The Bear and the Dragon

The Bear and the Dragon is a political thriller novel by Tom Clancy featuring Jack Ryan. It was published in 2000.

Plot introduction

In the book Jack Ryan is President of the United States. After Russia discovers oil fields rivaling those of the Persian Gulf in Siberia and gold deposits just as big, it looks as if the struggling Russian economy is on the road to recovery. But China decides to speed up its plan to invade Siberia, which had been delayed after the defeat of Japan in the book Debt of Honor.

Plot summary

In the prologue Sergey Nickolaievech Golovko, the chairman of the SVR and friend of President Ryan, is being chauffeured to his workplace in an armoured white Mercedes S-600 when somebody shoots at another car which, coincidentally, is the same make as his, with an RPG7. Due to the quick actions of his former Spetsnaz Gru bodyguard/chauffeur, he makes it to the SVR headquarters, left to ponder whether the RPG was meant for him or not.

A roving CNN news team in China captures on videotape the murder of Cardinal Renato di Milo, the Papal Nuncio to Beijing, and a Chinese Baptist minister, Yu Fa An. The two had attempted to stop Chinese authorities from performing a forced late-term abortion on a member of Yu's congregation and in the process, one of the on site policemen, who mistakenly believes his partner is being attacked, puts a bullet through the cardinal's spine. In reaction, most nations impose a trade boycott on the PRC. With its economy struggling due to recent military expansions, China decides to hasten its planned invasion of Siberia in order to access the newly discovered oil and gold fields. The operation includes attempting to murder the Russian President and his top-ranking advisor.

In an attempt to dissuade China from invading Russia, President Jack Ryan persuades NATO to admit Russia and personally promises assistance to Russia's President Grushavoy. China invades, despite international assistance pledged to Russia. Russia eventually repels the Chinese with help from the United States Army and Air Force and NATO allies, in the process completely annihilating two Chinese Shock-Army formations and severely damaging two others. The U.S. Navy attacks the Chinese mainland coastal defenses and destroys much of the Chinese navy's aging fleet while it lies in port. Against his advisors' opinions, Ryan decides to broadcast CNN's coverage of the war, plus direct feeds from U.S. reconnaissance drones, over a CIA web site to counter the Chinese government's domestic propaganda about the war's status and purpose.

As the war turns against China, Beijing's increasingly desperate leaders decide to ready their ICBMs for a potential launch. A joint NATO-Russian special operations force (including Rainbow), led by John Clark, is dispatched to destroy the ICBMs. The force destroys all but two missiles in their bunkers. Of two that launch, one is shot down in the air by an Apache, while the second missile heads toward Washington, D.C.. Ryan's family is evacuated, but he decides at the last minute to stay behind on board a U.S. Navy ship (USS Gettysburg) docked in Washington, which has an experimental anti-missile system. Ryan watches as the ship destroys the ICBM at the last possible moment.

Late at night, a group of students who have become enraged over the Chinese leadership's handling of the war after watching the CIA website march through Tiananmen Square and invade a Politburo meeting, setting the stage for an overthrow of the government. A reformist Politburo member, Fang Gan, takes over and arrests the men behind the invasion, Premier Xu Kun Piao, Minister Zhang Han San and Marshal Luo Cong. Fang also orders an immediate withdrawal of Chinese forces from Siberia and then holds an open discussion with student leaders that starts China's transition to democracy.

References

• Clancy, Tom (2000). The Bear and the Dragon (1st ed.). G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-399-14563-X.