Dragonfire (44 page)

The status of China in the twenty-first century was hotly debated in diplomatic and academic circles. But in reality, it had obtained power by force which would have taken it generations to
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China: Can Engagement Work?
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The Coming Conflict with China
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The (North) East is Red
1997

Byron, John and Pack, Robert
The Claws of the Dragon: Kang Sheng
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Chalmers, Malcolm
Openness and Security Policy in Southeast Asia
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After the Tests: India’s Options
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Anatomy of a Flawed Inheritance
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Evans, Richard
Deng Xiaoping and the Making of Modern China
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Ghosh, Amitav
Countdown
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Green, Michael J. and Self, Benjamin L.
Japan’s Changing China Policy: From Commercial Liberalism to Reluctant Realism

Han Suyin
Eldest Son Zhou Enlai and the Making of Modern China
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Heisberg, François
Prospects for Nuclear Stability between India and Pakistan
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The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
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International Institute of Strategic Studies
Military Balance
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Security Discourses and the State of Pakistan
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China after Deng Xiaoping
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Dr A. Q. Khan and the Islamic Bomb
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India’s Nuclear Status Quo
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India’s Nuclear Deterrent: Pokhran 11 and Beyond
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Does China Matter?
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Nuclear India
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Why Beijing does not talk to the Dalai Lama
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Stokes, Mark A.
China’s Strategic Modernization
1999

Sundarji, General K.
Blind Men of Hindoostan Indo-Pak Nuclear War
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Talbott, Strobe
Dealing with the Bomb in South Asia
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Humphrey Hawksley’s face and voice are known to millions through his broadcasts on BBC TV news and radio. Behind the fluency of his delivery is a formidable intelligence,
backed by a deep knowledge of his subject. From 1986 to 1997 he worked mostly in Asia, covering conflicts from Sri Lanka to the Pacific and, in 1994, opened the BBC’s first television bureau
in China. He is the co-author of
Dragon-strike: The Millennium War
and author of two acclaimed thrillers,
Ceremony of Innocence
and
Absolute Measures
.

Also by Humphrey Hawksley

CEREMONY OF INNOCENCE

ABSOLUTE MEASURES

with Simon Holberton

DRAGON STRIKE

Although
Dragon Fire
is a novel, it draws extensively on factual material and was written after conducting dozens of interviews with experts involved in the scenario
described.

I would like to thank those who helped, but cannot be named because they still have jobs in sensitive areas. I can, however, thank (in alphabetical order) Khaled Ahmed, Ravinatha Aryansinha,
Mirza Aslam Beg, Andrew Brookes, Rupak Chattopadhyay, Mani Dixit, Roger Dunn, John Elliott, Gavin Greenwood, Bharat Karnad, Tanvir Ahmed Khan, James Lyons Jnr, Raja Menon, Abdul Nayyar, Tseten
Norbu, Samdhomg Rimpoche, Kate Saunders, Sreenath Sreenivasan, K. Subrahmanyam, Terry Taylor, Ashley Tellis, Malini Thadani, Karan Thapar and Gregory L. Vistica; BBC colleagues Malcolm Downing,
Adrian Van Klaveren, Richard Sambrook, and Fred Scott; Bharat-rakshak, the Tibet Information Network, the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, the Institute for Defence Studies
and Analysis in Delhi, the Institute for Strategic Studies in Pakistan, the Rand Corporation and the Federation of American Scientists; researchers Sitara Achreja, Brigid Bowen, Victoria Connor,
Chanel Khan and Chloe Lederman, who worked against deadlines and an ever-changing brief, and Dipanker Banerjee and Ashok Mehta, who made invaluable corrections and suggestions for the text. Sadly
missed was Simon Holberton, my co-author from
Dragon Strike
. Any mistakes are, of course, my own, and for those who spot them, remember it is only fiction.

First published 2000 by Macmillan

This edition published 2001 by Pan Books

This electronic edition published 2011 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-1-447-21732-9 EPUB

Copyright © Humphrey Hawksley 2000

The right of Humphrey Hawksley to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital,
optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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