Imperial Press Conference

[Touzen]

Yoshikawa's eyes focused on the journalist for a short moment.

"Shimotaya..", he whispered unintelligibly, and his eyes once more scanned her from top till bottom. Judging by the name, a half-breed.

A shame, he thought. She would probably have made it far in the Imperial Association of Journalists.

"Thank you for these most excellent inquiries."

He rested his elbows in front of him on the mahogany podium.

"This ministry believes that it would send a fundamentally wrong sign, first and foremost to the Jizhou people for whom we are undertaking this struggle, if we were to accept calls by the terrorists that call for a division of the great Jizhou nations and a destruction of its political unity. In fact it was from the very beginning of the conflict the goal of the Yiyuan Clique to exercise complete political control in Jizhou and to separate the nation from the framework of liberated Touyou that has been constructed in the last 60 years. That now calls are getting louder calling for a settlement involving partial demands is a sign that the terrorists have been severely weakened and that our undertaking is going into the right direction. I will not give up on the Jizhou people and on their hopes for peace, and neither will this government. I am committed to go all the way, even if it means that many more months of strive are ahead of us. The world will know that Nokanawa takes its responsibilities towards its allies very seriously and that its priorities are the wellbeing of all free peoples in the world."

"Now, whatever Mr. Li has offered or not offered, the facts speak for themselves. Even as I speak, men, women and children, innocent non-combatants, are getting slaughtered, massacred, raped, tortured by terrorist forces that have no regards for ethics or human life. The forces that are supportive of Mr. Li's movement and who oppose the government by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Jizhou are invited to come back to the political table, face responsibility for their crimes and then within the possibilities of the current situation participate in the framework of Jizhou politics in a constructive fashion. I am however confident that these elements have no interest in forsaking their ill-fated cause and are seeking to continue a war of destruction on the backs of the common Jizhou man. And this is why we will continue to fight."

 

[Calidia]

Achariya Katilaianei was a self-made women. When she was young her family fled Ratomkira, like so many of her country. Her father, a modest unionist, she never knew, but at times in her life she worshipped him. From a way too young age she knew what had happened to her father. Her emotionally unstable mother had given all the details about his arrest, not to mention the stories she heard from people who escaped the prison camp he died in. Achariya and her family arrived in Eiffelland over 25 years ago with next to nothing. After numerous dead-end jobs her writing skills where discovered by the same man that she would fall in love with. That man that she met while cleaning his dinner table was a journalist for the Reuters International Press Agency. Her soon to be husband opened a door for the once future-less Kambudjan, the next steps she took all on her own until she became the respected journalist she is today. During nearly ten years of professional journalism she had managed to put her past aside and remain an objective yet confronting woman of the press.

Although Achariya had no sympathy for the Oikawan that stood a few metres before her she did her best to ask her question as clear and respectful as possible.

"Achariya Katilaianei, Reuters International. What is your government's opinion about the recent air strikes in Na Treng? Are the allegations true that your nation's air force has purposely targeted civilians to break the rebel's moral? And how will your government deal with the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ratomkira outside of the current assistance?"

 

[Touzen]

"Allegations that the Empire of Greater Oikawa has deliberately targeted civilians are false."

An empty stare fell onto the Ratomkiran woman.

"The attack on Na Treng was justified on grounds of military intelligence available at the time being. Imperial and Ratomkiran forces strive to avoid civilian casualties wherever possible, which is difficult if enemy combatants decide to use the population as human shields to hide behind and continue pursuing their path of violence and terror. If you are struck in such a situation, you are struck in a moral dilemma. Do you attack regardless of the hostage situation - and we are not talking about anything different here at all - to eliminate terrorists that could potentially threaten countless more, or do you allow them to prevail and abuse even more innocents for their perverted cause?"

Yoshikawa sighed.

"We will continue to save innocents wherever possible. We will continue to act with utmost car, as in Na Treng. But we will also seek to end this terrorist insurgency by means of arms or resumed negotiations - where the only outcome can be a terrorist surrender - as soon as possible, since the absence of war is the best strategy to avoid further losses. Once the groundwork has been laid out, the League of Free States through its economic provisions can start to assist the Ratomkiran people in reorganizing their lives and enable the children of Ratomkira to look forward towards a bright future. Of course the Empire has already pledged significant humanitarian resources to the suffering people of Ratomkira, but for large-scale, lasting efforts to begin, efforts that are not restricted to addressing the immediate needs, the country needs to be stabilized first. Ending to the terrorist insurgency is the key to the prosperity and well-being of the Ratomkiran people, and the sooner this fact has been realized, the sooner we can take productive steps towards a better tomorrow."