invested millions in Zambia’s copper mines, and Zambia supported China at the UN.
Kai was not invited but he attended the pre-dinner drinks. Nursing a glass of Chandon Me, China’s answer to champagne, he spoke to Foreign Minister Wu Bai, who was the height of elegance in a midnight-blue suit.
Wu said: ‘The South Koreans are sure to retaliate against the attack on their fishing boat.’
‘And then North Korea will retaliate against their retaliation.’