prolonged PRC maoism

The Great Leap Forward canceled? Maybe if millions didn't starve to death they would be able to carry on longer. As for effects, I think the Chinese economy would be weaker today than OTL, and internationally China would be more of a pariah as well. Not as bad as North Korea, but closer.
 
It's also been done in *coughcough* other timelines as well. :rolleyes:

Rediv

Great. Does that mean you're TL is continuing please? Even if it was getting pretty grim. Checking back it's only a couple of months since you last updated but seems a lot longer. Need a quick fix please.:D

Steve

PS Correction, actually only a month. I seem to have problems counting up to 2:eek:. Even better you're given us an update.:D
 
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Basically like people have been saying, the reason Maoism got the axe OTL was because of the worst excesses like the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward, both of which were either vicious crimes against humanity or just frightfully incompetent.

However a surviving Maoism ultimately means a worse China, without Mao's worst crimes to convince people that his way is not the best for the country, his views won't be discredited and revolutionaries like Deng will not get anywhere near the same level of tolerance they got because of the excesses of the Mao Era.

China in this timeline would be weaker in general, a developing country that continues to be held back by a weak system and largely isolated from outside influence. It is unlikely that China will experience any sort of severe instability or anything and instead simply be the great isolated Middle Kingdom until eventually cracks emerge in the system and China's people become more aware of a more prosperous world outside of theirs, the Communist Party surviving in such an event seems unlikely since they haven't had the time to tie themselves to economic success.

In the meantime if China is a more closed-off power with whom the US does not have as important of a relationship there's a possibility that Taiwanese independence is going to be something the US actually pursues as a policy goal, not just independence in the sense of not being invaded and overrun by China, but independent in the sense of being its own country, something that is only quietly discussed among US policymakers today, with no cameras around. Without a critical Asian trading partner in China, there is a possibility that the Chinese get the same treatment over Taiwan as the Indonesians got over East Timor.
 
In the meantime if China is a more closed-off power with whom the US does not have as important of a relationship there's a possibility that Taiwanese independence is going to be something the US actually pursues as a policy goal, not just independence in the sense of not being invaded and overrun by China, but independent in the sense of being its own country, something that is only quietly discussed among US policymakers today, with no cameras around. Without a critical Asian trading partner in China, there is a possibility that the Chinese get the same treatment over Taiwan as the Indonesians got over East Timor.

I’m not so sure about that. If the mainland is still devotedly Maoist, that would likely mean that they’re still dedicated to “liberating” Taiwan, or at least still use that kind of rhetoric. If China is an isolated and mistrusted pariah in the international community, it’s likely these threats will still be taken seriously. Even if they clearly wouldn’t have a chance at actually succeeding in invading and holding onto the island, I still don’t think anyone would want to provoke them into starting a bloody conflict. So I would say that Taiwan would remain the “Republic of China” in such a situation.

 
I’m not so sure about that. If the mainland is still devotedly Maoist, that would likely mean that they’re still dedicated to “liberating” Taiwan, or at least still use that kind of rhetoric. If China is an isolated and mistrusted pariah in the international community, it’s likely these threats will still be taken seriously. Even if they clearly wouldn’t have a chance at actually succeeding in invading and holding onto the island, I still don’t think anyone would want to provoke them into starting a bloody conflict. So I would say that Taiwan would remain the “Republic of China” in such a situation.

This is true, which is why I suspect the US will take it slow in achieving the goal of Taiwanese independence, however they'll also make it very clear that they aren't going to let the Chinese try to heat the Strait up, cross-straits conflict is pretty bad for all but the US will win and China knows it, that gives the US a big stake in the game.
 
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