La Morsure du dragon

"La Morsure du dragon" (The Bite of the Dragon) is a 2005 French novel by Jean-François Susbielle. In it, Susbielle explores what could happen if the People's Republic of China banned Microsoft. "The real enemy of America is China, and the war has already begun". The plotting and the writing of this techno-thriller have been compared to that of Michael Crichton's.

Plot summary

With an annual growth of rate of 10%, China is about to be stronger than Japan, and will then challenge America's world domination. The US is running out of time. It has 5 years – 10 years at the most – to derail China, or it will lose its leadership. The longer the US waits, the harder this task will be. Under the pretext of fighting terror around the globe, the USA has seized the oil fields and resources in Iraq and around the Caspian sea that are vital to China’s expansion. The USA has installed military bases at the boarders of China. “What we are seeing here is the preparation for World War 4” says the Chinese president. But America’s military power is far superior to Beijing’s forces. What can China do? The answer is … Microsoft! Microsoft is so vulnerable, so fragile that it is the Achilles’ heel of America. If China decides to ban Windows outright and replace it with Linux, that would sound the firm's death knell. Why should they do it? For obvious security reasons, and to guarantee China’s technological independence. The motives are many. And this decision has the effect of a bomb: the "M Bomb". With its 1.3 billion inhabitants, China is on its way to topple Microsoft and become the new homeland for industry standards. If China becomes IT independent and sets the trend, India is bound to follow, then Brazil…

When the Chinese president drops the “bomb”, Microsoft plummets on the stock exchange. And after Microsoft, all the big names of the US IT sector collapse. The Nasdaq crashes and, with it, the US economy heads to bankruptcy. The US president has no choice but to send the Navy off the coast of Shanghai and try to change the course of history.

This is a spy thriller which is full of twists and double twists, and at its heart a surprising love story.