What if the ROC and PRC role's were reversed?

Starforce

Banned
What if the ROC was able to maintain a full hold on the mainland, while the PRC was exiled to Taiwan, where they would remain to this day?
 
But the ROC was dominated by a totalitarian party with a sham democracy and the PRC was a vicious value-form society that exploited workers and attacked indigenous people.
 

marathag

Banned
Hate to see what would happen to the people on Taiwan with Mao's Land Reform followed by the Great Leap Forward
 
The PRC in Taiwan would just be a political puppet of the Soviet Union while it existed. Without the big population and resources available to them on the mainland they'll likely be dependent on Soviet aid for defense and likely to feed themselves. This probably butterflies away the Korean War too as the North would be terrified to invade the south with a large and strong American and pro-western ally on its border. If Vietnam still happens Communist Taiwan will be active in that but covertly sending men and materially quietly like the Soviet's did. When communism collapses in USSR so does the PRC, without aid they either turn into another North Korea, forced to reform into something more democratic or at least Western aligned, or flat out reunified with the ROC
 

Starforce

Banned
The PRC in Taiwan would just be a political puppet of the Soviet Union while it existed. Without the big population and resources available to them on the mainland they'll likely be dependent on Soviet aid for defense and likely to feed themselves. This probably butterflies away the Korean War too as the North would be terrified to invade the south with a large and strong American and pro-western ally on its border. If Vietnam still happens Communist Taiwan will be active in that but covertly sending men and materially quietly like the Soviet's did. When communism collapses in USSR so does the PRC, without aid they either turn into another North Korea, forced to reform into something more democratic or at least Western aligned, or flat out reunified with the ROC

If they turn into another North Korea, they would likely be worse since they are a very small island that will only get aid from other communist nations. It'd be much worse in my eyes unfortunately...
 
This doesn't really make any sense geographically. The communists never held Taiwan: they were based out of the north, in Manchuria, and only managed to get anywhere near Taiwan very late in the war, when the ROC was already basically defeated. I really don't see how you'd get the CCP to both do well enough that they could mount a successful invasion of Taiwan and badly enough that they could still somehow lose the war afterwards.
 
The interesting thing to consider is that Stalin wanted Mao to form a unity government, at least for a short time, with the Nationalists. A weaker Mao may be forced to concede to Stalin in order to stave off a successful nationalist offensive
 
It's more likely that Korea +some of Manchuria gets a flood of Chinese Communists that take over the country if the Nationalists win out. Then you have the politics and dynamics of Red Chinese vs. Koreans as opposed to KMT Chinese vs. Native Taiwanese, especially if it's an enclave with most not being able to get there.
 
What if the ROC was able to maintain a full hold on the mainland, while the PRC was exiled to Taiwan, where they would remain to this day?

Hard to pull off, since Japan destroyed the Taiwanese Communist Party before the transmission of the Jewel Voice Broadcast. The few that remained had to flee Taiwan, especially after the 228 Incident. A PRC that somehow managed to get to and assume control of Taiwan under the GMD's noses would have a major legitimacy gap with the people.
 
The escape of the Nationalists to Taiwan was covered by the 7th Fleet. They won’t extend that courtesy to the communists.
 
The point is to like, switch the roles. ROC occupies the mainland while PRC is exiled to an island.

In that case, Hainan would be a better choice as that was a huge support base for the CPC. The question thus becomes how the CPC leadership manages to get over there.
 
I was thinking of this in a similar thread I started the other day, but figured it was too silly.

Still, maybe it could happen. Perhaps the Soviets enter the war earlier in exchange for an unofficial agreement that Mao gets Taiwan - perhaps in a scenario in which Mao isn’t doing as well during the war with Japan.
 
I was thinking of this in a similar thread I started the other day, but figured it was too silly.

I didn't think it was that silly.

Still, maybe it could happen. Perhaps the Soviets enter the war earlier in exchange for an unofficial agreement that Mao gets Taiwan - perhaps in a scenario in which Mao isn’t doing as well during the war with Japan.

Would probably need to find a way to get a hold of those remaining Taiwanese Communists the colonial government hadn't purged yet.
 

RousseauX

Donor
In that case, Hainan would be a better choice as that was a huge support base for the CPC. The question thus becomes how the CPC leadership manages to get over there.
hainan is way too close to the mainland to hold out against a governemnt which controls rest of china
 

mspence

Banned
Maybe the PRC gets exiled to Mongolia? Then you have "two Chinas" or North and South Korea writ large?
 
More likely Hainan, as others suggested, or if you wanted a true analogue to Taiwan (exile territory on the periphery of Chinese empire), have the CCP, its personnel, and 1-3 million hangers-on escape to Outer Mongolia after losing the civil war, which for years afterward still sees occasional forays by the communist forces into Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Manchuria. The ROC claims Outer Mongolia as a rightful part of China, while the Soviet Union quietly drops its recognition of an independent Mongolia in the mid-50s and to Mao's annoyance, does not recognize his People's Republic, but regards CCP-held territory as merely the "liberated zone" of the ROC.

For the first half of the Cold War, the PRC remains a thorn in the KMT's side, with the long border being a source of spies, terrorism, and arms trafficking to restive parts of the ROC. This lessens greatly after Mao's death, with the post-Mao leadership using the detente thaw to improve relations with Nanjing. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the PRC faces imminent economic collapse, and Mongolia is peacefully reunified with China proper; in exchange, the CCP leadership is spared treason and sedition charges.
 
Last edited:
Top