If it were to be presented it would be in another "postscript post".
The Anglo/American - Nazi War
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If it were to be presented it would be in another "postscript post".
Bookmark1995
Banned
So what is life like for the average Chinese person under this junta? Besides the obvious political repression and indoctrination, do Chinese people starve, or do they get the food they need to survive?
I'm guessing that there are Chinese who flee try to flee West Alaska. Do the ITTL authorities of West Alaska extradite the refugees like OTL North Koreans can be extradited to China, or does the ITTL government offer them unconditional asylum?
I wonder what a state with combined Russian, Chinese, and American cultural influence looks like?
I'm guessing that there are Chinese who flee try to flee West Alaska. Do the ITTL authorities of West Alaska extradite the refugees like OTL North Koreans can be extradited to China, or does the ITTL government offer them unconditional asylum?
I wonder what a state with combined Russian, Chinese, and American cultural influence looks like?
Not many individuals manage to escape China. It is similar, but not identical to the old Soviet block in that sense. Those who go overseas know that their family will face consequences if they attempt to defect. Life for the average Chinese citizen more or less sucks, the thing is that the overwhelming majority don't actually KNOW that it sucks. They have no idea that most of the world routinely gets more than 1,800 calories a day and that an infant mortality rate of 84 per 1,000 live births is horrific. They don't know that fresh vegetables, meat, fish, etc. can be had year round in many countries. Few outside those who work in orchards have ever even seen fresh fruit (what fruit is available is usually either canned or dried, most vitamins are provided by government issued supplement pills that prevent , just barely, most deficiency related illnesses). ATL 2017 only about one family in a hundred has their own TV, the rest watch programming in the "community centers" run by the Cabal. These are located in just about every apartment building and exist as free standing sites in rural areas (where they are frequently the only place with 24 hour electrical service).
The government doesn't allow "Foreign" media into the country and what reporting does come in from outside of China is spun like a washing machine. The average Chinese resident knows more about a bus crash in Belfast than one that happens a hundred miles away inside of China, and that bus crash is all the news that came out of the UK that particular week (or month) unless some other disaster has occurred. The people of China do not know that the A4 has major bases on the Moon or that India has established several habitats on the seafloor. Simply never makes the news, is never seen on any entertainment program or mentioned in any book.
The U.S. has a 100% acceptance for confirmed defectors (the confirmed is important, the Cabal has tried to slip in bad actors more than a couple times), the UK is almost as welcoming. India is somewhat less welcoming, mainly to discourage folks from trying to cross the Himalayas and Hindu Kush on foot (in a good year the Indians recover a couple thousand bodies after the spring thaw, in a bad year it can hit the five figures, despite the Indians best efforts to both discourage attempts and almost stupid brave Indian SAR teams trying to save those who still give it a go).
I'm assuming that executions and deportations to Gulags are common as well.
What the Chinese community in other countries like? I know they'd be from pre-Cabal China but how many live abroad?
Yipes. That's worse than I thought, and I'm a pessimistic SOB. I suppose I shouldn't be too shocked: you've described life under the Cabal more than once as North Korea on steroids - I think it's just having the scale laid out like several thousand frozen corpses which hammers it home.
I'm now really interested and really worried for that possible (and I know only possible, since I get the feeling you're reluctant to write too much past the actual bounds of the TL, but the worldbuilding is great) postscript.
Straight up executions are not excessive (keep in mind the A4's sore spot regarding "genocide"), considering the population size and government. Deportations to "assist with the harvest" are much more common. Again this is not straight up "execution through labor" but closer to the strict regime Gulag conditions (don't much care if you do die, but you are given enough calories and shelter that it isn't straight up murder). This is, as was the case with the USSR, a double "blessing"; you get nasty dangerous work done by folks who are seen as "low value" so some deaths aren't complete disasters to the state, AND you get back the husks of the enemies of the state who now can serve as examples so others do not commit "crimes".
Does th A4 have something like OTL's SIGINT capabilities? I mean, they should at least be able to listen in on radio transmissions or something.
Mostly they are GD happy that their parents/grandparents had the foresight to beat feet when to chance arose.
Bookmark1995
Banned
OTL, a similar dynamic appears in North Korea. While they know their lives suck, the North Koreans often don't know how much better South Koreans actually live, because of censorship and propaganda, and thus don't really strive for more.
I remember reading this awesome Wired article, which tells the story of a North Korean defector. He spent his childhood in Yodok for his grandfather's crimes, force to witness executions and eat rats. While he never loved North Korea, it wasn't until he listened to foreign broadcasts with a secret radio that he really grew to hate the North Korean government. Listening to foreign stuff was like achieving him. He suddenly became a dissenter, because he learned of a place where life was better.
I'm guessing that ITTL Chinese refugees have set up some kind of "Radio Free China," with tons of transmitters across West Alaska, right? A4 might encourage these broadcasts, because they are also fishy of this Cabal, even if their demented ideas remain under the radar.
They can get a lot of Intel, but the Chinese aren't dumb. The fairly low amount of seriously incriminating data that is broadcast is via one-time pad, although some black market computers have begun to gain general use that allow 2048 bit double encryption. Even with the very secure system used for broadcast, the really sensitive data moves via courier. There is actually a fairly low level of traffic since most research is self contained one one of several campuses and disguised within legitimate facilities (the Chinese version of the CDC is also host to the Cabal's version of Fort Detrick). Since China is lousy with uniforms, everyone from the waste collectors to senior leadership wear some version of the same basic kit (saves tons of money since there is little to no need to create "fashions" that encourage people to have more clothing than they need, it isn't easy to clothe 2 BILLION+ people). Since someone is wondering, yes, this is pretty much like Cuba, the Cabal members wear fatigues, but their kit is made out of silk in the summer and the best available virgin wool in the winter, RHiP.
SsgtC
Banned
CalBear, just wanted to say what an amazing TL this is. This and PWR are the reasons I joined this site. Truly excellent and enjoyable works.
My question is this, by the time of the landings in France, the US battle line would have been getting quite long in the tooth. The North Carolinas were pushing 18 years in service, the South Dakotas were pushing 17 years, and the Iowas between 15 and 16 years (not to mention the Standards that would have been pushing 40), all of that time in wartime conditions. Meaning heavier armaments, more ammunition and a bigger crew than in peace time. All of that adding up to massively increased stresses on the hull and greater wear on the engines from being run at high speeds for far longer periods of time. A) what measures did the US take (and the RN with their aging battlewagons) to ensure the ships were not only serviceable, but combat ready? And B) was either the US or UK planning any new classes of battleships to replace their aging fleet? I'm asking because, at the time, a BB was expected to serve for 20-25 years before being replaced. And a large percentage of US BBs was approaching or past that point.
My question is this, by the time of the landings in France, the US battle line would have been getting quite long in the tooth. The North Carolinas were pushing 18 years in service, the South Dakotas were pushing 17 years, and the Iowas between 15 and 16 years (not to mention the Standards that would have been pushing 40), all of that time in wartime conditions. Meaning heavier armaments, more ammunition and a bigger crew than in peace time. All of that adding up to massively increased stresses on the hull and greater wear on the engines from being run at high speeds for far longer periods of time. A) what measures did the US take (and the RN with their aging battlewagons) to ensure the ships were not only serviceable, but combat ready? And B) was either the US or UK planning any new classes of battleships to replace their aging fleet? I'm asking because, at the time, a BB was expected to serve for 20-25 years before being replaced. And a large percentage of US BBs was approaching or past that point.
Just one more point with China, how is it the A4 hasn't gone to the point of calling the Cabal a fascist state? From what you have outline its basically North Korea on roids.
I'd imagine pragmatism: the A4 doesn't want to pick fights unless it has to, especially with the long, hard campaign China would necessitate. The A4 could beat China, but it wouldn't be painless.
EDIT: now that I think of it, "North Korea on roids" nicely sums up the why - look how little anyone wants to invade/otherwise bring down North Korea IOTL. Now multiply its population some eightyfold, the area twentyfold to encompass much of East Asia, and throw in the fact the A4 and India are already dealing with a lot on their respective plates (Cal has implied/outright said the A4 is all that's stopping a dozen little Bosnias breaking out across the Third World), and it becomes easier to see why nobody wants to do anything to China.
Plus, the A4 doesn't have the same interventionist streak it's constituents possess IOTL; it's only if fascism is seeking to promote itself outside the borders of one state - and remember, China's official story is "we just want to be left alone" - that there's accepted to be casus belli ITTL.
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I would suspect that if the Cabal do eventually launch their BW attack it will go horribly wrong. Any organism once released is going to do its own thing and very likely mutate and come back at the Chinese. Therefore it has the potential to be an extinction level event.
However with the A4 having off-world colonies and India undersea bases there is some hope, so long as they can become self-sufficient. And when the time comes are ruthlessly quarantined.
However with the A4 having off-world colonies and India undersea bases there is some hope, so long as they can become self-sufficient. And when the time comes are ruthlessly quarantined.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if TTL's version of Fallout was exactly the same if you replace the nukes with a bioweapon.
Six was considered "modest", so...a lot. I'm guessing a lot.
Women who had LESS than six natural children were seen as "failing to do their part for the Fatherland". Those who had eight or more received stipends from the state (which increased as family size increased). That many women physically can not manage that many births was totally ignored. Women with NO children were treated almost as non Aryans.
The entirely male leadership of the Reich literally did not believe reports from medical professionals, even major research centers, that these policies were resulting in increased deaths, both of infants and of mothers.
It's almost like people who murdered a million people a year were just a little bit screwed up. Whodda think?
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