Neo Liberation Army

==History==
===Pre-War===
Hong Kong's status in modern history has its origins in the Opium Wars of the early 1800s. Hong Kong was ceded to the United Kingdom in 1842 as part of the Treaty of Nanking once the wars were concluded. Originally, Hong Kong was to be given to the United Kingdom "in perpetuity", but later treaties also added the Kowloon peninsula and New Territories, with a 99-year lease. In 1984, when the time for this lease approached its end, China protested the unfair terms of the original treaty and pressed for Hong Kong proper to be included in the transfer as well. The UK capitulated and signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration with China that same year, finalizing transfer of Hong Kong to China after 1 July 1997. Hong Kong would receive special status as a Special Administrative Region under which it would be allowed to maintain its previous capitalist system, and its way of life would remain unchanged for 50 years until 2047. News of the handover was followed by mass emigration from Hong Kong, and by 1997 roughly half a million people had left the territory. By 2014, issues regarding suffrage and political representation of Hong Kong citizens began to make themselves apparent, and it seemed that China did not intend to honor the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
===Human-Vannai War===
During the Two-Week War, both Shenzen and Hong Kong suffered terribly due to both being massively developed cities with large populations, marking them as priority for Suit seeding. The PLA Hong Kong Garrison immediately imposed martial law over the special administrative region and began a difficult fight to keep the region under control.  
The fortune of the two cities changed after the first stage of the Human-Vannai War ended, and the percentage of the population that gained Suits of their own came to the forefront; among them, two Hongkongers, Zau Yi and Liu Yan. The two quickly rose to become formidable warriors with their Suits, and were praised as national heroes by the population of Hong Kong.  
With the Hong Kong garrison reporting the only good news the PLA leadership had heard since the invasion began, Guangzhou MR headquarters gave the order to relocate the 41st and 42nd Group Armies to Shenzen, intending to focus their strength on holding the southern coastline. The additional PLA soldiers were greeted with hostility by Hong Kong, however, who felt that Zau Yi and Liu Yan had earned their nation's freedom and safety single-handedly, and regarded the PLA as fleeing cowards. PLA leaders preemptively issued an arrest order for Zau Yi and Liu Yan, intending to prevent them coming to the head of a resistance. The order went unfilled as organized resistance crumbled elsewhere in China, and the Shenzen coast became the final bastion of the former Chinese government. As the Vannai's agents increased pressure southwards and it became apparent no outside help was coming, desperation forced PLA leaders to compromise with the Hong Kong defenders; in exchange for the aid of its Suit corps in repelling the enemy, Hong Kong would gain democratic recognition and parity with the PLA's military leadership. This new, combined effort would be called the Neo Liberation Army. The Hong Kong government would reorganize itself accordingly and appoint a Grand General to represent their interests to the PLA military council. In a surprising move, the Hong Kong legislative council would appoint none other than Zau Yi (who, ironically, the PLA still had a standing arrest order for as a rebel) as the first Grand General of Hong Kong. Thus, while neither being Chinese-born nor a member of the military per se, Zau Yi was given considerable influence over all NLA military activities, and, through his personal popularity, held similar influence of the public opinion and loyalty of the NLA's Pilots, making him one of the single most powerful men in China. Although those in the NLA military ranks protested that they were kowtowing too much to Hong Kong's demands, ultimately both sides of the matter got their desired outcome, with the southern theater of China remaining under NLA control throughout the Human-Vannai War.
===Post-War===
After the war ended, the NLA emerged as the premier military power in China, though this was not a title that went unchallenged with the Survivors Coalition in the north and west vying for dominion over the vast and vacant lands after the Great Hibernation began. As the China War ensued, the NLA made themselves available to the ACC, becoming their first ally in the region. However, the NLA gained little from their cooperation, ceding territory in Guangxi to an emboldened Axe Gang.
The NLA watched the EuF-Japan invasion of the north and, as the top native military power in the region, began preparing for war with both. The EuF's retreat from Beijing in March 2020 under pressure from the army of Warlord Huang nonetheless came as a relief to the NLA's leadership.
After the defeat of the Gigafort Long Shadow and the ACC's subsequent withdrawal from the region, the NLA turned its attention internally, focusing on strengthening its position in the south. Many of the NLA's leadership were still extremely displeased with the union with Hong Kong's legislative council, and the expansive "kingdom" in the north under the self-styled Emperor Huang He Jun was viewed as a major obstacle to the resurgence of the previous Chinese state. This was overshadowed by the still-present threat of the Japanese, which had never ceased hostilities in the region but were currently primarily preoccupied with waging a land war against the Huang Kingdom. The NLA, conversely, had only lost territory and troops during their dealings with the ACC. Although Zau Yi's replacement for the position of Grand General, Liu Xiao Jiu, was regarded by the public as an intelligent and fair leader, the NLA's military leadership held very different opinions, and levied their blame for the NLA's net losses against the Hong Konger. Their grievances eventually resulted in Lui Xiao Jui being ousted as Grand General and the agreement with Hong Kong annulled as General Yuan Heqi took power. The new Grand General immediately liquidated the Legislative Council and suspended all democratic processes within NLA territory.
==Policies==
===Military===
Despite controlling only roughly 1/3 of its former territory, the NLA has rebounded quickly to possess the strongest and most technologically advanced military on the mainland. Compared to the massed ranks of the Huang Kingdom and the savage bioengineered monsters deployed by the Japanese, the NLA can be considered the elite troops who combine technology, training, equipment and discipline to keep the edge over their peers. It has continued to push its technological capabilities despite the hard times of the Human-Vannai War, and unlike Japan under the Engineers managed to produce results that contributed directly to the defense of their territory through the development of ion weaponry, robotic infantry and various improvements in other areas. Due to mismanagement early in the war, the NLA possesses very few Pilots, and many of these individuals, being Hong Kongers, sided with Lui Xaio Jui during the New Way Forward's coup. 
===Economic===
The heart of the NLA's territory is the Guangdong region, which prior to the war of 2014 was the most populous and richest of China, with a GDP that exceeded that of Spain's. The region hosted many thousands of factories emblematic of China's manufacturing economy. Shenzen was comparable to the USA's Silicon Valley in most areas, housing a large concentration of corporate technology and media giants as well as a number of very large financial centers. Guangdong overall was the import and export center of the country. 
Territory losses and infrastructure damage left the NLA bereft of a great deal of industry, however, as well as limiting agricultural resources. This resulted in a great deal of resource scarcity and starvation in the years following 2014, forcing the NLA government to tightly control and manage everything with strict rationing and curfew policies. The NLA's painstaking efforts to rebuild have been hampered by the death of international trade since the war. 
===Diplomacy===
Although previously open to the ACC, the NLA under Grand General Yuan Heqi has since closed off contact and taken a hostile stance to the Armor Corps Coalition due to their failure to provide any sort of stability to Asia while, in the words of the Grand General, 'taking advantage of our kindness' during the conflict. The NLA is hostile with the Japanese Empire and its puppet empire of Dongbei. Currently the NLA is neutral though frigid towards the Huang Kingdom. The NLA considers the Iron Army of Taiwan a rebel army.
Category:PACYOA: TE
Category:China
Category:Neo Liberation Army