Chapter 1109: Is the tax a bit too high?

Kishida sat in the conference room of the Future Building as he thanked the waiter for the tea , but his eyes couldn’t stop glancing at the clock on the wall.

It was the tenth time he looked in that direction since he came in.

After a phone call with Jiang Chen, he immediately cleared his agenda for the afternoon and came over after the meeting with Zhang Yaping.

When Kishida arrived, Jiang Chen was in the space elevator with an hour’s journey before he would arrive in Coro. Xia Shiyu arranged for them to meet in this conference room.

Several other members of the delegation were also in this room along with him, all of which were members he trusted.

In order to avoid causing suspicion in the UA, he came under the banner of electricity negotiations. This meant he couldn’t stay for too long. As for the purpose of his trip, it was supposedly for the fifty percent defense tax.

No country in the world had a stronger desire for space resources than Nippon. A lack of resources and strong industrial development was a curse cast on Nippon since the previous century. The slightest turmoil in the economy would cause the Nikkei Index to fall.

As soon as Celestial City announced the acceptance of foreign capital investment, the capitalists and consortia rushed in, particularly in the rare earth mining projects in Lunar City. They feared Celestial Trade wouldn’t accept enough of their money.

The total investment of Nippon companies in Celestial City ranked third after UA and Hua and was even ahead of Russia.

Hence why the fifty percent defense tax caused so much pain for them.

Just when Kishida was starting to speculate the reason for Jiang Chen’s late arrival, the door of the conference room was pushed open and Jiang Chen came in.

Kishida immediately got up, his face full of smiles, and he extended his right hand.

“My pleasure, my name is Kishida, Nippon Foreign Minister.”

“Jiang Chen, President of Future Group and Celestial Trade. There’s no need for Mr. Kishida’s introduction. We met at the Outer Space Security Summit.” Jiang Chen spoke with a half-smile while he shook hands.

When Kishida heard the term “Outer Space Security Summit”, an awkward expression appeared on his face before quickly disappearing. However, as a diplomat, his skin was naturally thicker than most people. He pretended to not hear the words and enthusiastically began to chat with Jiang Chen.

Since the T-Virus Crisis in Yoto and the collapse of the previous cabinet , he changed his political stance and leaned to the left. Because of his support for the new prime minister’s foreign policy, after the establishment of the new cabinet, he was again nominated to be the minister of foreign affairs. He was the only cabinet minister not replaced by the new prime minister.

Of course, it was also because of the turmoil in the nation and the lack of talented individuals available to the new prime minister.

Aside from those external factors, he could be used as the perfect example as someone who sat on the fence.

He clearly stood on the opposing side at the Outer Space Defense Summit, but now with the Earth Defense Alliance started to take shape, he immediately pretended nothing had happened.

However, Jiang Chen would never reject a willing cooperative partner. After they shook hands, Jiang Chen invited him to take a seat.

“Please.”

After Minister Kishida sat down, the diplomats with him also sat down.

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Jiang Chen went to the head of the conference table and sat down. He gestured to the assistant behind him, and instructed him to close the door. After he heard the door click, he leaned back in his chair and looked nonchalantly at the Nippon delegation.

“Mr. Kishida isn’t just here to chat with me, right? You know that I’m a businessman. There’s no need to use formalities here; if there’s anything you need, just say it.”

“Since Mr. Jiang Chen said this, I will be straightforward,” Minister Kishida said, who coughed before he began. “Is the fifty percent defense tax a bit too high?”

When Jiang Chen heard this, a smile that confirmed his original speculation appeared.

“This is a decision that was made after internal discussions of the Earth Defense Alliance. All member states voted before the resolution passed. If you disagree with this resolution, you can go discuss with Hua and Russia?”

Kishida forced a laugh.

“Mr. Jiang is certainly humorous. As far as I know, this fifty percent defense tax is collected by the operating company of Celestial Trade Space Elevator. It’s injected into the Earth Defense Fund as a donation. Does the Earth Defense Alliance have shares in the space elevator?”

Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows and looked at the old man in his sixties with surprise. He didn’t expect that the man who didn’t take the Earth Defense Alliance seriously actually went deep into researching its background.

Having said that, he still had the advantage.

Therefore, Jiang Chen didn’t come up with an excuse and instead played the mankind card.

“Fighting against the aggression of extraterrestrial civilizations is a common interest of the international community. Since that’s the case, it wouldn’t be appropriate to let some people stand in the frontlines while other people enjoy the fruits of other people’s labor? Either pay or contribute—that’s fair, isn’t it?”

Fair my as*!

Minister Kishida cursed in his mind.

You used our country’s money to support your aerospace companies, then you’re using your advanced technology to make money off of us. Is there anything fair about this?

However, he could only vent his frustration in his mind. He smiled as he continued.

“You’re right; fighting against extraterrestrial civilization is the undeniable duty of all countries. After watching the example you made, we’ve indeed seriously reflected on our selfishness in this respect. Therefore, we decided to establish a space force in our military to support the war against extraterrestrial civilization!”

Jiang Chen didn’t speak. Instead, he leaned forward and looked dubiously at Minister Kishida.

Just as Kishida was about to feel uncomfortable, Jiang Chen spoke up.

“You’re joking with me?”

Although Kishida knew that what he proposed was rude, he still felt awkward after hearing such a straightforward response from Jiang Chen. But the negotiation must continue.

“What do you want then?”

Smiling, Jiang Chen leaned back in his chair again and said with a relaxed tone, “It’s easy to avoid the defense tax. Join us.”

When Kishida heard Jiang Chen’s words, he jumped up.

“That’s impossible! We’re NATO’s allies; how could we join a new military alliance treaty?!”

Jiang Chen didn’t care about Kishida’s aggressive reaction and said, “Then just pay the tax and support the ‘Earth defense’ cause.”