China as a political compass
Authleft: People's Republic of Xinjiang, Mongolian People's Republic, Tuvan People's Republic. Each of them is part of the USSR in all but name, and they are slated to become ASSRs when the USSR gets around to integrating them. They are extremely underdeveloped, even in their capitals, and experience regular grain shortages. The capitals boast of their electricity, but there are frequent blackouts and brownouts as the electric grids cannot sustain the growing cities. The only thing of value the eastern People's Republics possess is their mineral resources and INDOMITABLE COLLECTIVE WORKERS' SPIRIT!
Libleft: Tibet. The theocracy in Tibet experiencied a socialist revolution in the 1930s, which the High Lamas co-opted after the reigning Dali Lama committed suicide. They found a successor that was suitable to the revolutionaries as a voice of the people. Now, Tibet officially has no government and most functions are executed on the village level. In practice, Lhasa remains a distant center to Tibetan politics, and the edicts of the Dali Lama are followed religiously by the village communes. Labour MPs from and Britain India visit Tibet on occasion, and describe it as a country made wise and tranquil by its enlightened rulers. They usually neglect to mention the abject poverty of over 90% of its citizens.
Authright: Great Qing. The Qing Dynasty was restored by the Japanese in areas they conquered from China in order to legitimize their rule. The present Qing court is a strange mixture of German-inspired Fascists, Japanese-inspired militarists, Manchu nationalists, and Han Chinese reactionaries. Within the court, the Kwantung Army serves as a sort of praetorian guard and sacks anyone who is too outspoken against the pro-Japanese faction. The Ma Clique swore loyalty to Puyi to protect themselves from Communist invasion, partly because the RoC government in Nanjing was too far away. In practice, the Ma Clique is a tributary state.
Libright: Republic of China (Nanjing). The coast is highly westernized, and just about everything can be bought and sold in Shanghai or Nanjing. Further inland, the southeast is a warlord infested nightmare where the local warlords treat their domains as their personal property and act more as wargamers and kings than as generals and civil servants. The RoC proper is a democracy of sorts, but the KMT is the only major party that is not actively suppressed. In the warlord held territory, the warlords maintain an "If electricity and running water are so great, why don't you move to Xinjing" sort of policy.
Centrism: Republic of China (Changzhi). Shanxi occupies a strange position, where the local warlord tries to maintain a militaristic but defensively-oriented government and play the RoC and Qing off each other to get economic and diplomatic support from both. It is a refuge for dissidents from both states, and as a result has a prominent socialist party.
Edited for typo.