Take a screenshot and take it to the nearest ROC embassy.
At first I had no idea what you were talking about but I looked it up and it was hilarious.
沒有國民黨就沒有中國, Without the Kuomintang there would be no China, A Republic of China Story
- Thread starter CELTICEMPIRE
- Start date
七十七, Deepening Divisions
Chiang Ching-kuo’s first major challenge of the 1980s was the Iranian hostage crisis. Dozens of Chinese citizens had been held hostage by radical Iranians since 1979. Iran was angry at China, but the Iranian government would soon find that China was far from their greatest concern. The United States had begun to fund Islamist rebels in the closing months of Ford’s presidency. America became the greatest enemy of Iran. The government was eager to stoke the flames of anti-Americanism. Then the students who held the Chinese embassy workers hostage were persuaded to let them go. Iran didn’t want China to take action against their regime. The hostages were quietly released and flown to China in 1981. Chiang Ching-kuo was there to greet them at the airport. Their return was hailed in the Chinese media as a success for Chiang’s foreign policy.
Another important event was the handover of Macao. In March 1980, the flag of Portugal was lowered and the flag of the Republic of China was raised. For most residents of Macao, their life continued as it had before. The city became a part of Guangdong Province, but was exempt from many of the laws passed at both the provincial and national level. One specific exemption was that Macao was allowed to continue to have legal gambling. There were some changes. Residents of Macau could now freely travel around China with the exception of a few areas that were restricted from civilians. Taxes would now be paid to the government of China. It was the start of a new era for Macau.
(The Portuguese flag, lowered for the final time in Macau)
Chiang Ching-kuo was facing mounting opposition from both the right and the left. In 1981, 15 KMT members of the Legislative Yuan joined the China Democratic Socialist Party. This would make the CDSP the second largest party in the legislative Yuan at 131 seats. The KMT was reduced to 479 seats, as there was another defector to the China Youth Party. The Party still held 62% of the seats in the Legislative Yuan, however. CDSP leader Wang Shixian, who represented the old guard of the party, supported continued cooperation with the KMT (this gave CDSP members access to government patronage). Younger party members believed that the CDSP should act as the main opposition to the KMT. As Chiang Ching-kuo and the KMT moved to the right on economics, the rift between the KMT and CDSP would deepen.
Right-wing opposition to Chiang Ching-kuo was mostly about his perceived insufficient anti-Communism. There was some push for him to go further right on economics. Much of the hard right in China wanted Chiang to do more to oppose Communism. Some called for the expulsion of the members of the New Democratic League from the Legislative Yuan. The party was considered by many on the right to be a Communist fellow traveler organization, and its members were generally more conciliatory towards the Soviet Union. Some members of the Legislative Yuan wanted to force a vote on funding Islamist rebels in Iran. In 1982, Gao Wenyuan of Qinghai introduced a bill to provide money and weapons for rebels in Iran and increased support for rebels in Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. He was joined by 254 others from both the KMT and the China Youth Party. While it fell far short of the 387 votes required to pass, it represented one of the first attempts from the legislative branch to oppose the executive branch.
In 1982, elections were held in the provinces of Suiyuan, Chahar, and Xingan. These provinces had been left out of the democratic reforms in 1979, as Chiang Ching-kuo used ongoing Communist activity as an excuse to delay free elections there. There were protests and riots in these provinces as a response. Chiang eventually allowed them to have free elections, and now only Tibet and Xinjiang were exempt from the 1979 reforms. The KMT was not popular in any of these provinces. The party’s gubernatorial candidates won with a plurality of the vote in Suiyuan and Xingan due to a divided opposition. Qin Fengchuan defeated KMT candidate Tong Xiuming 35-34%. Qin was not a member of one of the more mainstream parties such as the CDSP or CYP. Rather, the first non-KMT candidate (outside of Tibet) to win a gubernatorial election was from the New Democratic League, the party. Years after Qin’s death in 1991, it was revealed that he had been in contact with Communist spies while serving in the Chinese Army during the Civil War.
Another important event was the handover of Macao. In March 1980, the flag of Portugal was lowered and the flag of the Republic of China was raised. For most residents of Macao, their life continued as it had before. The city became a part of Guangdong Province, but was exempt from many of the laws passed at both the provincial and national level. One specific exemption was that Macao was allowed to continue to have legal gambling. There were some changes. Residents of Macau could now freely travel around China with the exception of a few areas that were restricted from civilians. Taxes would now be paid to the government of China. It was the start of a new era for Macau.
(The Portuguese flag, lowered for the final time in Macau)
Chiang Ching-kuo was facing mounting opposition from both the right and the left. In 1981, 15 KMT members of the Legislative Yuan joined the China Democratic Socialist Party. This would make the CDSP the second largest party in the legislative Yuan at 131 seats. The KMT was reduced to 479 seats, as there was another defector to the China Youth Party. The Party still held 62% of the seats in the Legislative Yuan, however. CDSP leader Wang Shixian, who represented the old guard of the party, supported continued cooperation with the KMT (this gave CDSP members access to government patronage). Younger party members believed that the CDSP should act as the main opposition to the KMT. As Chiang Ching-kuo and the KMT moved to the right on economics, the rift between the KMT and CDSP would deepen.
Right-wing opposition to Chiang Ching-kuo was mostly about his perceived insufficient anti-Communism. There was some push for him to go further right on economics. Much of the hard right in China wanted Chiang to do more to oppose Communism. Some called for the expulsion of the members of the New Democratic League from the Legislative Yuan. The party was considered by many on the right to be a Communist fellow traveler organization, and its members were generally more conciliatory towards the Soviet Union. Some members of the Legislative Yuan wanted to force a vote on funding Islamist rebels in Iran. In 1982, Gao Wenyuan of Qinghai introduced a bill to provide money and weapons for rebels in Iran and increased support for rebels in Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. He was joined by 254 others from both the KMT and the China Youth Party. While it fell far short of the 387 votes required to pass, it represented one of the first attempts from the legislative branch to oppose the executive branch.
In 1982, elections were held in the provinces of Suiyuan, Chahar, and Xingan. These provinces had been left out of the democratic reforms in 1979, as Chiang Ching-kuo used ongoing Communist activity as an excuse to delay free elections there. There were protests and riots in these provinces as a response. Chiang eventually allowed them to have free elections, and now only Tibet and Xinjiang were exempt from the 1979 reforms. The KMT was not popular in any of these provinces. The party’s gubernatorial candidates won with a plurality of the vote in Suiyuan and Xingan due to a divided opposition. Qin Fengchuan defeated KMT candidate Tong Xiuming 35-34%. Qin was not a member of one of the more mainstream parties such as the CDSP or CYP. Rather, the first non-KMT candidate (outside of Tibet) to win a gubernatorial election was from the New Democratic League, the party. Years after Qin’s death in 1991, it was revealed that he had been in contact with Communist spies while serving in the Chinese Army during the Civil War.
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Hmm, no filmmakers smuggling embassy staff out of Iran? That's disappointing, it's a great story.
Anyway, liking how the KMT's stranglehold continues to weaken.
Anyway, liking how the KMT's stranglehold continues to weaken.
Finally, now its time for Hong Kong. If the Brits won't give it peacefully China will send small military detachments each 2 million men strong to occupy it. Maybe some Chinese tourists (like 10 million of them) would be willing for a prolonged vacation in London?
Yes, but there were times that laws were made to only apply to certain regions of the ROC (such as martial law lasting into the 1990s in Kinmen).
However using the word national level instead of the word federal level would make more sense as it would prevent confusion by the readers.
七十八, Malaysia and Singapore
Malaya became independent from Britain in 1957, and Malaysia was formed in 1962 when it merged with Borneo. The country had seen more than a decade of internal conflict due to a Communist insurgency that Britain and China helped to defeat. The country had a high Chinese population, something that ensured continued Chinese interests in the country. China encouraged emigration to Malaysia, in hopes that there might eventually be a Chinese majority there. Any hopes that this would happen were dashed when Singapore was expelled from Malaysia in 1965. China would have close relations with Singapore but continued to support the Malaysian Chinese Association. Malaysia, on the other hand, would be closer to the United States after independence.
Malaysia would be ruled by Tunku Abdul Rahman after independence. He was popular at first. The country was plagued by ethnic tensions, however. For his part, Abdul Rahman tried to keep peace between Malay and Chinese. For this, he had the support of China. He also received substantial aid from the United States during the Kennedy administration. His successors would be less friendly towards the Chinese population, and the country landed in the pro-American camp. There was still lingering fear of Communism taking hold in Malaysia. These fears mostly subsided by the late 1960s after the coup in Indonesia and the failure of Communists to take power anywhere in Southeast Asia. By the 1980s, Islamism was a more serious threat.
(Tunku Abdul Rahman)
Singapore became independent in 1965. It was a city-state reliant on trade. It had no natural resources, so this was inevitable. Lee Kuan Yew would lead Singapore during the next few decades, and his policies would lead to economic growth. He would encourage foreign investment in the country. One country that was eager to invest in Singapore was China, even though it was still a poor country at the time. The two countries were culturally and ideologically similar. Students from Singapore would have special scholarships to study in China and vice-versa. Singapore allowed greater economic freedom than China, and was an inspiration for the China Youth Party. Minkuo Electronics was active in the country even before independence, and continues to have a presence there.
(Lee Kuan Yew)
Ethnic Malays dominated the government in Malaysia since the beginning, and even more so after Singapore was separated from the country. However, in business and other professional occupations, the Chinese were dominant. Malaysia would seek to correct this disparity through affirmative action and other policies designed to help the Malay majority. This obviously alienated the Chinese minority and contributed to the cooling of relations with China in the 1970s. China cut most aid in 1974, which put Malaysia further into the pro-American camp (Soviet influence in the region was minimal by the 1970s). The Malaysian economy would continue to grow, and continued to attract foreign investment. Singapore would continue to have the stronger economy, however.
Malaysia would be ruled by Tunku Abdul Rahman after independence. He was popular at first. The country was plagued by ethnic tensions, however. For his part, Abdul Rahman tried to keep peace between Malay and Chinese. For this, he had the support of China. He also received substantial aid from the United States during the Kennedy administration. His successors would be less friendly towards the Chinese population, and the country landed in the pro-American camp. There was still lingering fear of Communism taking hold in Malaysia. These fears mostly subsided by the late 1960s after the coup in Indonesia and the failure of Communists to take power anywhere in Southeast Asia. By the 1980s, Islamism was a more serious threat.
(Tunku Abdul Rahman)
Singapore became independent in 1965. It was a city-state reliant on trade. It had no natural resources, so this was inevitable. Lee Kuan Yew would lead Singapore during the next few decades, and his policies would lead to economic growth. He would encourage foreign investment in the country. One country that was eager to invest in Singapore was China, even though it was still a poor country at the time. The two countries were culturally and ideologically similar. Students from Singapore would have special scholarships to study in China and vice-versa. Singapore allowed greater economic freedom than China, and was an inspiration for the China Youth Party. Minkuo Electronics was active in the country even before independence, and continues to have a presence there.
(Lee Kuan Yew)
Ethnic Malays dominated the government in Malaysia since the beginning, and even more so after Singapore was separated from the country. However, in business and other professional occupations, the Chinese were dominant. Malaysia would seek to correct this disparity through affirmative action and other policies designed to help the Malay majority. This obviously alienated the Chinese minority and contributed to the cooling of relations with China in the 1970s. China cut most aid in 1974, which put Malaysia further into the pro-American camp (Soviet influence in the region was minimal by the 1970s). The Malaysian economy would continue to grow, and continued to attract foreign investment. Singapore would continue to have the stronger economy, however.
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As a Malaysian I like this chapter but I do have to make some nitpicks.
The modern country of Malaysia was formed on September 16th 1963 and yes we foolishly expelled Singapore two years later in 1965 (by unanimous vote in Parliament!)
However our actual independence was as Malaya on August 31st 1957, Merdeka Day.So saying Malaysia got its independence in 1962 is wrong. While 1962 instead of 1963 could be a butterfly instead of a mistake (@CELTICEMPIRE please clarify) I do not the think the former could be a butterfly because Malaysia did not gain independence, it was formed.
It was Malaya that got independence and for the fight against Communists and greater economic opportunity together, Tunku Abdul Rahman proposed to the British and the surrounding colonies that Malaya, and the still British colonies of Singapore, North Borneo(Sabah), Sarawak, and Brunei join to form a new federation called Malaysia.
Brunei rejected (for various reasons I will not get into cause they’re irrelevant unless they actually did join ITTL) and the other three accepted and Singapore was expelled later on.
So the only way the sentence ‘Malaysia gained independence in 1962’ can be correct to me is if Malaya never gained early independence of it’s own and instead was still a British colony during the negotiations for the formation of Malaysia which as a United federation jointly gained independence in 1962, a year earlier than its OTL creation.
Since all of this has not been mentioned or explained, I am presuming @CELTICEMPIRE that you were not aware of all of this?
P.S, willing to entertain any questions. I know people always get confused between Malaya and Malaysia.
The modern country of Malaysia was formed on September 16th 1963 and yes we foolishly expelled Singapore two years later in 1965 (by unanimous vote in Parliament!)
However our actual independence was as Malaya on August 31st 1957, Merdeka Day.So saying Malaysia got its independence in 1962 is wrong. While 1962 instead of 1963 could be a butterfly instead of a mistake (@CELTICEMPIRE please clarify) I do not the think the former could be a butterfly because Malaysia did not gain independence, it was formed.
It was Malaya that got independence and for the fight against Communists and greater economic opportunity together, Tunku Abdul Rahman proposed to the British and the surrounding colonies that Malaya, and the still British colonies of Singapore, North Borneo(Sabah), Sarawak, and Brunei join to form a new federation called Malaysia.
Brunei rejected (for various reasons I will not get into cause they’re irrelevant unless they actually did join ITTL) and the other three accepted and Singapore was expelled later on.
So the only way the sentence ‘Malaysia gained independence in 1962’ can be correct to me is if Malaya never gained early independence of it’s own and instead was still a British colony during the negotiations for the formation of Malaysia which as a United federation jointly gained independence in 1962, a year earlier than its OTL creation.
Since all of this has not been mentioned or explained, I am presuming @CELTICEMPIRE that you were not aware of all of this?
P.S, willing to entertain any questions. I know people always get confused between Malaya and Malaysia.
Checked the revised chapter. Butterflies result in an earlier forming of Malaysia by one year ITTL confirmed @CELTICEMPIRE ?
七十九, Reforms
Reforms caused demands for more reforms. Activists believed that the recent changes were because Chiang Ching-kuo was giving in to pressure from protestors. And thus, more people protested, believing that protest was an effective way to achieve the change they wanted. Not everyone in China agreed on what type of change was needed, however. The China Youth Party argued for more privatization and economic liberalism, while the China Democratic Socialist Party and the New Democratic League argued against privatization and for more social services. Legislation was introduced in 1982 to provide for universal healthcare, though it was tabled due to budgetary concerns. With the fear of government reprisals diminishing, the 1980s would be a decade of protest.
(Arrested protesters)
By the early 80s, elections were mostly free, provided you didn’t live in Xinjiang or Tibet. There were still instances of voter fraud and election rigging, but that was at the local or provincial level and not encouraged by the national government. Thus, in most of China, if the majority of people voted against the Kuomintang candidate, that candidate would lose. However, the KMT had many structural advantages. For one, it was one of the wealthiest political parties in the world. But perhaps even more importantly, the media was still mostly controlled by the government. Some newspapers promoted opposition candidates but TV was entirely funded by the government. Sometimes members of the CDSP and CYP could present their case on Chinese television, but coverage overwhelmingly favored the KMT. Parties like the New Democratic League were covered negatively or not at all.
Some Chinese sought to make alternatives to the state-controlled TV channels. In 1982 an attempt to set-up a left-leaning news network in deep-blue Canton was shut down by the provincial government. Lee Tze-chung, Chiang’s opponent in 1978, was behind this attempt. Some independent networks were allowed to operate locally, and some of these would have news anchors or guests attack the KMT. For now, in most of the country, anti-KMT media was only available in newspaper or sometimes on the radio. It was sometimes risky listening to the radio, as there were many foreign broadcasts from the Soviet Union, Mongolia, East Turkestan, North Korea, or Hong Kong that were illegal to tune into. Millions tuned in anyway.
In 1983 an incident at a radio station gripped the nation. Five men were killed in a bombing in the town of Mishan in Hejiang Province, across Lake Xinghai [1] from the Soviet Union. The victims were four Russians (all defectors) and one Chinese man. The radio station was known for broadcasts from a Russian Orthodox priest into Soviet territory, who was among the victims. He would be considered a saint and eventually canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. Police interrogated over 100 suspected Communists, until they found the two men responsible and had them executed after a swift trial. The incident was the first Communist terror attack in over two years. Incidents like these caused a renewed fear of Communism and made some in the KMT more hesitant to back reforms. Shortly after the attacks, events in the Soviet Union would change the course of the Cold War.
1: Or Lake Khanka
(Arrested protesters)
By the early 80s, elections were mostly free, provided you didn’t live in Xinjiang or Tibet. There were still instances of voter fraud and election rigging, but that was at the local or provincial level and not encouraged by the national government. Thus, in most of China, if the majority of people voted against the Kuomintang candidate, that candidate would lose. However, the KMT had many structural advantages. For one, it was one of the wealthiest political parties in the world. But perhaps even more importantly, the media was still mostly controlled by the government. Some newspapers promoted opposition candidates but TV was entirely funded by the government. Sometimes members of the CDSP and CYP could present their case on Chinese television, but coverage overwhelmingly favored the KMT. Parties like the New Democratic League were covered negatively or not at all.
Some Chinese sought to make alternatives to the state-controlled TV channels. In 1982 an attempt to set-up a left-leaning news network in deep-blue Canton was shut down by the provincial government. Lee Tze-chung, Chiang’s opponent in 1978, was behind this attempt. Some independent networks were allowed to operate locally, and some of these would have news anchors or guests attack the KMT. For now, in most of the country, anti-KMT media was only available in newspaper or sometimes on the radio. It was sometimes risky listening to the radio, as there were many foreign broadcasts from the Soviet Union, Mongolia, East Turkestan, North Korea, or Hong Kong that were illegal to tune into. Millions tuned in anyway.
In 1983 an incident at a radio station gripped the nation. Five men were killed in a bombing in the town of Mishan in Hejiang Province, across Lake Xinghai [1] from the Soviet Union. The victims were four Russians (all defectors) and one Chinese man. The radio station was known for broadcasts from a Russian Orthodox priest into Soviet territory, who was among the victims. He would be considered a saint and eventually canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. Police interrogated over 100 suspected Communists, until they found the two men responsible and had them executed after a swift trial. The incident was the first Communist terror attack in over two years. Incidents like these caused a renewed fear of Communism and made some in the KMT more hesitant to back reforms. Shortly after the attacks, events in the Soviet Union would change the course of the Cold War.
1: Or Lake Khanka