AHC:"Yeltsinist" China

samcster94

Banned
What can be done so that China goes down a road more like Russia post Mao and have at least some of these traits:
1. A long depression and decline of living standards
2. A costly war in Tibet or the Muslim regions
3. A semi-free press and a democratic façade(with a new flag)
4. Said leader is pro-Western
 

Brunaburh

Gone Fishin'
Mass emigration, huge increase in death rate and collapse in birth rate would also be included in this scenario. It's difficult to overstate how bad Yeltsin's market madness was for Russia. Ecologically speaking, this happening to China would actually be exceptionally good for the planet. But good in the same way Ghenghis Khan building a mountain of skulls was good for the planet. So a bad, bad thing.
 
Ecologically speaking, this happening to China would actually be exceptionally good for the planet.
An economic and humanitarian disaster doesn’t mean the ecology is left alone.

Deforestation is a part of life in a traditional agrarian societies, China included. In contrast, a successfully industrialized society like otl China could afford to implement some eco-friendly measures, like reforestation. (Despite it’s other environmental failings)

F2D43131-6AB2-4569-A4D3-C900A49647A9.gif


An Yeltsinist China 1980/90s means massive starvation, but not yet to famine level, ethnic unrest’s takes its tolls on border regions, but the Han core doesn’t see much fighting other than Mafia crimes. In poorer regions, this means people are denied access to coal and gas due to economic breakdown, and have to chop down trees for firewood. Think of North Korea and Haiti for the level of eco damage.
 
Theoretically this would probably mean Taiwan would be left alone to develop politically as it pleases. Now, whether some South Chinese provinces decide to switch allegiance to Taipei (and thus reignite the Chinese Civil War) or not becomes an open question, but my opinion is probably not, since at that point Taiwan was going to do its own thing regardless. Even if the KMT salivates at the chance of finally "recovering the Mainland".
 
As well as an uncanny ability to play the spoons, like that one time Yeltsin did that to Aksar Akayev.

Does that mean someone would eventually make the Cpop version of this monstrosity?

A weaker quasi-democratic China could have interesting implications for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. If other territories manage to breakaway from China they might be able to have independence too.
 
"You can't eat a pig that good all at once."

Can we get yet another genocide as the south East Asian states collapse in civil war?

North Korea: Albanian or Romania?
 

Brunaburh

Gone Fishin'
An economic and humanitarian disaster doesn’t mean the ecology is left alone.

Deforestation is a part of life in a traditional agrarian societies, China included. In contrast, a successfully industrialized society like otl China could afford to implement some eco-friendly measures, like reforestation. (Despite it’s other environmental failings)

View attachment 405651

An Yeltsinist China 1980/90s means massive starvation, but not yet to famine level, ethnic unrest’s takes its tolls on border regions, but the Han core doesn’t see much fighting other than Mafia crimes. In poorer regions, this means people are denied access to coal and gas due to economic breakdown, and have to chop down trees for firewood. Think of North Korea and Haiti for the level of eco damage.

I would agree, given the data you present, that it would probably be bad for forest levels in China. However, it would result in much lower world fossil fuel use, and lower over all world production and transportation of goods. That would be good for the environment, as AGW is the most threatening environmental problem we have. It would also massively reduce plastic contamination, which is our third biggest environmental problem, after habitat loss.

Basically, on planetary terms, growth is a bad thing, except when all of its fruits are distributed in such a way that it reduces the likelihood of people having children.
 
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