Chapter Two Negotiation

  Liu Yi was a bit surprised to receive this telegram, he didn't think the negotiations would come so soon, and thought it would take several battles before they could talk about peace. He also didn't expect the Japanese to be so afraid of fighting, failing twice and then giving up? Now that three countries have intervened and want to mediate, not going is definitely not appropriate, it would offend people; So who should go? Going himself is even more inappropriate, he's afraid of death; Sending foreign personnel is also not suitable, what if they are betrayed? Simply put, send Liu Fu. This old family member has been with Liu Mingchuan through thick and thin, fought against the French, and is not afraid of foreigners. Moreover, he is extremely loyal to the Liu family. As for whether or not he can handle diplomacy, Liu Yi thinks it's not important, isn't it just a matter of talking nonsense? Liu Yi didn't have any hope that negotiations could bring about a safe future anyway, this was just going through the motions.

  "Uncle Fu, this time I had no choice but to let you go negotiate with the foreigner. Only you are the most reliable and can speak on my behalf." Liu Ye explained in the office, accompanied by Liu Fu who had rushed over upon hearing the news.

  "Third Master, don't worry, I'm too old to fight wars and can't help with that anymore. But going to negotiate with the foreigners, I, Liu Fu, guarantee no problem, as long as you tell me what can be agreed to and what cannot."

  Liu Fu increasingly trusted his young master's words, and since the two times he annihilated the Japanese fleet, Liu Yi was more majestic in Liu Fu's eyes than Li Zhongtang of the imperial court. The Beiyang Navy, which had been defeated by Japan, came to attack Taiwan twice, but didn't even get a glimpse of Taiwan before being completely wiped out by his young master, and at least 20,000 people were killed, what a thrill!

  "You can't agree to anything, just play dumb with them and say that Taiwan is independent, we don't recognize the treaty of cession to Japan, and we don't know or see any Japanese fleets. As for compensation and punishment for those responsible, it has nothing to do with us. However, you also can't be too overbearing, after all, there are still three countries mediating. Just try not to offend them, and you can agree to open a port for trade after Taiwan's independence, but don't give any special privileges; if that doesn't work, just pretend to be ill and come back, I'll find someone else to negotiate with them and stall for time." Liu Fei was also an amateur when it came to negotiations. Although he had negotiated a few deals before, the amounts were never more than one million, and it only involved two small merchants. This kind of political negotiation between countries and regions was really beyond him, so he could only make temporary arrangements based on Taiwan's current situation.

  In September 1896, Liu Fu attended the negotiations with Japan as a representative of the new government of Taiwan, which was hosted by the three countries of England, France and the United States. At the beginning of the negotiations, the Japanese representatives were arrogant and accused Taiwan of violating the Treaty of Shimonoseki, saying that its independence was illegal and unrecognized, and that it should surrender immediately and let the Japanese government take over; they also pointed out that the two consecutive losses of Japanese fleets were related to the new government of Taiwan, and demanded compensation from the Japanese government for a large sum of money; otherwise, the warships of the great Japanese empire would overwhelm Taiwan like a tsunami.

  Liu Fu initially asked the accompanying translator to translate word for word, but later got annoyed and told the translator not to translate any threats or compensation, nor any talk of legality or illegality. He also didn't want to hear about how powerful Japanese warships were. As a result, when Liu Fu attended meetings with his entourage, the translation started off sentence by sentence, then became several sentences at a time, and finally, after the Japanese representative spoke for half a day, the translator turned to Liu Fu and said one sentence: "Uncle Fu, he says he's finished speaking."

  Most of the British, French and American representatives present have been in China for many years and are all familiar with Chinese. Although their Chinese is not fluent, they can understand what's being said. Looking at Liu Fu, the Taiwanese representative in front of them, who has never been seen or heard before, holding a cup of tea and lowering his eyelids from start to finish, neither angry nor panicked, everyone knows that this negotiation is not easy, so they quickly interrupted the Japanese representative's rapid speech and asked the Taiwanese representative to state their demands.

  Liu Fu heard the interpreter say it was his turn to speak, and he perked up, turned around and gave the Japanese representative a back of the head, and said to the British, French and American representatives the few points that Young Master had entrusted him with: recognizing Taiwan's independence, opening a tax-free trade port, and being able to conditionally stop declaring war on Japan.

  Several diplomats present listened to Liu Fu's speech, the three countries of England, France and the United States shook their heads in disappointment, while the Japanese representative jumped up to condemn him. Liu Fu didn't care what they said, anyway he couldn't understand a word, just lowered his eyelids and drank tea.

  The first day's meeting ended in disarray, and the same scenario continued for several days. The three-country representatives were also annoyed and announced a three-day recess. Liu Fu left Hong Kong with his entourage and interpreter on the day of the recess and headed to Guangzhou. Originally, the three-country representatives had planned to privately take turns doing some work on behalf of Taiwan, letting Taiwan make some concessions to appease Japan's anger, but who knew that as soon as they dispersed, no one could be found, not even attending that evening's banquet.

  For such an unprofessional representative, the British representative sent a telegram to the Taiwanese government overnight, clearly pointing out Liu Fu's dereliction of duty as a negotiating representative and hoping that Taiwan would choose another more reliable person to continue negotiations. The telegram from the Taiwanese side also replied quickly, with the content being: Mr. Liu Fu is the most professional negotiating representative in the Taiwanese government, due to the state of war, the Taiwanese government is currently engaged in all-out production and self-rescue, and it is really impossible to send more professional personnel.

  The British negotiator was at a loss for words with the telegram in hand. The negotiations were going on, and the other side had already said everything they wanted to say, although it didn't sound very pleasant. Japan's demands were not accepted by Taiwan, and Taiwan's demands would definitely not be accepted by Japan either. England, France, and the US did not want to take sides or help any party, so they just made some threats. As a result, when the Taiwanese representative gave orders in Chinese to the translator, all the representatives of several countries heard it, but whenever there were threatening words, they would not be translated... What's most painful at the negotiating table? It's when you threaten someone, but they don't understand your language, so what's the point of threatening them?

  The negotiations continued intermittently for over a month, and the result was that the representatives of the three countries announced the failure of the ceasefire talks. Due to the insufficient sincerity of the new Taiwanese government in the negotiations, Britain and France decided to impose an arms embargo on Taiwan and Japan according to the principle of neutrality. In fact, neither Taiwan nor Japan were afraid of the embargo. Japan was not afraid because it knew that the embargo was aimed at Taiwan, while Taiwan was not afraid because it already had its own weapons production line and would consider whether to import more in the future. The Americans didn't say anything, just sat with everyone for over a month, then patted their buttocks and left, purely playing the role of a professional soy sauce stirrer.

  The Japanese were extremely angry, shouting at the negotiating table that they would attack Taiwan and capture and severely punish all members of the new government. The British, French, and Americans expressed that they had done their best but were very sorry, etc. Liu Fu said, "Thank you for the hospitality of various countries in these days, but next time when stewing meat, it's better to use a small fire and simmer for more time, otherwise, it won't be tasty with blood." Then everyone dispersed, each returning to their own home.

  With the end of negotiations, the new Taiwanese government once again declared to the outside world that the waters near Taiwan are a war zone. Except for Japan, merchant ships from all countries can only enter and exit through Anping Port; otherwise, if any accidents occur, the new Taiwanese government will not take responsibility. As for Japanese ships, as long as they approach the waters near Taiwan, they will be regarded as attacking Taiwan and will be counterattacked.

  The Japanese were unable to make a move, and negotiations were also unsuccessful. For the time being, Taiwan was at an impasse, and all they could do was occasionally shout slogans like "severe punishment" and "embargo", while secretly repairing naval vessels domestically and ordering three new cruisers from Britain.