Chapter 14 - The Sleeping Dragon Awakens
Beijing, People’s Republic of China, 16 August 2051
Across the land, a nascent stirring of discontent amongst the masses sent tremors of foreboding through the PRC political establishment. Not since before the founding of the republic had the people been so aroused to overtly question the integrity of the political leadership at the grass roots of their communities all the way through to the elite bureaucracy in Beijing. After several decades of increasing prosperity and affluence enjoyed by the population at large, the economic tide had decidedly reversed five years ago. A period of harsh material deprivation began then, the magnitude and breadth of which few under the age of fifty had ever experienced in their lives.
The economic depression gav
