VFAU: "Can anyone tell me what's going on?"

I believe it started when a dissident faction of the KMT fell into Moscow's orbit, moreso than the KMT itself.

Wait, I... I think I remember something about this from my college class...

That's right -- shortly after Sun Yat Sen, the guy who lead the Chinese Revolution, died, Chiang was fighting to establish his control in the country; the KMT had a faction that worked alongside them, and was backed by the Soviets...

Anyway, after he feels comfortable, Chiang set loose on these guys -- it was called... the April 12th Incident, I think. At any rate, this sets of a civil war, and it isn't until 1934 that this Red Army is put down enough for Chiang... In fact, that's why, supposedly, he didn't do anything when the Japanese invaded and set up Manchuko -- he was so freaking paranoid about the Reds taking advantage!

Is any of this true here?
 
Wait, I... I think I remember something about this from my college class...

That's right -- shortly after Sun Yat Sen, the guy who lead the Chinese Revolution, died, Chiang was fighting to establish his control in the country; the KMT had a faction that worked alongside them, and was backed by the Soviets...

Anyway, after he feels comfortable, Chiang set loose on these guys -- it was called... the April 12th Incident, I think. At any rate, this sets of a civil war, and it isn't until 1934 that this Red Army is put down enough for Chiang... In fact, that's why, supposedly, he didn't do anything when the Japanese invaded and set up Manchuko -- he was so freaking paranoid about the Reds taking advantage!

Is any of this true here?

That's all true, though like I said, the Reds remained holed up in Yanan. The Japanese invaded the rest of China in '37.
 
OOC: It was preempting Mao's Long March while Chiang's forces had them holed up in 1934

IC: All this talking about old obscure Chinese wars, and I never asked:

What's China like here?
 
OOC: It was preempting Mao's Long March while Chiang's forces had them holed up in 1934

IC: All this talking about old obscure Chinese wars, and I never asked:

What's China like here?

It may possibly be the United States' biggest rival in the Pacific. They, like Vietnam, are Communist in name only, and is actually the source for all sorts of manufactured goods. There was an attempt to democratize in the late 80's, but the Politburo sent in the tanks, and killed a lot of civilians. Their human rights record is atrocious.
 
It may possibly be the United States' biggest rival in the Pacific.

Well, it be hard for them not to be, wouldn't it; I mean, there's so many of them...

They, like Vietnam, are Communist in name only, and is actually the source for all sorts of manufactured goods.

Still trying to keep my head from exploding on this...

There was an attempt to democratize in the late 80's, but the Politburo sent in the tanks, and killed a lot of civilians. Their human rights record is atrocious.

Wow, I'm... I'm a little stunned here...

It's just -- well, I remember when the KMT we're still in charge of China, and Chiang was the Premier of the country for half my parents' lives, and we always thought he and his pary were just bastards, that China would have been better off without them -- I mean, Chiang's the guy massacred Uighurs, brutalized his neighbors, got the world into a nuclear arms race -- he's one of the biggest murderers of the 20th Century. Hell, his philosophy was "Nationalism and Socialism", a combo that lead to WWII!

Now that China's got democracy and all the rest, his defenders have been coming out of the woodwork, saying "Well, none of this was possible without Chiang's transitionary period" -- never mind that China stayed an authoritarian state 17 years after his death -- so I always dismissed them...

But now... I don't know. I didn't think a country as big as China could last this long as an authoritarian state, not unless something really bad happened to democracy itself.

What am I missing?
 
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