Athretvar-Commonwealth Diplomatic Channel

[Promethius Prime]

Communique to Ambassador Yul Bringga Fryo

Respected Ambassador,

You are invited to meet with President Shen at your earliest convenience to discuss matters of great importance for both our nations and the world at large. The President looks forward to meeting with you.

Yours in Trust,
Xia Fe Fong
Foreign Policy Secretary

[Athretvari]

Communique to Foreign Policy Secretary Xia Fe Fong

Greetings Honorable Secretary Xia,

I welcome this opportunity to meet with President Shen.

Respectfully,
Yul Bringga Fryo
UTR Ambassador to Promethius Prime

OOC: Guess we should go straight to President Shen and Fryo sitting down, and Shen letting him know why she wants to chat.

[Athretvari]

Yul walked into a large chamber decorated in a classic Promethian period beyond the ambassador’s summary knowledge of the Mandate’s history. Scanning the room as he walked in, he quietly admired the Promethian’s “alien” sense of design.

He was guided to one of a set of ornate black chairs by a presidential aide. He sat and took a deep breath of the gently perfumed air. ’Lavender?’ he wondered.

The doors on the far side of the room opened and a beautiful woman strode in. Ambassador Fryo bowed his head slightly before the Promethian President.

”The United Technocratic Realms sends its most heart-felt affections and ’hopes for good tides.’”

[Promethius Prime]

"Please, sit. I don't believe we have yet been formally introduced. I am Shen Mei Li, President of the Commonwealth. I'm not sure if you are familiar with Old Arcadian naming customs but that means my public first name is Mei." Unlike her predecessors who had dressed in very strict and formal military uniform she was wearing a rather conservative purple cheongsam. The atmosphere also seemed a lot less military and the people the ambassador would have passed on his way in were not the usual machine-like functionaries, but had a genuine feeling of warmth and normality about them. "We have a great deal to discuss; our nations could have been very close indeed however certain opportunities were squandered by my predecessors and certain actions on the part of your own government have only antagonised the situation."

"I wonder if I might trouble you to give me an appraisal of the UTR's views on Unibearia? This has been a particular sticking point for some time and allowing it to remain a concern unaddressed by diplomacy would be a grave error; you see I am more of the view that a powerful diplomatic position if far more deadly than any military force or weapon. Our two countries have found themselves at odds on this issue far too often and as a result we have flirted with war - this has to stop but to be able to negotiate a settlement I need to know where you stand."

[Athretvari]

Yul’s expression stiffened slightly, “Unibearia. Ahh... First allow me to reassure the Commonwealth that the UTR will be taking a different course of action with the UWK. A course which Nova Arkades should feel very comfortable with.

“The United Realms had sought through its engagement with the UWK to contain and entice their government to reform and moderate itself. But to no avail. King Yuri has rejected the UTR’s latest proposal which would have provided for some democratic check-and-balance in the kingdom, guarantee protections to its human population, as well as constitutional limits on its military size and expenditures in exchange for technological assistance and a sense of security.

“This ’containment and moderation’,” he air quoted, not knowing if the Promethian President was acquinted with the gesture, "was one of the original drivers behind the Southern Cooperation Group.”

Yul let out a loud sigh, ”Maria has decided there’s little hope for change from the UWK if left to its own devices, and now are convinced it is also immune to ’positive’ diplomacy.”

He leaned in slightly, catching himself as he remembered he was speaking to a head of state and government, ”Our government has yet to publicly announce it, but the UTR has decided to restrict trade with UWK to technology no more sophisticated than 1% of its current Scientific Advancement. Export of defense goods, in particular all heavy and offensive weaponry, will be prohibited altogether. Maria has decided to also cancel any plans or intentions for future joint research projects with the UWK.

“And... In a move that we hope may please you, President Junigka has personally instructed me to say that the UTR is interested in coordinating our national efforts domestically and internationally with those of Promethius Prime respecting the UWK.”

[Promethius Prime]

Mei was not overly surprised at what she was hearing from the Athretvar ambassador; the UTR may have differing views to the Commonwealth on many issues but they weren't stupid - she had been quite certain from the offset that the correct diplomatic approach would result in a mutual response to the Unibearian question. Her predecessors may have formed their policy with regards to Unibearia on the basis of the Wolfen issue, but Mei was of the view that the Commonwealth's primary concern with Unibearia was not the Wolfen but rather the manner in which its government conducted itself; similarly the previous government had pressed forward a quite militant response to Unibearia, she was less aggressively inclined than Tanaka had been.

"This is certainly a pleasant turn of events; the plan I was to propose included terms to this effect. You may have also noted the recent acquisition of the islands south of the Commonwealth controlled Ashima Isles off our mainland coast - this is a matter of grave concern, having a potentially amoral and rogue regime so close to home is not only bad for business it is bad for moral. Now I by no means intend to take military action on this matter but I do wish to include the surrender of these isles to Commonwealth Authorities as part of a long term plan."

"However that is something for the long term, in the near future I wish to propose that we collectively head up an import cap and raise tariffs on trade in Unibearian goods to try and convince them of our point of view. It seems our governments agree that something must be done with regards to Yuri's regime. My predecessor, President Tanaka, had plans drawn up for the planned invasion and overthrow of King Yuri's regime, but I personally feel this to be a rather extreme response."

[Athretvari]

Yul sat back a bit surprised by the President’s candor. ”I can say that the UTR would not openly support a direct action to remove Yuri from power at the present time. Such a move would be too explicit an act of interference in the UWK’s internal affairs for the general Athretvar public to accept. We ourselves are stubbornly resistant to external pressures and thus have a certain natural aversion to forced regime changes, even when they would be in our best interests. We would much more prefer a diplomatic solution.”

“I believe we could look into suspending all agricultural, textile, dairy, and even fish and forestry products on ’health concerns.’ The fact there hasn’t already been some epidemic linked to these mutants has astounded us. That might put quite a crimp in their economic development and convince them to consider reform.”

“On the Southern Ashimas,” Yul laughed, ”We nearly took them ourselves, in response to your and Midgar’s colonization so close to the Polaris Australus and our Szarthjan and Szkehnjan realms. It was seen as a very provocative act in Maria. One that nearly drove them to seize the Southern Ashimas, and they were prepared to seize much more in your weaken state after the civil-war and from absorbing refugees if you dared challenge them.”

“Luckily, clearer heads prevailed and Maria settled instead with upgrading our southern defenses.”

“I say this because, we believe a similar motivation may be behind the UWK’s claim in the Ashimas. We believe it is a direct result of your and Midgar’s far-southern expansion. And perhaps, therein lies the solution.”

“It has always been the desire of the UTR government that all the islands in the vicinity of the Carcipe should be reserved for the development of the Carcipe peoples, being they are of such limited geographical extent as fate would already have it.”

“Believe me when I say, we understand the extreme strategic and economic value of the islands to both your nation and Midgar. But we have witnessed your government be capable of fair and sensible compromise in the past, and hope that some agreement could ge reached between your nation, Midgar and Carcipe, that would allow it sovereignty over all the islands around it, including those you and Midgar now claim, while still providing your nations privileged defensive and economic rights therein, to insure its security and, of course, your own.”

“Such agreements of course could include provisions that automatically designate your nations protectors in the event of the fall of Carcipe’s government. Thus preserving your rights to reassert sovereignty over the islands in the future.”

[Promethius Prime]

"You need not show such concern over our expansion into the Ashima Isles; they are the full extent of our westward expansion plans under my administration and according to the records left from the Motako and Tanaka administrations neither had any intention of moving further west. According to the records regarding the original annexation of the Ashimas the intention was to secure them in order to ensure our control over the Attican Sea thus creating a safe maritime transit area there while also providing a strategic buffer to protect our deuterium synthesising facilities which are dotted around that area. Personally I'm inclined to agree with their assessment that moving further west would represent an expensive and unnecessary expansion - the Commonwealth has nothing to gain by crossing to Mare Titanus, westward or southward. Our shipping lanes to Orar, Vvarden and Caisus are safe enough following the West Coastal Route, as are our trans-Titanus routes as secure as can be expected once they leave the Attican thanks to our naval dockyards in the Ashimas."

"As for the Carcipe Isles, the USS and Commonwealth already have an agreement in place protecting the Carcipe Isles. Neither the Commonwealth nor the USS can claim control over the islands under the treaty; in addition we are joint military protectors and guarantors of their independence and sovereignty; this agreement was signed shortly before our war of independence by the Motako Administration, however we have continued to hold true to it, with our naval patrols only withdrawing from Carcipriot waters when they established their own navy. What's more the Carcipe Isles, Commonwealth and USS have a highly lucrative and favourable trading triangle in place which is much more beneficial than actually controlling all or part of the Carcipe Isles."

"Back to the matter of chief concern however; we remain concerned about Unibearia, but without the support of the wider international community we can hardly effect a regime change by force. If the UTR are unwilling to support such a move then the Commonwealth will not pursue such a policy; however I am loath to leave the matter altogether unaddressed. Your proposal on the suspension of trade in these goods seems reasonable however I fear it would not hit the Unibearian government as hard as you may think; their chief concern seems to be with money rather than their people as most of their policies seem to have been centered around filling their king's treasury. The most lucrative exports the Unibearians have at the present time are in Iron, Steel, Coal and Uranium. If we want to hit this regime hard without seeking a military solution I would suggest finding a way to affect their trade in these goods."