Touyou-Occidentia Summit: Da Qiao Round

[YUANGUO]

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In the Pavillion of the Serene Astronomer, near the one of the Nine Great Rivers beautifully flowing through Fu Ren Tai, a royal estate built in 1590 within the greater Imperial Palace for the purposes of preserving historical relics of past civillisations from within and beyond. The meeting area was set, an extensive wood crafted table designed and built by an Imperial Carpenter over a millenia ago, and the surrounding area brimmed with decorations and items of historical intrigue. Without doubt, this Pavillion hosted many events, many celebrations, and indeed held within it many items of interest that proved for the most part, the elaborate and vast richness of history the Empire of Yuan amassed with its neighbours, near and afar.

The Pavillion would now host such eminent characters, their ancestors who once graced Fu Ren Tai with serenity and thought those centuries ago, whether it were through a simple letter to the monarch or undertaking a personal visit to Yuan.

It was a little past 5 at noon, and soon, the arrivals began.

The ever present Chief Eunuch was there to announce the presence of the delegations, from the Touyou Collective to the Occidental Community, the well-respected plenipotentiaries accompanied by staff of their respective delegations were welcomed into the Pavillion with pomp, great fanfare, and led into the compound by a select team of Imperial Scholars chosen for their generous and helpful attributes. Each delegation was honoured by the imperial orchestra, that played their respective national anthems for the duration it took them to head from the Pavillion's entrance to the meeting chamber. A long red carpet with noticeable gold stitching was rolled out for the grand welcome.

The Chief Eunuch announced as they entered:

"From Touyou!"
"The Delegation for the Kingdom of @The Konderland!"
"The Delegation for the Republic of @Solvienta !"
"The Delegation for the Confederation of @Altavastan !"

"From Occidentia!"
"His imperial majesty, the Emperor of Josepánia José David Francisco Juan Luis Constantino IV. And his imperial majesty's Delegation!"@Josepania
"The Delegation for the United States of @Nueva Betica!"
"The Delegation for the Greater Republic of the @Muntíca !"
"The Delegation for the United Republic of @Clarenthia and Auraria!"

Walking up the grand stairs towards the meeting chamber, the delegations could see a peculiar sight, the Fu Emperor rising to stand and greet each delegation alongside his Grand Chancellor, it was by every mean a break from tradition, the Emperor would have never been placed in such a humble position if not for the great importance of the summit. His act made sure that everyone was held to the highest regard, giving equal distinction to all, creating a fair and just image.

Though, it was Yuan that hosted the summit, it was not lost on the part of the Court that the Josepaño had much effort and responsibility in bringing up the subject now under consideration, a global community of economies all sharing a cause for further development and enterprise. Therefore, the Delegation from the Empire of Josepánia was given the opportunity to begin the summit meeting.

While everyone was sat along the table including the Fu Emperor, Grand Chancellor Liu rose from his seat to read from a scroll, a formal (and perhaps anachronistic) way of communicating the Emperor's greetings, "Excellent foreign delegates, the royalty of the most high, imperial and scholarly friends. The imperial family, the imperial court, and the great people of Yuan welcome your presence in the region and in the country. This day marks a significant moment in world history, a day to mark good relations and create greater prosperity for the peoples of the two continents, Occidentia and Touyou, represented here by their esteemed representatives. There is profound gratitude for the Josepaño for being the first to raise the prospect of this summit and the agenda, for that we give courtesy to this delegation to begin."

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[Josepania]

Pavilion of the Serene Astronomer, Da Qiao, Yuan Empire
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The gravity of the situation was not lost on the Imperio Josepaño, for they went well beyond sending their Secretary of Foreign Affairs to attend this meeting, albeit in part because Secretary Giancarlo Emmanuel was still in Dun Eidynn, Caledonia to conclude business there. A member of the Imperial Cabinet was still in attendance of course, specifically, Secretary Hector Delgado of the Department of the Treasury and Commerce, and his presence was indeed necessary given the nature of the summit revolving first and foremost around trade and economics. However, he was far from the most important Josepaño there, barely in the top three. The President of the Imperial Congress, Gustavo Castillo, was in attendance with his iconic white suit, crimson red dress shirt, and matching tie and pocket square, his warm smile failing to fully dissipate his stern countenance, which was considered perfectly normal and valid. He, after all, had a reputation for his seriousness and ability to achieve even the most far-reaching goals with cold calculation worthy of the most seasoned statesmen, and he was the reason the empire, despite its immense bureaucracy, was able to achieve much of anything.

The charm and public-facing persona, however, landed squarely on the third important member of the Josepaño delegation and the one who, despite his de facto limited practical powers, lent the most prestige of the assembled dignitaries: His Imperial Majesty, José David Francisco Juan Luis Constantino IV himself. His suit was a relatively modest deep navy with a white dress shirt and pocket square and burgundy tie, save for two strategically placed lapel pins: one of the

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, and one of the

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, subtly decorated to designate the wearer as the Grand Master of the Order himself. El Emperador instead let his smile and gravitas do the heavy lifting in conveying his prestige, waving when appropriate and simply beaming when necessary, as he led the Josepaño delegation up the stairs “

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” playing in the background.

He took his time so the band could play the Josepaño national anthem as long as possible while taking care not to dawdle or seem like he was dragging things out. It was well-practiced and natural for him, functioning as a symbolic persona of the empire. When he reached the top he betrayed no surprise as to the appearance of the Fu Emperor himself alongside his Grand Chancellor to greet the delegation. Instead, El Emperador displayed his warmest smile yet and reciprocated the imperial greeting and display of humility with a deep but respectful bow to showcase his noble humility, replying with intoned reverence, "Su Majestad Imperial, you do us great honor and guarantee the success of this summit with your presence." He hoped it was received well by the Yuan delegation, as a continuation of the top-secret communications that led to this point, where there was so much pomp and circumstance and mutual preening and peacocking that at times he struggled to follow the practical developments of the entire point of this summit: bringing together the regional economies of Touyou and Occidentia.

It was quite an ambitious undertaking, and naturally, the Josepaño delegation was given the honor of officially beginning the proceedings. So once everyone was settled in and the Yuan communicated the Emperor's official greetings, El Emperador leaned forward and switched on his microphone, causing a mild stir when everyone realized he would be the one to begin everything. He grinned with mild mischief, "Worry not, assembled delegates, this is more of a pomp and circumstance speech rather than a surprise reveal that we have a doctorate in economics."

The modest self-deprecation caused polite laughter amongst the delegates and eased any potential tension, and he continued, "While our Secretary of the Treasury and Commerce and President of the Imperial Congress will be the ones to speak from the Imperio Josepaño regarding details, questions, and otherwise all other aspects of this summit going forward, we will begin by thanking Su Majestad Imperial for arranging us all to be here today to embark on this ambitious international project, one that we pray brings about profound economic change for the better for our governments and indeed our peoples." He nodded to the Fu Emperor in respect, which was reciprocated in turn.

"This is a summit that starts with an idea: a firm rejection of division and disunity, of malicious competition and mutual suspicion. It is a rejection of what has occurred and, alas, continues to plague Gallo-Germania, especially the Engellexic Isles, despite the efforts of the Imperio Josepaño to heal the deep wounds there. Wounds such as a civil war, followed by regional conflict, and topped off with economic sanctions, all of which plague the people there and bring misery and poverty to a place once regarded with respect for its stability and economic vibrancy. The effects of events in the present we fear will continue to reverberate well into the future, like ripples in a pond from a cast stone, and affect nations and peoples well beyond Gallo-Germania despite their efforts to protect themselves from this evil."

"It is why this idea was sown in Occidentia and we intend to have it blossom in Touyou, for these regions have already shown a profoundly better alternative to the world. The Touyou Collective and Occidentian Community have each independently yet, coincidentally and simultaneously, chosen to pursue regional harmony through the elimination of restrictions on trade and travel among their respective peoples, and economic and societal prosperity has flourished in happy consequence. The governments of these regions have grown closer and promoted peaceful harmony, the economies of these nations have grown steadily and provided prosperity for the people, and the societies of each entity have moved decisively towards pious unity rather than conflict."

"All of what we have laid out are facts, indisputable and inarguable, and it has prompted a simple and yet profound question in the halls of Ciudad de San José, a seed that was planted back home and we hope will blossom here and now: why not expand the scope of what has already proven successful?"

"Why not take what we have learned independently in both Touyou and Occidentia and apply it as a larger collective between our two regions? Let us form a super trade bloc, a multinational community of peoples living in harmony and traveling and trading freely so that we can achieve mutual peace and prosperity, thus promoting mutual piety, and thereby providing a model for the rest of the world to follow. We are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that this lofty, idyllic goal is not only possible but quite achievable and also worth pursuing with every fiber of our collective being."

"We, therefore, invite the assembled to join the Empire of Josepánia in crafting this trade bloc between Occidentia and Touyou, inspired by our respective regional alliances, so that we protect ourselves from chaos, instability, and conflict from the rest of the world, promote peace, piety, and prosperity within ourselves, and shine as beacons of hope so that, perhaps soon, perhaps far in the future, the rest of the world shall follow, and we can look back in pride upon what we will accomplish here and now."

"We thank you all for attending and invite our fellow delegations to weigh in on this idea and take steps towards turning an idea into reality. We humbly yield the floor."

 

[Nueva Betica]

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It was the first summit organised in Toyou, where a Neobetican delegation participated, making Marissa de Herrera being the first Neobetican president to have this honour. It wasn't the first summit in which she participated, as she was going into her 4th year of term and she knew elections were coming the next yeah, but it was a very important one. What was decided in Da Qiao could either offer her a landslide victory in the face of the Blancos or cost her the Casa Amarilla, because the main goal of the Neobetican delegation was to fight for the coming together of the Toyou Collective and the Occidentian Community, creating thus the biggest and strongest trade bloc in the history of the world, ensuring that the country will have the perfect soft landing in the face of instability coming from Gallo-Germania, namely from the collapse of Caledonia and the trade war between Azilia and Justosia.

She knew that the Yuan loved their protocol, and is something she wanted to have Nueva Betica follow closely too. Back when she took control of the Casa Amarilla, the guard was just made out of three soldiers in camo uniform, sitting on a bench. Today, the spectacle of the guard change, with the 19th century rifles, the green uniforms and the pickelhaube helmets attracted tourists from all over the world. She forced it upon the political class and the Neobetican administration and now she was in her area, where she could shine. The Neobetican delegation was led by Maria Luisa "Marissa" Lopez de Herrera, president of the Republic, Emilio Victor Noboa y Saenz, the Minister of Trade and a series of sub-secretaries and counsellors. The opening of the summit was extremely formal, with the Yuan representatives welcoming the delegations and the Chief Eunuch calling out the representatives of each nation, welcoming them to the meeting. After some welcoming words from the hosts and the initial speech from the Josepanians, it was time for the Neobeticans to have a say.

"Gentlemen, I want to thank our hosts for organising the summit and for our brothers in the Josepanian Empire for being part of the coming together and organisation effort. I also thank them for their wise words in the opening," Marissa de Herrera started.

"It is true, that the world now stands on the brink. An era of prosperity, peace and growth has come to an end, this is what we must learn from the collapse of Caledonia. Issues have built up in society and it is important we address them before they explode in the insane ideologies that have fuelled the death and suffering of the far north of Gallo-Germania and has left the world economy uncertain as a little over a trillion Euromarks have all but disappeared with the collapse of the High Kingdom and the war waged by the Greenshirts against the people and its neighbours.

Today, the war has ended, but the Caledonian piece of the puzzle in the world economy is still missing, and we, in Cumana, are fearing that there might be a domino effect as a trade was is being now waged between Azilia and Justosia, with both nations seemingly unresponsive to cooperation and compromise and calling the nations of the world to join one faction or the other. This, in our eyes, is extremely dangerous.

Thankfully, there is hope. The goal of this meeting is to see how the world's two most important economic blocs, the Toyou Collective and the Occidentian Community, are coming together to find a common way so that we can navigate through these times while still ensuring that our peoples are enjoying high standards of living and hope in the future, especially for the posterity.

In this situation, we will stand together with our brothers from the north, the Josepanians, and state that a free trade aggreement and in the future even further integration between the two blocs will ensure that we can have a strong voice against whomever wants to bully either of us, and even better, we will manage to have a weight and a voice never seen before in history, for we will form a trade bloc that will bring together more than half of the population of the world. It is important that we think of our citizens and that we keep the trade ways open, for the modern economy is is sophisticated and overly complex that autarky is near impossible.

Thank you! I now yield the floor," she stated. ​

 

[YUANGUO]

With formalities done, the scene was set for the introduction of more serious subjects, the agenda that was so accurately raised by the delegations of both nations from the Occidentian Community. By the side of the Fu Emperor, the Grand Chancellor spoke once again, this time from his seat and into the mic in front of him, his careful and solemn voice poured out the contents of the Yuan's proposal, a purely transactional scheme that would promise the removal of trade barriers between the regions.

Speaking carefully he said, "We are grateful for the words and affirmations from both delegations. We are particularly interested to take note of the situation currently facing nations in Gallo-Germania and others, a delicate balance of power that is being disrupted by the call to action from nations involved in either the opposition to give support to the Far Northern Republic or to lend a hand in helping the construction of the illegitimate regime, a case of affairs that presents a significant challenge to our foreign policy of non-inteference in internal affairs. We expressed firmly, made clear from any doubts that the opposition the Empire of Yuan commited towards the FNR Regime is a matter of internal decision making, and we do believe that nations should not be forced into picking a side based on blanket threats of economic coercion, if anything, such divisive bullying will worsen the situation by dividing and degrading non-partisan states. Forcing an independent state to pick a side, as her excellency, President Marissa pointed out to be dangerous. I will emphasise that it is extremely dangerous."

He paused and had a cup of hot tea before continuing, "Therefore, it follows that a consensus must first be born and agreed upon among the delegates present here, to ensure that come whatever unjust threat or challenge, this potential super trade bloc that we are building, will persevere and meet adversity with a strong and significant united front. The Imperial Court strongly believes that there are great and far superior merits in the construction of a trade bloc where both Touyou and Occidentia can see eye to eye and work hand in hand, an area of high achievement, competivity, and prosperity for both consumers and producers. We look forward to this and I will submit this proposal before your excellencies. Please." He then called the imperial scholars nearby to hand out the Yuan's proposal for the creation of free trade, a set of compiled documents protected by black leather and yellow writings on its surface that read Touyou-Occidentia Free Trade Agreement. While the delegates viewed the contents of the proposal, the Grand Chancellor described them, "The proposal outlines a framework where Touyou and Occidentia can work together to puruse common goals in accordance with the principles of free trade, while retaining political integrity between the structures and institutions of the Collective and the Community, streamlining for further cooperation beyond pure economic goals."

Pointing his finger at a section titled Trade and Tariffs, he said, "The lowering of tariff and non-tariff barriers between us, to improve upon our multi-trillion economic developments, giving all enterprises fair and equal opportunities to succeed and grow. This part is of course the essential item of the agenda and a part of this agreement or any other proposal on free trade that simply cannot do without. The removal or lowering of trade barriers is a must." ​