Chapter 300: Just to Make Some Money?

As the old saying goes, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative.
But if that neighbor is competing with you for territory or livelihood, that's more annoying than a distant enemy.
Especially between nations, the so-called "neighbors," when broken down, are actually synonymous with "arch-enemies," competitors etched into their DNA.
Greedy glances and backstabbing are commonplace diplomatic occurrences.
Unfortunately, Singapore has such a "good neighbor" with whom it has had a love-hate relationship for most of its life: Malaysia.
"Wow...the news said...they really sent warships?"
At Fanghuan Investment, in the top-tier trading department, the traders' faces were filled with the excitement of onlookers.
“Hmm,” Liang Haiyuan didn’t even look up, his gaze still fixed on the candlestick chart in front of him.
“The two groups are just staring at each other like fighting cocks, they’re just short of opening fire.”
“What if one of these guys accidentally presses the fire button? That would be a disaster!”
“You’re overthinking it. It’s just acting, everyone knows it. It’s nothing more than a tacit show of force, a show of force, a bit of a sparring, and then everyone goes home for dinner.
If they really went to war, would that still be politics? That would be mindless.”
These two countries are always up to something, making a lot of noise, but when it comes to rolling up their sleeves and waging a full-scale war, neither of them has the guts.
"So... has the Singapore market reacted? No impact at all?"
"Steady as a rock. Those shrewd financiers are all too clever for their own good; everyone can see this is a charade.
So the market hasn't even made a ripple; it's incredibly resilient.
Besides, Singapore has now taken over from Hong Kong and is carrying half of Asia's financial power. Unless someone actually drops a missile on its financial center, it's hard to make it even flinch."
The reason these two countries are making trouble ultimately boils down to a piece of sea.
Malaysia expanded its port area without a word, inadvertently encroaching on Singapore's claimed territorial waters.
And this area is precisely what both sides claim as their ancestral property; the lawsuit has been going on for years, so they use it as a pretext every now and then to annoy each other.
It's just routine; no need to make a fuss.
“But then again,” one analyst remarked with a touch of melancholy,
“Singapore’s current status is truly remarkable.
Back in the day, the top spot in Asia’s financial world belonged solely to Hong Kong, unrivaled and absolute.”
“Indeed,” someone chimed in,
“While that little fishing village next door, which he looked down upon, quietly mastered the two great skills of ‘low taxes’ and ‘strict rule of law,’ specifically targeting Hong Kong.
Before long, this upstart caught up with the big boss.”
Now, Hong Kong and Singapore are known in the financial world as the “Twin Stars of Asian Finance,” one alluring and sophisticated, the other meticulous and steady. Though they appear cheerful on the surface, behind the scenes, they’ve undoubtedly kicked each other countless times.
“Alright, enough gossip.” Su Hao’s voice wasn’t loud, but it instantly silenced the entire trading room.
“Are all the accounts in Singapore ready?”
“Reporting, Chairman Su! All done!”
"As you instructed, the countries that have jumped on the EU bandwagon to join in sanctioning Fanghuan Shipping have been listed.
Singapore is the most vocal and aggressive among them!"
Liang Haiyuan immediately switched from casual conversation to battle mode, quickly stepping forward to hand over the report.
"All accounts are now activated.
However, having Fanghuan's entire operation directly would be too conspicuous and easily alert the enemy.
Therefore, we've opened an additional batch of shell accounts through several other brokerage firms.
Now everything is ready; we just need your command, and our funds will be deployed like raindrops, instantly flooding the entire Singapore market!"
Preparations complete; next, it's time to load this war machine with ammunition!
Currently, Su Hao can mobilize a full two hundred billion!
The remaining money had been transformed into sharp swords, deeply embedded in the lifelines of those British pharmaceutical companies.
“Here, this is the list of stocks I’ve selected.” Su Hao casually handed over a piece of paper.
“Okay.” Liang Haiyuan took the list, glanced at it, and froze, his expression as if he’d seen a ghost.
His first thought was:
‘Holy crap, Chairman Su picked… these are all pillars of the economy, blue-chip stocks!
Any one of these companies is the economic lifeline of Singapore. If the short selling succeeds…
the entire Singaporean economy will collapse!’
“What? Is there a problem?” Su Hao asked calmly.
To be honest, Su Hao himself didn’t know what earth-shattering event Singapore was about to encounter.
What he did was simply follow his intuition and circle a few names on the list.
Metaphysics, pure metaphysics.
Therefore, he completely understood his subordinates' bewilderment.
After all, if the stocks on the list really fell to a point where they could make a fortune shorting them, it would essentially be equivalent to Singapore being cremated economically.
“N-no problem!”
Liang Haiyuan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart, his eyes regaining their resolve:
“I understand! Execute immediately!
We'll start accumulating shares and building a position right away. This is a large undertaking; it'll probably take several days.”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.” Su Hao nodded.
“Also, following your topic, do you think our operation this time is merely for revenge against Singapore and to make some money?”
Liang Haiyuan was taken aback, subconsciously answering, “Isn't… that right?”
In his view, making the enemy pay a bloody price was only natural.
Su Hao smiled, a smile carrying an unfathomable meaning.
What is the battleground for a financial center's status?
It's the battle for 'confidence' and 'inertia'!
Once a place is deemed 'safe' and 'efficient' by global capital, it creates a powerful siphon effect, drawing in a continuous flow of money and people—this is 'inertia'.
Breaking this inertia is harder than climbing to heaven!
For the past thirty years, Hong Kong has tried to fight back, but failed.
Because Singapore has successfully established its 'safe' image, forming its own 'inertia'.
Once capital enters, it doesn't want to move.
Unless… this image of “safety” collapses overnight!
Once Singapore's financial system collapses, global capital's “confidence” in it will instantly vanish!
It's like a dam bursting; all previous trust and reliance will vanish.
And those advantages that once made it successful—low taxes, strict rule of law—will become worthless in the face of systemic collapse!
Because in a place that can't even guarantee survival, talking about preferential policies is a joke!
At that moment, capital will flee like a herd of frightened buffalo, regardless of cost!
What Singapore has gradually taken from Hong Kong over the past thirty years, Hong Kong now has the opportunity to reclaim in a short period of time, with interest!
However, this matter needs to be discussed with the central government beforehand.
But who is Su Hao?
How can he connect with the higher-ups?
Su Hao subconsciously took out his phone, the image of Huang Fengwen flashing through his mind.