As the official mouthpiece of the Haihan Times, the articles published on it, especially those appearing on the front page, have always been interpreted by public opinion as a bellwether of the official attitude.
This is not conjecture of public opinion, but long-term practical experience. Many times the goals announced in these articles later became reality, and the authority of The Times was gradually formed from this.
Recently, the frequency of Sing Tao appearing in articles published by the Times has become higher and higher. Content related to Sing Tao can be seen in almost every issue of the newspaper. In the latest issue of the Times, the propaganda tone has been improved compared to before. A big chunk.
There are only two reasonable explanations for this phenomenon. One is that Xingdao, uncharacteristically, invested huge resources in the field of publicity and spent money in exchange for newspaper space.
The second possibility is that Sing Tao has received support from high-level officials. In addition to affirming Sing Tao's achievements, the newspaper articles are also building momentum for Sing Tao's development direction. There may be more substantial news in the future. Support measures.
As long as you are not blind, you can basically see the vision for the development direction of Star Island in this recently published article.
It seems to be introducing the development history and customs of Xingdao, but after reading the entire article, only two words appear on the page, and that is "expansion".
Only by expanding externally can Singdao provide its citizens with the jobs and development opportunities listed in the article.
As for how to achieve external expansion, the article did not elaborate on it. Perhaps there is no need to waste words to explain this part, and readers can naturally understand it.
This kind of propaganda is not only high-profile, it can be described as radical.
Anyone with a better memory can easily connect the development prospects of Sing Tao mentioned in this article with Sing Tao's action of sending troops to the Strait of Malacca in the name of suppressing bandits at the beginning of the year.
If one goes by the trend of this article, the three newly occupied islands at the northern end of the Strait of Malacca may be just the beginning of the next expansion.
After the publication of this issue of The Times, the strongest reaction was of course the Portuguese who were worried about damaging their vital interests.
Last time a group of people were kidnapped inexplicably and suffered the loss of silence. This time Simang was not willing to swallow his anger anymore. He roped in Ambassador Thomas and visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Haihan together.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a relatively special yamen in Haihan. The special thing is that the person in charge of this yamen is not just one person, but several people.
The foreign affairs of Eastern countries are jointly managed by Tao Donglai and Ning Qi. The foreign affairs of Western countries are jointly managed by Gu Kai and Schneider.
With the qualifications and capabilities of these people, it is certainly not a problem to serve as foreign minister alone. But they all have their own official duties and can only manage foreign affairs in a part-time manner. If one person is too busy, four people will be responsible for part of the work.
As a result, there was a unique situation of a diplomatic yamen co-managed by four responsible persons.
However, Haihan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a service-oriented department, and there is rarely a struggle for power and profit. The four ministers have a clear division of labor, and there will be no situation where they can cover the sky with one hand.
This service does not refer to diplomatic targets, nor to the people of the country, but to other departments at the same level, such as the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of National Defense, etc. The formulation and implementation of foreign policy and the handling of foreign affairs mostly depend on the needs of these departments. The two Portuguese people did not make an appointment in advance, so as expected, they found themselves empty-handed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. None of the four ministers were on duty. At Simang's insistence, the staff had no choice but to go to the nearest Ministry of Commerce and invite Schneider to receive them.
The Portuguese sat in the conference room for a full hour, and Schneider finally arrived late.
"You two are so eager to meet me. Could it be that there is an emergency in your country?" Schneider asked jokingly after meeting.
"The emergency is not in our country, but in your country."
After Simang said this, he put the newly published issue of Haihan Times on the table and pushed it in front of Schneider.
"I wonder if you have read this article published in the newspaper?"
Schneider took a glance, nodded and said, "I just finished reading. Do you two want to share your views on this article with me?"
Simang said unceremoniously: "As a traditional ally of your country, our country has always attached great importance to diplomatic relations with your country, but I think the content of this article is a serious damage to the good relations between the two countries! I hope Mr. Shi Can clarify your country’s attitude from a diplomat’s perspective.”
Schneider said: "Has this article harmed the interests of your country? Why didn't I see it?"
Ximang said: "This article advocates the westward expansion of Star Island, but as everyone knows, there are many areas west of Star Island that are controlled by our country. If your country insists on taking expansion measures, it will inevitably harm our country's interests. To If there is a conflict, it will not be good for your country.”
Schneider waved his hand gently and said: "Mr. Simang, I think you are making a fuss out of a molehill. This is just an article in a newspaper, not an official document published by our country's executive committee. There is absolutely no need for you to put some people's The idea should be treated as our country’s national policy.”
Simang snorted, obviously not satisfied with Schneider's cryptic reply.
Upon seeing this, Schneider turned to Thomas and asked, "Mr. Thomas, do you think so too?"
The difference between Thomas and Simang is that he has served as ambassador for many years and has been dealing with the veterans of Haihan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for much longer than Simang. He knows very well how difficult these senior officials in Haihan are.
He believes that Simang's straight-to-the-point conversation style is not suitable for diplomatic mediation work. Schneider was not one of those Haihan generals that Simang had dealt with in the past. There were many twists and turns in his intestines, and he might get caught in them if he wasn't careful.
But from a national standpoint, Thomas must be in step with Simang, otherwise today's expedition to investigate crimes will only be in vain.
Thomas said: "Mr. Shi, let me be blunt. We believe that the Haihan Times published this article to declare your country's official attitude. In January, your country sent troops to seize the land in the name of combating piracy. Several islands on the northern side of the Strait of Malacca still refuse to evacuate. Now this kind of article advocating expansion is published. Isn’t this a very dangerous trend? ”
Schneider said: "Please allow me to explain that the military action you mentioned in January was an act of the military, and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no right to interfere. And this article published in the Haihan Times, no matter what its intention is, , both should be under the jurisdiction of the Propaganda Department under the Ministry of Culture and Education. The two things you mentioned are actually not within the scope of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”