AHC: Keep China Maoist

With a POD no earlier than 1970, eliminate Deng Xiaoping and his entire party of reformers and keep China a traditionally Maoist state up to the modern day.
 
Easy.

The 'Gang of Four' triumphs in the post-Mao power struggle and Deng and his friends lose.

40 years later, in 2013, PRC China is a giant version of North Korea, a land of extreme poverty, starvation and social control.

(coming up with a plausible scenario where the extremely hated and discredited Gang of Four wins; now that is the hard part)
 
Borderline ASB. China could not be another North Korea. It can't be sustainable without foreign aid. It would suddenly collapse overnight. Just read Drew's excellent TL, an exploration into a similar scenario where Mao the Lesser became leader of China following Mao Zedong's death. Even if the Gang of 4 won, it wouldn't really help at all. Not even Mao's crazy rule could stop opposition towards the Gang of Four. Remember the April Fifth Movement in 1976? China in 1976 could not possibly be sustainable. It was doomed to fail - either through reform or internal destruction.
 
China could not be another North Korea. It can't be sustainable without foreign aid. It would suddenly collapse overnight.

Depends on how you define "sustainable".

China was without foreign aid from 1960, when the Soviets withdrew their advisors and cut off aid shipments till the 1970s when China latched unto the US gravy train and cheap American grain, and they managed to function after a fashion just fine. 'Course 30 million people died of starvation during that time period.

A full Chinese autarky is ASB, yes.
 
Borderline ASB. China could not be another North Korea. It can't be sustainable without foreign aid. It would suddenly collapse overnight. Just read Drew's excellent TL, an exploration into a similar scenario where Mao the Lesser became leader of China following Mao Zedong's death. Even if the Gang of 4 won, it wouldn't really help at all. Not even Mao's crazy rule could stop opposition towards the Gang of Four. Remember the April Fifth Movement in 1976? China in 1976 could not possibly be sustainable. It was doomed to fail - either through reform or internal destruction.
Could I have a link to that please Tony?
 
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