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
If the lost decade happends as OTL and the shrinking demographics of SK we might eventually see China really dominating the region economically. An annexation of North Korea by the south might change things however. It would give the south a boost to it's population and natural resources.
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Very true. And no way this China will want to keep NK around…
It would help Korea remain relevant but it still wouldn’t be able to match China
Yeah, but maybe match or even becoming more relevant than Japan
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I agree. It could potentially help the moderate their demographic transition as well due to opportunities in developing the north.
I wonder what China thinks of the nine dash line and it’s claims over the South China Sea ITTl
China has basically succeeded in controlling it's claims in the South China Sea.
It's a bit of a legal gray area as far as most of the world is concerned.
They don't like it but there's nothing they can do.
八十六, RFK
Robert F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States in 1980. He was inaugurated exactly 20 years after his brother. He promised to govern in a similar manner as his brother. But America was a very different country than it was 20 years earlier. The Democratic Party had lost much of its dominance and, even if it still held an advantage in voter registration, was weakened at both the federal and state levels. Factionalism within the party was a major issue, and the new left was unsatisfied with pragmatism. The resurgence of American conservatism started in the 70s, but lasted beyond the 80s. In many ways, Kennedy’s presidency was an anomaly.
(Robert F. Kennedy)
Despite having a Democratic congress, there would be only token progressive legislation passed. This is because there were still enough conservative Democrats, mostly from the South, who often voted with Republicans. After an assassination attempt in 1981, there were increased calls for gun control. An assault weapons ban was passed in 1982, which was partly responsible for both the House and Senate flipping to Republicans in the midterm elections. Kennedy being in the White House prevented conservatives from accomplishing much of their agenda, however. Legislation was still passed, but the dream of many Democrats of repeating JFK’s presidency was dashed. RFK’s legacy would not be his domestic policy. His legacy would be in his foreign policy.
At first, Kennedy’s foreign policy was largely a continuation of his predecessor’s. His commitment to fighting the Cold War was criticized by the new left, which had no little to no interest in it. They were largely young and they were very progressive on both economic and social policy. Whether out of genuine compassion or a desire to bolster America’s image abroad, Kennedy concerned himself with humanitarian issues, increasing foreign aid to Africa. In 1983, he signed a law to put sanctions on South Africa for its Apartheid system. In 1984, America nearly entered into nuclear war with the Soviet Union over Israel. Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. The close call is what he is most remembered for today.
His leadership on foreign policy was broadly popular, and Kennedy was confident that he would win reelection. However, some Republicans were claiming that it was a sign of Kennedy’s weakness that the Soviet Union went on the attack. In the Summer of 1984, the US embassy in Cairo was attacked and dozens were killed. Former Vice President Paul Laxalt of Nevada defeated Senator Bob Dole of Kansas and minister Pat Robertson of Virginia for the Republican nomination. His running mate was Jack Kemp of New York. Kennedy started out with a 10% lead in polling, but it would shrink until by November he and Laxalt were tied. Laxalt emerged victorious in a close election, winning the popular vote 49-47% and the electoral vote 307-231.
(Paul Laxalt)
(Robert F. Kennedy)
Despite having a Democratic congress, there would be only token progressive legislation passed. This is because there were still enough conservative Democrats, mostly from the South, who often voted with Republicans. After an assassination attempt in 1981, there were increased calls for gun control. An assault weapons ban was passed in 1982, which was partly responsible for both the House and Senate flipping to Republicans in the midterm elections. Kennedy being in the White House prevented conservatives from accomplishing much of their agenda, however. Legislation was still passed, but the dream of many Democrats of repeating JFK’s presidency was dashed. RFK’s legacy would not be his domestic policy. His legacy would be in his foreign policy.
At first, Kennedy’s foreign policy was largely a continuation of his predecessor’s. His commitment to fighting the Cold War was criticized by the new left, which had no little to no interest in it. They were largely young and they were very progressive on both economic and social policy. Whether out of genuine compassion or a desire to bolster America’s image abroad, Kennedy concerned himself with humanitarian issues, increasing foreign aid to Africa. In 1983, he signed a law to put sanctions on South Africa for its Apartheid system. In 1984, America nearly entered into nuclear war with the Soviet Union over Israel. Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. The close call is what he is most remembered for today.
His leadership on foreign policy was broadly popular, and Kennedy was confident that he would win reelection. However, some Republicans were claiming that it was a sign of Kennedy’s weakness that the Soviet Union went on the attack. In the Summer of 1984, the US embassy in Cairo was attacked and dozens were killed. Former Vice President Paul Laxalt of Nevada defeated Senator Bob Dole of Kansas and minister Pat Robertson of Virginia for the Republican nomination. His running mate was Jack Kemp of New York. Kennedy started out with a 10% lead in polling, but it would shrink until by November he and Laxalt were tied. Laxalt emerged victorious in a close election, winning the popular vote 49-47% and the electoral vote 307-231.
(Paul Laxalt)
Ah, poor Bobby, always living in Jack's shadow even in a world where he managed to become President.
An 80s RFK is always interesting. Remind me - Jack lived and served two terms here, no?
八十七, The Enlightened Path
One of the most peculiar characters in Chinese history born after the end of the Second World War was a man whose birth name is unknown but was better known by the name Chun Kaiming (pure enlightenment) [1]. He was born in 1947 in Golmud, Qinghai Province. He was the illegitimate child of a Hui father and a Tibetan mother. A group of dissident monks from Tibet declared him to be the real Dalai Lama in 1953. They had the sympathy of some government officials in Western China, as the Dalai Lama at the time was not amenable to Chinese interests. This early support allowed their movement to grow. In 1965, Chun became an adult and was free of his handlers’ control. He began travelling around China to attract new followers.
Chun Kaiming was considered wise for his age, and a 1986 test would reveal he had an IQ of 145. Many of those who saw him believed that he truly was the Buddha reincarnated. His interpretation of Buddhism was very unusual. He eschewed celibacy (though not publicly at first). In 1979 he would publicly acknowledge his children and declare that Buddhist monks and nuns can have sex if they do it without lusting. His first child, a daughter named Chun Duoluo or Tara Chun, was born in 1968. He would father at least 19 children between 1968 and 1987. Eventually, the government officials who had supported him no longer considered him useful as the Dalai Lama in Lhasa started cooperating with Nanking. Governor Ma Bufang saw him as a troublemaker and forced him to leave his birth province of Qinghai in 1969. He moved to Tibet, and then to Sichuan, where he finally settled down in Chengdu in 1976.
(Ma Bufang)
Chun’s followers were few until he met some celebrities, both Chinese and Western. The most high-profile celebrity to meet him was John Lennon. This allowed him to travel to England in 1974, where his son Jimmy Chun was born in 1975. Dozens of English people would follow him back to China, though Jimmy Chun and his mother stayed in England. By the late 70s, he had thousands of followers throughout China and a few abroad as well. The Enlightened Path, as his religious movement was called, had four temples, one each in the cities of Chengdu, Chungking, Kanding, and Hong Kong. In those cities and others, followers of the Enlightened Path could be seen meditating in public.
In the 1980s, with the increased openness, Chun began to criticize the government. He was especially harsh in his criticism of the KMT in Sichuan. He and some of his followers ran for elected office in 1984, though none of them won. Chun himself ran unsuccessfully for the National Assembly in 1983, pledging to support Hu Qiuyuan for President. He continued to speak against the KMT and helped with efforts to promote third parties. Meanwhile, more and more reports of abusive behavior on the part of Chun and his underlings were coming out. Former members of his religion (which was commonly called a cult) claimed that they were physically and sexually abused by Chun Kaiming and other Enlightened Path leaders.
Chun Kaiming was made to stand trial in August 1986. He was found guilty on most charges and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Some believed it was a show-trial and claimed that the real reason he was imprisoned was that the government saw him as a threat. Chun Kaiming tried to escape from prison on December 11, 1986. He bled out after being shot in the back and scaling a barbed-wire fence, dying at the age of 39. Many of his followers believed he was deliberately killed by the prison guards. Many Enlightened Path members followed his 18-year-old daughter Chun Duoluo to Hong Kong. Some members had a different idea.
On March 29, 1987, a member of the Enlightened Path drove a truck full of explosives into a police station in Chungking. Two policemen died and several more were injured, but that attack was overshadowed by another. Fourteen gunmen attacked the courtroom where Chun was sentenced. They killed the guards, broke into the courtroom, and killed the judge who had sentenced their leader. Police surrounded the building, and in the ensuing gunfight, killed all the gunmen. In total, fifteen members of the Enlightened path, eight courtroom guards, nineteen police officers, and twenty-six people inside the courtroom were killed that day. In total, sixty-eight people were killed, and many more were injured. One other man was shot and wounded, but survived, in an attempted attack on the Kanding city hall building a few days later.
The Chinese government declared the Enlightened Path a terrorist organization and had its leaders who remained in China arrested. There were investigations into possible KGB involvement, and one member claimed that he was tortured by the Juntong in an attempt to get her to name names (though this likely did not happen). Every actor, singer, athlete, businessman, or government official who had ever said anything positive about the Enlightened Path was forced to publicly denounce the organization. The religion was made illegal in 1987, and most of its remaining practitioners either practiced it in secret or fled the country (with most going to Hong Kong). The ban on the Enlightened Path would not be lifted until 1998.
1: 純開明, literally "pure enlightened"
Chun Kaiming was considered wise for his age, and a 1986 test would reveal he had an IQ of 145. Many of those who saw him believed that he truly was the Buddha reincarnated. His interpretation of Buddhism was very unusual. He eschewed celibacy (though not publicly at first). In 1979 he would publicly acknowledge his children and declare that Buddhist monks and nuns can have sex if they do it without lusting. His first child, a daughter named Chun Duoluo or Tara Chun, was born in 1968. He would father at least 19 children between 1968 and 1987. Eventually, the government officials who had supported him no longer considered him useful as the Dalai Lama in Lhasa started cooperating with Nanking. Governor Ma Bufang saw him as a troublemaker and forced him to leave his birth province of Qinghai in 1969. He moved to Tibet, and then to Sichuan, where he finally settled down in Chengdu in 1976.
(Ma Bufang)
Chun’s followers were few until he met some celebrities, both Chinese and Western. The most high-profile celebrity to meet him was John Lennon. This allowed him to travel to England in 1974, where his son Jimmy Chun was born in 1975. Dozens of English people would follow him back to China, though Jimmy Chun and his mother stayed in England. By the late 70s, he had thousands of followers throughout China and a few abroad as well. The Enlightened Path, as his religious movement was called, had four temples, one each in the cities of Chengdu, Chungking, Kanding, and Hong Kong. In those cities and others, followers of the Enlightened Path could be seen meditating in public.
In the 1980s, with the increased openness, Chun began to criticize the government. He was especially harsh in his criticism of the KMT in Sichuan. He and some of his followers ran for elected office in 1984, though none of them won. Chun himself ran unsuccessfully for the National Assembly in 1983, pledging to support Hu Qiuyuan for President. He continued to speak against the KMT and helped with efforts to promote third parties. Meanwhile, more and more reports of abusive behavior on the part of Chun and his underlings were coming out. Former members of his religion (which was commonly called a cult) claimed that they were physically and sexually abused by Chun Kaiming and other Enlightened Path leaders.
Chun Kaiming was made to stand trial in August 1986. He was found guilty on most charges and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Some believed it was a show-trial and claimed that the real reason he was imprisoned was that the government saw him as a threat. Chun Kaiming tried to escape from prison on December 11, 1986. He bled out after being shot in the back and scaling a barbed-wire fence, dying at the age of 39. Many of his followers believed he was deliberately killed by the prison guards. Many Enlightened Path members followed his 18-year-old daughter Chun Duoluo to Hong Kong. Some members had a different idea.
On March 29, 1987, a member of the Enlightened Path drove a truck full of explosives into a police station in Chungking. Two policemen died and several more were injured, but that attack was overshadowed by another. Fourteen gunmen attacked the courtroom where Chun was sentenced. They killed the guards, broke into the courtroom, and killed the judge who had sentenced their leader. Police surrounded the building, and in the ensuing gunfight, killed all the gunmen. In total, fifteen members of the Enlightened path, eight courtroom guards, nineteen police officers, and twenty-six people inside the courtroom were killed that day. In total, sixty-eight people were killed, and many more were injured. One other man was shot and wounded, but survived, in an attempted attack on the Kanding city hall building a few days later.
The Chinese government declared the Enlightened Path a terrorist organization and had its leaders who remained in China arrested. There were investigations into possible KGB involvement, and one member claimed that he was tortured by the Juntong in an attempt to get her to name names (though this likely did not happen). Every actor, singer, athlete, businessman, or government official who had ever said anything positive about the Enlightened Path was forced to publicly denounce the organization. The religion was made illegal in 1987, and most of its remaining practitioners either practiced it in secret or fled the country (with most going to Hong Kong). The ban on the Enlightened Path would not be lifted until 1998.
1: 純開明, literally "pure enlightened"
I see we have TTL's equivalent to the Falun Gong, with how Li Hongzhi has been butterflied away and all that.