From
David Wingrove's eight book
Chung Kuo series:
Howard DeVore is the arch-antagonist in this series. He foments the initial war against the Seven and periodically returns to Chung Kuo to wreak havoc. His long term plans include repopulating Chung Kuo with his new breed of Inheritors. DeVore sees life as a giant game of Wei Chi and prefers to use other people as his pieces rather than acting directly.