America: My Time

Chapter 879: Strike first to gain the upper hand

Chapter 849 Strike First
"Tenth Brother, what do we do now? Mr. John has rejected those guys' ideas. You and I both know that it's impossible to expect them to make a good film, so it's obvious that it's impossible for them to make money through Phoenix Cinema. How should we respond to them?"

"Just tell them what Mr. John said directly. If anyone thinks they're so great, let them talk to Mr. John themselves. Mr. John has already refused the matter with Mr. Zou Daheng, which has given us enough face. Everyone's face, if they want more, do they really think they're the Governor of Hong Kong? Or do they think they can outmaneuver Mr. John? Leaving Hong Kong is a dead end. Staying in Hong Kong, they can still force the British to take action. If there are any fools like that who insist on causing trouble, they will definitely become the target of our authority. We just need to do our own thing!"

Soon, the Xiang brothers relayed John's words verbatim to those in Hong Kong who wanted to make quick money. Many were furious at this outcome, seeing it as a disrespect to them.

"Damn foreigner, does he really think he can control everything in Hong Kong and dare to threaten us like this? But we'll take it seriously. We should join forces to teach him a lesson and let him know how powerful we are."

"Heh, you're really brave. What do you think you are to dare to talk such big? Do you really think that other people's status is just for show? Don't forget what happened with Wang Dehui. If you want to die, don't drag everyone down with you. That person is not Wang Dehui. It's fine if you die, but don't drag us down with you!"

When someone mentioned Wang Dehui, these bigwigs all frowned. They had nothing to do with him, yet they were under a lot of pressure. After all, Wang Dehui was a big shot in Hong Kong, and the consequences of him being killed were obvious. So they were all on guard at this time.

This is a real incident, and all of them will be implicated. Those big shots are well aware of how powerful John is, and they also understand that he controls real armed forces, so wiping them out is not a big deal.

"Xiang Sheng, what decision have you made? Everyone wants to hear your opinions!" They couldn't let things escalate any further. If anyone else made any more outrageous remarks, it would definitely implicate them if something happened in the future. So, someone immediately turned the conversation to the Xiang brothers, wanting to hear their thoughts.

"We're doing legitimate business, and we do everything according to their requirements. Since they have rules, we naturally have to abide by them, and this is common knowledge in Hong Kong. Don't forget, Mr. John has already given everyone enough face by rejecting Mr. Zou's proposal. If anyone thinks they're brave, that's their own business; we won't participate, nor can we. They have the audacity to threaten us, but what power do we have to threaten them? Don't think that just because the British are lenient with us, we can act recklessly. One wrong move and we'll be held accountable!"

Outsiders have no idea what the outcome of the talks between these guys in Hong Kong will be, but one thing is certain: the artists of Phoenix Group and Legendary Entertainment have not been pressured by outsiders, and the overall situation remains unchanged. No one has dared to cause trouble, but the underlings have all received notices from their bosses not to cause trouble at John's companies, or they will have to take responsibility for any problems that arise.

In the following period, John carefully studied the situation in Hong Kong, focusing on steady development without excessive expansion or engaging in too much competition with the Hong Kong tycoons. After all, Hong Kong real estate was not John's primary focus, and the returns from investing so much capital were far less than those from investments in mainland China. It can be said that although the Mandarin Oriental Group is headquartered in Hong Kong, it is no longer primarily focused on Hong Kong. Compared to other real estate companies in Hong Kong, it is a truly global group, with its current focus on the United States and China.

Soon, things in Hong Kong came to a close. After all, there were only so many companies there, and everything was easily resolved. However, social interactions still needed to be maintained, so John took Lee Boo-jin to visit some of the most respected figures in Hong Kong. When someone of John's status is at that level, every move he makes is scrutinized. Bringing Lee Boo-jin along was a way of asking for their favor, since Hong Kong would be the future headquarters.

Taiwan is John's next stop. After all, Taiwan's market share is much stronger than Hong Kong's, and John also has a lot of plans there. It wouldn't be right for him not to take a look during his trip to Asia, not to mention the Bentley Motors company that is under construction, which he also needs to check out.

Seeing the situation in Taiwan, John couldn't help but sigh. Although construction started early there, the speed was far slower than in China. There, construction began immediately after a decision was made, since the factory blueprints had been prepared long ago. But Taiwan's pace was too slow. Perhaps by the time China finished construction, or even started construction, Taiwan wouldn't have finished yet. This was the difference in speed, and also the difference in the level of official support. Although Taiwan also provided strong support, their support was limited. China, on the other hand, offered comprehensive support, and the cooperation wasn't a one-off event; there were absolutely no problems. However, the personnel training was quite good; at least it had already begun, otherwise it would have truly affected his plans.

This period is when Japanese companies are under the most pressure. If we can take this opportunity to impact their market share in Southeast Asia and Europe and America, we could make them suffer even greater losses. John doesn't expect to be able to eliminate Toyota and Honda, but he can kill Nissan. The greater Nissan's losses, the less pressure he will face to acquire it.

John didn't want to wait too long; he wanted to crush Nissan within the next few years. As long as Nissan continued to suffer huge losses, they wouldn't be able to hold on. After all, Japanese banks were also constantly going bankrupt, so they had no support and the only outcome was a sale. Later, Nissan's losses exceeded $50 billion, forcing Ford and Daimler-Mercedes, who wanted to acquire it, to give up. This shows how terrible their losses were at the time.

Strike first, strike hard; strike later, strike hard! John's plan is to lay the groundwork early and seize market share ahead of time. Moreover, with the advantage in high-end cars and the impact of mid-to-low-end cars, even if those guys in Japan control costs very well, it won't help. They will still suffer losses, after all, that's their current situation.

Many companies are now cutting their R&D projects. The reason is simple: Japanese companies are facing financial problems. With the collapse of the real estate market, they have all lost a lot of money, and this situation continues. It is unknown how long the losses will last. The smart ones have already begun to cut their losses and survive, while the fools are still stubbornly persisting.

"Speed ​​up! Everything must be completed within the planned timeframe, otherwise it will affect the group's overall strategy. The group attaches great importance to Taiwan and absolutely cannot allow any accidents to occur!" John gave a small reminder regarding the construction speed of the Taiwan factory. In fact, this wasn't just a problem for Bentley; the construction speed of other factories was too slow. After the split, it was a full-scale expansion, with electronics manufacturing and semiconductor chip manufacturing accelerating, all of which required the construction of new factories, not to mention other factories. It can be said that when the full-scale layout in Taiwan was launched, John found that the construction speed here was a bit too slow, completely lacking the speed of China.

Fortunately, he hadn't considered Taiwan as a major production base, but instead chose China. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to complete his plans. Taiwan was still primarily focused on high-end products and R&D, while production remained in China. However, the existing factory's production wasn't affected; otherwise, John would have been in serious trouble.

"Now I understand why you chose to invest in the electronics and semiconductor industry in Taiwan, rather than in South Korea. There is a well-established system here. If it were South Korea, it would be impossible to develop your own R&D; you wouldn't be able to get enough talent!"

"It's good that you understand. The talent in South Korea is all controlled by your local companies. If I were to invest, it would only be in a production factory. Without research and development capabilities, such an investment would be meaningless, and the production cost would be higher than in China. So the choice is obvious. With the research and development here in Taiwan, at least in the short term, there is no need for other research and development. Perhaps when we need it in the future, China will have already successfully stood up."

John's words were his true thoughts, but those around him did not agree, including John's personal secretary. They all thought it was impossible; how could China catch up so quickly in its current situation? But that was the truth. No one could have imagined how amazing the power China would unleash after opening up, or how rapid its development would be.

"The situation in Taiwan seems very chaotic. Don't you think about integration? If things continue like this, it's better not to split up at all. That way, at least everything can be guaranteed to go smoothly." Lee Boo-jin was right. Taiwan is indeed in a lot of chaos right now. After all, it hasn't been split up for long, and people haven't fully adapted yet. It all takes time to work things out.

John believes that if given a little more time, everything will soon be back on track and no longer a problem. Time is still sufficient for his semiconductor strategy, and with the emergence of the Internet Cafe Alliance, his market share in the personal computer field is even more impressive, truly leaving other companies behind. Most importantly, production costs are lower in Taiwan, which is more beneficial to the company's development, at least in terms of labor costs, it is more advantageous than Japan.

(End of this chapter)