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"So..." you think for a moment. "So we could embarrass them - drive a wedge between them, make one party abandon the other and weaken their power base."
"Easier said than done," Goto replies. "With things as tense as they are, the Nationalists are on an upswing - the entire reason they're a real problem rather than just another bad joke."
"Tense?" you reply. "Haven't we been kicking abyssal asses left, right and center?"
"Settle, the only point of comparison they have is the last war, which was lost in a series of successful battles," Goto retorts. "And then there's the economic impact. It takes heavy escort just to cross the Sea of Japan as of late - and more often than not we need the PLAN to help us with it." He sighs. "The nationalists are having a grand time with that; 'Silver Rice from Chinese plates'."
You frown. "Silver rice? Nobody's starving yet, Goto."
"Nobody should HAVE to," he corrects you. "But with the big hike in food prices the lower income families are living off ramen -the government offers other stuff, of course, but the mindset is, we are all in this together, we must do our part for Japan - so a lot of people are cutting it fine rather than ask for help." Goto looks troubled. "Its how Japanese show their patriotism - like how Americans give freely in crisis, Japanese take as little as possible."
"And the nationalists are painting this whole thing Chinese."
"Of fucking course they are! Stingy bastards with their massive navy can only escort 'so much' a month!? What a humiliation for Japan, for her people to suffer for Japan's military weakness. And so on."
"So how does this change things?" you ask.
"It means they've circled the wagons," Goto replies. "EVERYONE has. You try to divide them now, they'll double down."
"... so we have to discredit them all," you say at length. "The Yaks, their pet politicians, whatever."
"Get them by the balls," Goto says. "That's my vote. Take something they need and threaten to vaporize it."
