Qilai! Qilai! - A History of Modern China and The World

[Asami]

Not a full update, but after a month of procrastination from exams and stuff; I figure I'd share some of the stuff I've been producing in the Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes thread.

Microsoft Windows was a short-lived venture by the Microsoft Corporation in the mid-1980s to compete with the Apple Macintosh; however, plagued with problems stemming from the fact it was a very basic top-end for MS-DOS, it soon found itself outpaced. In 1987, after releasing an abortive "Windows 2.0", Microsoft abandoned the project in favor of a joint project with IBM -- the 286/386-compatible Operating System/2. After IBM withdrew from the project in 1989, Microsoft has rode through the 90s with the OS/2 operating system. In 2012, Microsoft released the source code to the original Windows operating systems, telling the public that they could "do what they wanted with it". Many vintage DOS fans, who felt betrayed when MS moved to the OS/2 platform and neglected DOS in the early 90s, have flocked to create their own "Windows 3".

Mac OS 10 is the latest operating system from Apple Inc, developed in 2001 based on the BeOS kernel. A rather unpopular successor to the original Macintosh operating system, Apple has been clinging to their legacy as a major software developer, and has been rapidly declining in power and popularity as many consider the current MacOS to be a "pale imitation of what once was".

Many Apple fans are demanding Apple create "MacOS 9.5" and revive the old Apple OS based on a UNIX platform instead of the arbitrary Be kernel; but this has thus far been unsuccessful, and Apple's sales are declining rapidly.

SGI IRIX is one of the most successful UNIX-based operating systems of the 20th and 21st century. Developed by Silicon Graphics, this OS is designed with graphical, cinema and music development in mind. Armed with a legion of tools enthusiastically backed by Adobe and other major companies, IRIX is the "go-to OS" for high-end professionals who need that extra firepower that they can't find in Amiga or NeXTSTEP.

RISC OS is billed as the "Most Popular OS in Britain", dominating the educational and consumer markets with easy-to-use programs and simple instructions on getting up and onto the internet in a matter of minutes. By this end, they have largely pushed out Apple from the consumer market, depriving the dying company of any good market-share in the UK.

NeXTSTEP is the most-used professional workstation OS in the Soviet Union; along side AmigaOS. NeXTSTEP is powered by the American-made UNIX platform, but has become a garden of development in it's own right. Masterminded behind the immensely popular Steven Jobs, it has gained traction in the United States as the "way MacOS should have been" after the turn of the millennium. Apple users are beginning to defect en masse to the NeXT platform, importing SEC machines from the Soviet Union en masse.

NeXT announced in 2015 that they would be releasing a PowerPC port of NeXTSTEP to run on Apple Macintoshes, to succeed the OS 10 operating system in the hearts of millions.

NeXT Computers is the heart of the Soviet computing industry, which has blossomed in the last 30 years; they are a world leader in technology, by and large, and have single-handedly inspired generations of Russians and others to join the burgeoning computer sciences.

Commodore-Amiga International owes it's life to China. When she was bought out in the mid-90s by China's own fledgling computer industry, Commodore was on the ropes, her entire empire asunder with the failure of the Amiga in domestic and foreign markets. However, Commodore has now emerged as a world leader in technology, as the Amiga computer is one of the most successful home computers of the last 20 years, a cheap, yet reliable centerpiece in homes from one end of the world to the other.

AmigaOS powers the Amiga empire, and is one of the most popular consumer OSes ever. With programs like Video Toaster (a video editing software), Corel Paint Shop Pro, and other major programs backing her to the hilt, Amiga is a "be all end all" of consumer production, and it shows, with millions of people using her on a daily basis.

 

[Asami]

I haven't forgotten this TL yet.

The East Is Red was an odd example of Chinese political propaganda; something that China didn't often do in the late 20th century, particularly since they became a democracy in the early 90s. However, with the grave concerns over the state of affairs in South Asia, and the aftermath of the Kargil War's devastating nuclear effects, the Chinese government decided to shore up domestic support by painting the revolution in a glorified light.

The film itself minimized the importance of Mao Tse-tung in the Revolution, as the Elder Statesman had fallen out of favor in the 1950s. The movie played up Deng Xiaoping, Zhu De, and other more "sympathetic" figures in the Chinese Revolution that could be spoken of. The film is also notable as depicting Madame Mao, Mao's wife who was executed for treason in the 1970s, as a "Black Widow", who sought to "betray the Revolution for her Japanese paymasters".

The film depicts the revolution as a joint-effort between the Kuomintang's leftists, and the Chinese Communist Party. The film starts with the Xinhai Revolution, and proceeds through the schism between the Communist Party and KMT, the Long March, Jiangxi Soviet, the Japanese invasion, Civil War, the turbulent period under Mao and his successors, and then the "reform of China into a superpower by the will of the people".

The film ends with students from all of the Beijing Pact's member nations, and all of the Warsaw Pact, joining together and singing The Internationale in their native language. The camera then ends the movie by panning a large crowd of people joining in as well.

American John Milius was onboard as a cinematographical expert, helping piece together the film, and advised the director.

The film was released on October 1, 1999; the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the People's Republic. The film was released in all markets, subtitled where necessary. The film grossed heavily in China and the Communist International, but was mostly ignored in the Western markets. However, many Americans still went to see The East is Red, either out of cultural affinity for foreign films, or out of sheer curiosity about the Chinese nation, with whom they had been developing a great relationship with in the face of chaos and militant racism and Islamism.

​

 

[rjd1997]

Awesome reference to an awesome TL!

 

[Sideways]

I could live in a TL where Britain was dominated by an Open Source OS. Seems the market is more fragmented, and oddly, not so reliant on mobiles?

 

[Asami]

Awesome reference to an awesome TL!

Actually, it's not referencing that TL. It's referencing the film that the TL took the name from. In 1965, China released a film called The East is Red, which was sort of an operatic propaganda film glorifying the path the Communists took to win the Civil War. The aforementioned timeline The East Is Red, takes it's name directly from this notable piece of Chinese cinema history. This film also partially inspired my timeline; but my primary inspiration was March of the Volunteers (which this TL is named for) and The Last Emperor (hence Chairman Pu-yi).

Full film here.

Oh, and, it's also a song, which served as the de facto anthem of China during the Cultural Revolution IOTL.

In this timeline, the song The East Is Red has been thoroughly changed to wipe out any reference to Mao Tse-tung as a "hero of China", and the film that follows mostly treats him as a demagogue that required the aid of major figures such as Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Zhu De and other "revolutionaries" to succeed; there's also the fact that the film is released 34 years later than IOTL.

By and large, The East Is Red never gained the level of popularity or infamy that it did IOTL because Mao Tse-tung was effectively purged from any influential positions in China after his fall in 1953; his wife was the closest thing we got to historical Mao Zedong Thought in this version of China, but even then, her control of the state was not at the same level as her husband IOTL.

So, the 1999 film The East Is Red is primarily just a glorification of the "birth of modern China", and the "democratic principles of the Chinese people against imperialism".

I could live in a TL where Britain was dominated by an Open Source OS. Seems the market is more fragmented, and oddly, not so reliant on mobiles?

You're completely correct in this.

 

[zeppelinair]

That Dongfanghong man. If I get inspired enough I'll write up a few TTL songs and plots, why not.

 

[Asami]

That Dongfanghong man. If I get inspired enough I'll write up a few TTL songs and plots, why not.

Omg please do so. I'm actually watching the film for the first time ever right now, and god, it's pretty good for communist propaganda.

 

[Asami]

Qilai! Qilai!
A history of Modern China

Zhao Ziyang (RKMT)
(1990 - 2002)
Part III​

A spectre was haunting the world -- Islamism, and growing militancy in race relations in both China and the United States. The Kargil War had complicated things immensely, bringing all three major superpowers into a position of close collaboration to prevent everything from spilling over into madness and chaos. But around the turn of the millennium, both the United States and China began to exhibit early signs of civil strife and unrest.

China had, for centuries, been a nation comprised of one central dominant ethnic group -- Han, and then dozens of smaller ethnic groups in orbit around them. By the 21st century, there were outremer ethnic groups growing discontent. Firstly, the Tibetans, having long since been conquered by the Chinese, were a point of contention for many in the West and East. Of course, nobody could dislodge China from control over the region, but it was certainly common for a Chinese state visit to the United States to be marred with American wannabe revolutionaries protesting "Chinese imperialism in Tibet."

The Internet, as infantile as it was, exploded in China at an even greater exponential rate after a Communist Party member of parliament posted a scathing criticism of American liberalism on his personal blog, in late 1999.

Often times, I hear in the news of American liberals protesting the arrival of Chinese diplomats, statesmen and athletes; vandalizing our embassies, our cultural icons and our heritage -- why do they do this? They do this because they decry our so called "imperialism" over the fraternal brothers of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, India, Bengal, Burma, Thailand and Indochina.

Is it truly Chinese imperialism to extend the hand of socialist fraternity to these nations to save them from rampant foreign imperialism orchestrated by foreign intelligence forces? The People's Republic of China has striven for decades to seed the seeds of fraternal socialism in Asia. Our diplomatic overtures of peace have been heard the world over, and have assisted in the unification of the Korean nation under the singular republican government of Comrade Park Chung-hee; and we have assisted in the unification of the Vietnamese nation under the singular government of the Honorable Imperial Comrade, Bao Dai, and the fraternal socialist movements in Free Indochina.

But my primary problem with these young impudent westerners criticizing our strides in peace and justice; is that they know not hardship and struggle. The Communist Party of China, and her fraternal socialist allies, the Revolutionary Faction of the Kuomintang, the People's Party of China, and those dedicated to anti-Japanese and anti-Imperialist maxims and doctrine push forward together have, for generations, worked for the betterment of a nation destroyed by Japanese imperialism.

The Long March, and the struggle of the Hunan Soviet and other communist revolutionary factions founded by the Great Reformer and his close ally, the Helmsman, who selflessly served the Revolution in his own manner in his youth. These young Americans have no sense of the struggles faced by the people of China and this so called "second world", where we must fight for socialist freedom against encroaching imperialism and corporate interests. They are raised on a diet of Musical Television and rich, fattening foods that are deep-fried and covered in grease...

Zhao Ziyang's government hailed the statement as a significant declaration that the People's Republic stands by socialist principles and democratic ones as well, and will fight for responsible and organized freedom, not chaos and anarchy.

In June 2001, armed militants rose up in the city of Mecca, and in Medina, with the intent of declaring a caliphate. The Saudi Army, attempting to intervene, was crushed in battle, giving the militants time to seize the two cities. On June 18, 2001, the Islamic Caliphate was proclaimed out of Mecca, with the intent of uniting all Islamic persons, and liberating all members of the House of Islam from Judeo-Communist conspiracy in the whole world."

In the first doctrinal release by the Caliphate, they outlined their intent to create an Islamic Empire spanning North Africa, Southern Europe, and the Middle East to the ruins of Pakistan. They also intended on punishing the Communists of China for oppressing the Islamic peoples of Bengal, Xinjiang and Kashmir with their armed occupation of Islamic lands., as well as liberating the African-American race from their bondage under American occupation and to convert them to the faith of their ancestors -- Dar al-Islam.

The Caliphate faced condemnation from many Islamic leaders across the Middle East, and soon got into a protracted land-war against the Saudis through the rest of 2001.

In December 2001, the Caliphate captured Riyadh, and, aided by a large number of Islamists who prevented the Sultan from escaping the city, arrested the Sultan. In a public execution, the Caliphate put the entirety of the Saudi dynasty to death for decadence unfitting soldiers of Islam, along with most of their "rich elite", including Osama bin Laden, one of the richest men in Saudi Arabia.

Zhao Ziyang left office in 2002, preferring not to be involved anymore in politics, particularly as it seemed that a bad moon was rising over the world, with the rise of the Islamic Caliphate, and the eruption of growing civil strife in all sectors of the world.​

 

[Asami]

(Blame Mao Zedong and The East is Red for this sudden comeback. I'll be frank, I just wrote this whole chapter in like, 20 minutes.)

 

[Gordian]

Nice Update.

Sakura, what's Jiang Zemin up to?

 

[Asami]

Nice Update.

Sakura, what's Jiang Zemin up to?

Jiang Zemin has dominated the Communist Party since the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1990; but he has formally retired in 2002, leaving the party in the hands of someone else. He intends to live the rest of his life in peaceful retirement, but is open to be an adviser to any leader from any of the parties. He has since been appointed to an honorary position in the Communist Party's Central Committee, and is recognized as an "honorary member" of the People's Party.

 

[FiendslayerPrime1976]

So, the Islamists now have control of Saudi Arabia and the entire royal dynasty is dead. (I take it the Bin Ladin never got involved with radical Islam ITTL).

A nasty civil war between the Muslims across the Middle East, if not the world, appears to be on the horizon.

I'm just wondering how China and the West are going to deal with this problem if and when the Caliphate starts launching terror attacks on their home soil…

(One small note: from looking at the index it appears this chapter should be Zhao Ziyang Part II, not Part III.)

 

[Asami]

So, the Islamists now have control of Saudi Arabia and the entire royal dynasty is dead. (I take it the Bin Ladin never got involved with radical Islam ITTL).

A nasty civil war between the Muslims across the Middle East, if not the world, appears to be on the horizon.

I'm just wondering how China and the West are going to deal with this problem if and when the Caliphate starts launching terror attacks on their home soil…

(One small note: from looking at the index it appears this chapter should be Zhao Ziyang Part II, not Part III.)

Part II was the Kargil War.

 

[FiendslayerPrime1976]

You mean Chapter XIX. - I Don't want to Set the World on Fire?

Thanks for the info!

 

[Master Xion]

Wow this timeline's back,continue the good work Sakura F.
So a early version of ISIS has conquered Saudi Arabia?What sort of effect will this have on the oil markets?

 

[Nightingale]

What happened to Hu Yaobang? Li Peng?

And also, Chen Yun, Li Xiannian and other elders? And the three Yangs (Shangkun, Baibing and Rudai)?

Merry Christmas to all

 

[Asami]

What happened to Hu Yaobang? Li Peng?

And also, Chen Yun, Li Xiannian and other elders? And the three Yangs (Shangkun, Baibing and Rudai)?

Merry Christmas to all

I dunno, I'll have to look into it. I don't know who any of those people are. You'd realize that my knowledge of Communist China is pretty damn weak for someone writing a TL about it.

 

[Master Xion]

What effect will the fall of Saudi Arabia have on the price of oil?I imagine that this will cause a panic in the oil markets

 

[Jack Hawksmoor]

Creative timeline and full of rule of cool, although it seems you've decided to tone up dystopia after making the entire world liberal and reasonable.

 

[Berkeley2017]

The Saudi royal family should've been able to get out in time. Unless if Riyadh spontaneously erupted into an Islamist rebellion when the frontlines were far away and caught the royals off guard

But other than that, good job!