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It was 2028 and the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary celebrations are a distant memory. Crippled by debt, banking and harvest failure its economy has hit the buffers, a rising mass of unemployed men in the cities is creating a political tinder box. In Beijing powerful forces within the Central Military Commission think they have an answer – the long-planned invasion of Taiwan, the reunification of the motherland. But not everyone in the Chinese military agrees.
In the UK an untested Prime Minister is tackling an intractable problem – a new, ruthless and well-funded Scottish Nationalist leader who will stop at nothing to gain independence. She has chosen to negotiate yet any deal she might strike is guaranteed not to carry the support of her party. Their leadership is on the rocks and the political sharks are circling. Key among them is the former Minister Tommy Rosenfield, ambitious with a record of opposition to Scottish Nationalism and warning of Chinese expansionism he seems to be the coming man.
In Singapore one of China’s Ministry of State Security’s best agents Mei Ling, has been assigned on a top-secret mission, one on which the future of the Chinese Communist Party depends. With her she has files that could shake the political establishments of United Kingdom to the ground.
Taking time off from a febrile Westminster the newly elected Richard Reynolds MP is looking forward to a trip to Singapore to observe the UK’s contribution to the Five Powers (United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia & Singapore) Treaty military exercise – the Durian Pact. Little does Richard know that he is about to be plunged into the middle of one of the most dangerous political fault lines of modern times. Scared, alone and unable to know who to trust Richard is forced to navigate the colliding worlds of the South China Sea and Westminster politics to an uncertain end. The Durian pact – a relic of Britain’s colonial defence is about to gain a new and frightening relevance.
