“Excellent.” Bolcke collected the photos and glanced at his watch. “I’m afraid I have to catch a flight to Sydney. I’ve opened preliminary discussions for the acquisition of Mount Weld, so I will eagerly await your reply.”

“We will move as quickly as we can,” Jintai said.

The general called for an aide, and Bolcke was escorted out after everyone stood and shook hands. Jintai poured a whiskey for Tao and another for himself.

“Well, Tao, our Austrian friend makes a compelling case. Since our economy is strong, we can afford to muscle the marketplace. And why not try to make the technological leap that will assure our safety for the next century?”

“There could be potential economic repercussions that the General Secretary won’t relish,” Tao said, “but I agree that it is worth the risk.”

“Will he balk at the loan and cash payments?”

“Not when I explain the value of the Sea Arrow technology. We’ve had agents trying to penetrate the program, but with no success. I don’t question Bolcke’s estimate of their expenditures. In fact, he may be understating their costs.” He studied his glass of whiskey. “We must do what we can to obtain it.”

Jintai smiled. “Then it is agreed. We will jointly support the proposal to the General Secretary.”

“But there is one problem with our Austrian friend.” Tao turned to Zhou, who had been sitting silent throughout the meeting. “Please, tell the general what you have learned.”

Zhou cleared his throat. “General, I was assigned to investigate thefts of rare earth elements from our primary mine operation in Bayan Obo. There I found an organized crime ring that was systematically stealing crushed ore and transporting it to Tianjin. I tracked an illicit delivery that was loaded aboard a freighter called the Graz.” He paused, glancing at Tao for confirmation to keep talking.

“Should the name mean something to me?” Jintai asked.

“The Graz,” Tao said, “is owned by Bolcke’s shipping company.”

“Bolcke is orchestrating the theft of our own rare earth?”

“Yes,” Tao said. “He was brought in as a consultant at the mine some years ago, giving him opportunity to establish the theft ring. But it’s worse than that.” He nodded at Zhou.

“I examined a number of port records to track the freighter’s path,” Zhou said. “From Tianjin it sailed to Shanghai, and then to Hong Kong, where it off-loaded thirty metric tons of crushed bastnasite that the Ministry of Commerce had purchased on the open market. The purchase was brokered through Bolcke’s firm, Habsburg Industries.”

“Bolcke is selling us our own rare earth?” Jintai nearly popped out of his chair.

Zhou nodded.

“The greedy swine!” Catching his breath, he turned to Tao. “What do we do now?”

Tao carefully snuffed his cigarette in an ashtray before locking eyes with Jintai.

“The American technology must be obtained at all costs. We will send Zhou to Panama to proceed with its acquisition.”