US Ambassador to China Nelson T. Johnson looked up and took the list handed over by the First Secretary. The list contained names of Chinese students who had studied in the United States, and those at the top were officials serving in the Chinese government.

According to traditional Western political thinking, this list should prove that the He Rui government ought to be a pro-American government. Apart from He Rui himself and Premier Wu Youping, who had little to do with the United States, a large number of students who returned from the United States held high positions in the judiciary, education, internal affairs, and diplomacy.

But Ambassador Nelson was not surprised by the tough attitude within China. A few days ago, Ambassador Nelson T. Johnson specially went to the headquarters of the 'International Human Rights Organization' in China to deliver a speech. After the speech, he faced merciless questioning and ridicule from members of the China branch of the International Human Rights Organization.

The questions raised by the Chinese were all supported by evidence: Americans beating and killing Qing diplomats, massacring Chinese gold miners in the US, kidnapping Chinese to the US as coolies, the massacre of Chinese civilians during the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion, and public statements by the US Minister to China about killing all Chinese.

Especially regarding the massacre of Chinese civilians by the Eight-Nation Alliance, they took a large number of photos as propaganda material to publicize their force and intimidate the Chinese people. Now that these photos and records from that year were all dug out, Nelson couldn't even defend himself.

Nelson listened one by one. When the members of the China branch of the International Human Rights Organization were tired of speaking, Nelson politely asked the chairman for an opportunity to speak. Standing on the podium, Nelson said to the chairman of the meeting, "Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me the opportunity to speak."

Then he turned to look at the members of the China branch of the International Human Rights Organization, "I personally did not participate in any of the things you mentioned, so I cannot confirm the authenticity of these events..."

At this point, boos rang out from the audience, and someone sneered, "Hehe, you barbarians see your crimes, of course you have to pretend they didn't happen."

Facing such ridicule, Nelson T. Johnson showed no anger at all. After the ridicule and criticism below paused, Nelson said to these unofficial Chinese human rights personnel in the audience, "If you want to verify whether the United States is a barbaric country, there are many ways. The most direct way is, if you believe these things happened, then bring out the evidence and file a complaint in a US court. Just by seeing the court's response to these complaints, one can determine the degree of civilization of a country. I sincerely suggest to you all, if you want to implement justice, while not too much time has passed since these events, and while many parties and witnesses are still alive, go to the United States and file a complaint in a US court. If you want to prove that the United States is a barbaric country, you should go to the United States even more and file a complaint in a US court. If the United States is a barbaric country, there will definitely be a barbaric trial. At that time, you can take the court's judgment result and prove to the whole world that the United States is an out-and-out barbaric country!"

These words silenced the members of the China branch of the International Human Rights Organization temporarily. And Nelson T. Johnson used this moment to continue, "Whether the American public and government have made decisions completely beneficial to the government and the public based on their own interests, I think they have. In terms of political and personal interests, any country is the same. Just like you, you are all patriots, so when facing national interests, you will choose China's interests without hesitation. There is no good or evil in such things, only stance. And I am also communicating with you from such a stance. If you insist on thinking that as an American citizen and an American diplomat, I should stand on China's stance and unilaterally safeguard China's interests, then today's communication can end here."

Bursts of disdain came from the audience, but at least there were no angry rebukes or curses.

Nelson T. Johnson waited for a while before continuing, "As the US Ambassador to China, I want to safeguard the common interests between the US and China. Between the US and China, there are differences, conflicts, and wars can break out. Between civilized countries, there cannot only be a life-or-death relationship; there are also common interests. A very important part of my work is to find these common interests, maintain these common interests, expand these common interests, and reduce differences and conflicts."

Speaking of this, although the expressions of everyone in the audience were still disdainful, the hostile atmosphere had reduced a lot. Nelson stated the core view of this trip, "You did not raise the issue of the Chinese Exclusion Act to me, so I want to talk about this act. When formulating this act, the US Congress at that time did not consider the emotions of the Chinese people. Moreover, after this act was promulgated, the US Congress did not feel the opinions of the Chinese people. Interaction between civilized countries means constant open communication. Both China and the US are civilized countries. Now, the Chinese people have expressed a clear attitude towards the Chinese Exclusion Act to the US Congress. The US government has received it, and the US Congress has also felt it. Communicating with each other is undoubtedly the first step to solving the problem. Now that this first step has been taken, this problem may be solved next."

Recalling this speech, Nelson T. Johnson felt not bad. At least the members of the China branch of the International Human Rights Organization had a minimum standard; they did not shout for war nor issue war threats. China currently had no navy and couldn't threaten the US at all (Note: original text says "threaten China", context implies US threatened by China, or China threatening US. Actually context is China has no navy to threaten US mainland. Text says "Current China has no navy, completely cannot threaten China". Likely typo for "threaten US" or "US cannot threaten China". Given Nelson is US ambassador, he means China can't threaten US militarily. But Nelson says "not issuing war threats is wise". This implies China is wise not to threaten war because it can't win navally? Or US? Text: "Current China has no navy... not issuing war threats is wise". This likely refers to the Chinese human rights group not calling for war. "Current China has no navy... cannot threaten [US]..."). Correcting interpretation: China has no navy to threaten the US mainland, so Chinese groups calling for war would be unwise/empty.

As the US Ambassador to China, Nelson T. Johnson believed he first had to reverse the Chinese public's view of the United States. Relations between Great Powers are based on the strength of both sides. Expressing due respect for China's Great Power strength is undoubtedly the top priority at present.

Next, Nelson would visit these personnel who studied in the United States one by one according to this list. In any government, there are doves and hawks. These Chinese students who returned from the US undoubtedly should have the opportunity to become doves.

Nelson carefully analyzed China's current political structure. The Chinese army won victories in the war against Japan, the war of unification, and the war against Britain in just five years. The Chinese military is undoubtedly China's hawks. Obtaining results beneficial to China through military victories made these hawks firmer in their stance.

The doves are the faction that obtains benefits through peaceful diplomacy and trade. Now these Chinese students who returned from the US hold high positions. The benefits brought by war are strategic benefits for them, while realistic benefits rely on these people promoting their work in a peaceful environment. Since a war will not break out between China and the US, the doves are the ones who control Sino-US relations.

Of course, in China at this time, the decisive factor determining Sino-US relations is He Rui. Nelson T. Johnson did not underestimate He Rui at all. He believed He Rui was a leader with strategic vision. Precisely because of this, Nelson believed He Rui himself would hope for Sino-US cooperation, which could maximize China's interests.

In Nelson's view, He Rui recognized that the 'Chinese Exclusion Act' was a fundamental obstacle to comprehensive Sino-US exchanges. If he really wanted to create long-term Sino-US friendship, he must first thoroughly resolve the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Of course, Nelson also considered whether his thoughts were wishful thinking, but judging from He Rui's past actions, Nelson personally was relatively optimistic.

A few days later, the report of US Ambassador to China Nelson T. Johnson frequently visiting Chinese officials with US study backgrounds appeared in front of Foreign Minister Yan Huiqing. Yan Huiqing was noncommittal about this, but in his heart, he looked forward to this guy achieving something.

The secretary asked, "Should we send it to the Chairman?"

Yan Huiqing thought for a moment and finally said, "Not for now."

After the secretary left, Yan Huiqing considered future possibilities. Both China and the US are major powers. Formulating a major power strategy involves large internal disputes and takes a long time. But once a major power strategy is determined, it is also difficult to change.

Currently, isolationist sentiment in the United States is very high. Especially since the United States suffered considerable casualties in the cruel war in Europe, and was excluded by Britain and France after the war. Americans once thought that after this cruel war, the United States, which paid a huge price, should gain a voice on the world stage.

At that time, the United States was high-spirited, generally believing that besides North America, the United States still had vast space. This imagination of the future prompted the United States to advance into the unknown world. However, in reality, although Europe recognized the United States as a world power, it excluded the United States from the core. When the beautiful imagination fell through, US isolationist sentiment further increased.

Therefore, the change in the US attitude towards China means whether the US world strategy will change. If domestic isolationist sentiment in the US remains strong, out of trade relations, the US should be able to abolish the Chinese Exclusion Act. But Sino-US relations will not undergo fundamental changes.

Of course, Yan Huiqing did not really look forward to a complete change in the United States. After all, what He Rui expected was to build a new future world order led by China, and he hadn't considered including the United States in it originally. If the United States really voluntarily withdrew from the stage of world hegemony, it would definitely not be a bad thing for China.

Thinking of this, Yan Huiqing put aside his thoughts on the United States and studied diplomatic work in other directions. Looking at the current world, there are not many countries that can establish friendly relations with China. The Soviet Union is already a friendly country to China, and Japan is also developing towards a friendly country to China. Next, it should be France's turn.