The story opens with a US Navy SEAL raid on a container ship in Haiphong Harbor. The SEALS successfully rescue a high-ranking Chinese defector.At hearing from the defector that China has transferred nuclear weapons technology to North Korea, the American President is incensed. He orders the re-opening of the US Embassy in Taipei and announces his support of Taiwan's quest to remain free.A new Chinese, Western-educated and progressive, with new ideas of how to approach the West, is caught off-guard by the event. He comes up with a bold plan to bargain for the oil-rich Spratley Islands with Taipei. China's "old guard," and an anxious Chinese Military decide to act.Navy Reserve Captain Ben McGuire, now the interim Naval Attaché at the newly opened embassy, works with the CIA station chief, Jake Harrison, to get to the root of stepped up espionage activities on the island. At a state dinner attended by the American, Chinese and Taiwanese leaders, an attempt on the life of the Chinese President kicks of a coup in China. Thanks to the heroic efforts of Ben McGuire, the assassin fails. Chinese agents, in an attempt to gain leverage, destroy Air Force One as it sits on the ground in Taipei. The American President, accompanied by his staff and McGuire, evacuate to nearby Navy ships while loyal Chinese Navy officers, led by Vice-Admiral Sun Xueliang, attempt to put down the coup. Chinese loyalists succeed in stopping the coup, but not before rebel generals launch a nuclear missile aimed at Taiwan. Now embarked aboard a US Navy anti-missile ship, Ben joins in to help destroy the missile before it can do any harm.