沒有國民黨就沒有中國, Without the Kuomintang there would be no China, A Republic of China Story

The ironic thing is, Marcos, overhyped the power of the actual Filipino Communist Party in the 60s OTL. They were down to single digits by then, but his years in power allowed them to grow into the group they are today. Of course with Mao gone, North Korea isolated, and Vietnam having a non-Communist Big Brother up north, perhaps the butterflies decided to throw the dice in favor of the Philippine communists.

You also failed to mention the Moro separatist movement in the south!
I will have a more detailed chapter on the Philippines in the near future. The rise of Communists in the Philippines was part of the worldwide rise of Communist movements in the 70s and 80s. They have no chance of actually taking over the country.
What about the political evolution of the non-communist unified Vietnam?
Is Vietnam also undergoing democratization like China?
And is Hanoi the capital of Vietnam?
That will be covered in a future chapter.
This should be a good opportunity for the existing Nacionalista Party to adopt the Three Principles with Filipino Characteristics. That and Marcos was no longer a member of the Nacionalistas, with Marcos splitting from the Nacionalistas and forming his new party - the New Society Movement of United Nationalists. It would be interesting seeing the Nacionalistas becoming an opposition opposing Marcos' Kleptocracy but also trying to prevent the rise of the Communists inspired by Marcos' Corrupt Regime, with the Nacionalistas reaching out to the Kuomintang in China.
That's a possibility.
 
一百五, Managing a Coalition
The biggest problem facing Li Ao during his presidency was holding his coalition together. The Liberal Party, the China Youth Party, and the China Democratic Socialist Party were all in a coalition together. Along with 22 independents aligned with this coalition, they held 441 out of 773 seats in the Legislative Yuan, 57% of all seats. If any of the three parties left the coalition, they would lose the majority. Li felt that it was best, at least for now, to remain an independent and thus appear as more of a neutral arbiter between the parties. He was most closely aligned with the Liberal Party, however. It was no secret that Li was more favorable to the CYP than the CDSP.

Li’s partiality towards the CYP was understandable. The CYP was much more important to his election than the CDSP. Li Ao’s center-right, nationalist views made him much more ideologically similar to the CYP as well. If the CDSP switched to the KMT’s coalition, while a seemingly unlikely event, the KMT would then regain control of the Legislative Yuan. Thus, CDSP politicians would be given government appointments. Henry Kao, the CDSP’s Vice-Presidential candidate in 1984, was appointed as Minister of Communication. Long-time member of the Legislative Yuan Kim So-hyun was appointed as Minister of transportation. Several party members would be appointed as judges and ambassadors as well. The highest position a CDSP member was given was President of the Control Yuan, given to Wen Jiabao.

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(Wen Jiabao)

The CYP and the Liberal Party would still get the Lion’s share of appointments. The CYP would receive more, considering that the Liberal Party had very few experienced government officials in comparison. The position of President of the Legislative Yuan was given to CYP (the largest non-KMT party in the legislature) member Bao Tong of Zhejiang. General Xu Qinxian, the Liberal Party’s Vice-Presidential candidate, became Vice-Premier. CYP party leader Rong Yiren was made Minister of Finance. Chen Xitong, who had switched between the KMT, CDSP, and CYP during his career, was made head of the Juntong. The KMT was even given a few positions. Most notable among these were Cheng Wei-yuan, the general who refused to crush the 1989 protests in Beiping. Li was hoping for more KMT defections.

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(Bao Tong)

After the 1992 elections, Li Ao had a friendly majority. This majority would work with the New Democratic League and reformist elements within the KMT. There was a great push to change how elections were done. A poll in 1992 showed that the majority of Chinese wanted the president to be elected by popular vote. The KMT was actually on board with this reform. The difference between the KMT and other parties was that the other parties wanted a runoff election while the KMT did not. This was because the KMT would easily win elections in the first round because their base of support was much larger. Attempts to amend the constitution failed in both the Legislative Yuan and the National Assembly. Finally, in 1993, enough of the KMT went along with runoff elections and an amendment was passed. The National Assembly would no longer elect the president or vice president, though it would still keep its other duties, including its role in impeachment and constitutional amendments.

In the 80s and 90s, freedom and capitalism were seen as going hand in hand. Thus, the pressure on Li Ao to deregulate and privatize was huge. The CYP led the charge for economic liberalism. The KMT was divided, with officials in the East generally in favor of economic liberalism and officials in the west generally opposed. The Liberal Party was divided as well. The NDL and CDSP were strongly opposed to further privatization and deregulation. Li Ao’s administration would see the further liberalization of the Chinese economy. The put a rift between right-wing and left-wing opponents of the KMT. The Chinese economy was booming, and many attributed this to the free market. In 1994, China overtook Japan in terms of GDP. Later that year, Li Ao gave a speech where he claimed that China would soon overtake America.
 
Important Government Officials, 1992
President: Li Ao
Home Province: Songjiang
Party: Independent

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Vice President: Lin Yang-Kang
Home Province: Taiwan
Party: CYP


Premier: Fei Hsi-Ping
Home Province: Liaoning
Party: Independent

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Vice Premier: Xu Qinxian
Home Province: Shandong
Party: Liberal

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Minister of the Interior: Yang Xiuzhu
Home Province: Zhejiang
Party: CDSP

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Minister of Foreign Affairs: Cheng Kejie
Home Province: Guangxi
Party: CYP

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Minister of Defense: Cheng Wei-yuan
Home Province: Anhui
Party: KMT

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Minister of Finance: Rong Yiren
Home Province: Jiangsu
Party: CYP

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President of the Legislative Yuan: Bao Tong
Home Province: Zhejiang
Party: CYP


President of the Judicial Yuan: Gao Wenbin
Home Province: Jiangsu
Party: Liberal

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President of the Examination Yuan: Wei Jianxing
Home Province: Zhejiang
Party: Independent

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President of the Control Yuan: Wen Jiabao
Home Province: Guangdong
Party: CDSP

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一百六, The KMT Outside of China
From the very beginning, the Kuomintang was interested in what was going on outside of the territory it controlled. This went back to before the 1911 Xinhai Revolution when the party was called the Tongmenghui. Sun Yat-sen spent time in the US and the UK. Chiang Kai-shek spent time in Japan. The Kuomintang set up offices wherever there was a non-negligible Chinese population. KMT organizations outside of China had an important effect on history. Chen Lifu was recruited into the KMT while living in America. In addition, the party had a great deal of influence over Chinese schools and cultural institutions across the globe. KMT offices could be found on every continent besides Antarctica.

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(The KMT office in San Francisco, where Chen Lifu was recruited into the party)

The Malaysian Chinese Association was an important part of the KMT’s agenda to influence politics in other countries. It would never actually take power in the country (though it would be part of multiple ruling coalitions). The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng actually did take power in Vietnam, and remained in power for decades. Neither of these parties were actually part of the KMT, though they were heavily inspired by the party. The KMT offices in Hong Kong and Macau were actual extensions of the party in Nanking, even if those places weren’t ruled by Nanking yet. Nanking used the local branch of the KMT to organize protests in Macau in 1964. Macau would effectively be ruled by the independent but KMT-aligned Ho Yin until the transfer of sovereignty in 1980. The KMT would then govern the city, and the party even retained control of the city during the early 90s, which were disastrous for the KMT in most of the country.

Hong Kong was a much bigger and economically important city. The KMT had a larger presence there than in Macau. Like in Macau, the KMT would sometimes stage protests, usually for increased rights for the city’s Han Chinese majority. The Hong Kong KMT would have three sources of opposition. The first was the British colonial government. The second was Communists. The third was pro-democracy and anti-KMT Chinese. Many of these people had fled Mainland China because of their opposition to the KMT. In 1962, KMT members with ties to organized crime violently confronted a group of anti-KMT and pro-Li Zongren demonstrators. After Hong Kong was granted a limited form of democracy in 1983, the city’s legislature flipped between the KMT and the Hong Kong Democratic Party’s control.

Much of what happened in Hong Kong also happened in overseas Chinese Communities around the globe. The Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC) was a government organization that interacted with overseas Chinese. From 1926 to 1990, it was essentially a political arm of the KMT. The KMT sought to curb the influence of anti-party activists abroad, be they Communist or pro-democracy. Chinese abroad would sometimes picket demonstrations of the Tibet National Party or other organizations opposed to the KMT. By the 1980s, overseas Chinese support for the KMT was dwindling as many overseas Chinese began to push for democracy in China. The KMT offices abroad also supported political candidates in the countries where they were located in. This typically, but not always, meant right-wing candidates and parties. The KMT had a good relationship with the Progressive Conservative Party in Canada and supported the Republican Party until the 2000s.

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(KMT Office in Vancouver)

As China democratized, KMT offices abroad faced increased scrutiny. In the 1980s, Li Ao and Hu Qiuyuan called for an audit of The Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission to see where tax dollars were going. At the same time, the KMT was getting more involved in cultural exchange, especially in Western countries. The Chinese government would help arrange contacts between Chinese and Western universities. In 1990, the KMT was out of power, and the KMT Overseas Affairs Commission was formed. KMT member Luo Haocai, a Chinese man born in Singapore, was the OCAC director when Li Ao became president. In 1992 the organization was reorganized in order to remove its association with the KMT. Luo Haocai would come to lead the KMT Overseas Affairs Commission, where he would try to further the KMT’s interests abroad, albeit on a much more limited budget.
 
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Off-topic queston: What is the situation of Jackie Chan in this TL. Is he going to be such a huge movie star in the West and China as OTL or not?
 
The Malaysian Chinese Association was an important part of the KMT’s agenda to influence politics in other countries. It would never actually take power in the country.
A good chapter, but I think the part regarding Malaysia could perhaps, be more appropriately phrased or needed further explanation.
For context, IOTL at least, the MCA is actually is a (vital[, especially since in order to get the British to give independence to Malaya, it would require representation from all the three major races in the government]) part of the Alliance (alongside UMNO, representing the Malays and the party in which the one that Tunku Abdul Rahman is the head of, and MIC, which is representing the Indians) pre-1969, and became (less of a vital) part of Barisan Nasional (malay for National Front, which consist of the parties in the aforementioned Alliance and additional parties in order to get government with a clear majority in post-1969 Malaysia) after that , which ruled the country until 2018 (and from 2020 becoming part of the currently ruling coalition,) albeit with decreasing relevance starting from the 1980s.
 
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Interesting to see that China is about to surpass the US in terms of economy. Hope that the reaction to China’s rise wouldn’t resemble the Japan-bashing of OTL.
That's not going to happen. If anything the hysterics would be greater with far more explicit racism though it'll be interesting to see if the two main parties choose to indulge in such rhetoric.
 
Don't worry, he is there.
But in this timeline, he is a dramatic actor. He is known for his trademark limp from when he badly broke his leg when someone messed up one of his stunts. To this day, it is believed that this was done by one of the triads which turned down the opportunity to invest in his movies.
 
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