China

**China**, officially the **People's Republic of China** (**PRC**), was a pre-War communist state in eastern Asia. China grew rapidly after World War II, and by the 21st century became a global superpower, rivaling the United States and the Soviet Union in power and wealth.

Although severely affected by the economic crisis and the Resource Wars, China was able to compete with the United States for control of the last remaining resources on Earth and wage an eleven year-long war to conquer Alaska and later defend its homeland. Even as late as 2077, the severely mauled People's Liberation Army was one of the finest military forces in the world.

## History

During the 20th and 21st centuries, China and the Soviet Union competed with the United States. The space race was one particularly important field of competition in the 20th century. After the United States claimed that Captain Carl Bell was the first human in space in 1961, both the Soviet Union and China protested the claim. The United States never retracted its statement.

### **Resource Wars**

However, hostilities would not escalate until a century later, as the global energy and resource crisis grew more and more severe. Heavily reliant on fossil fuels, the People's Republic of China was hit particularly hard. In 2060, the Middle East oil fields ran dry, triggering the collapse of the European Commonwealth and the Middle East oil powers. Traffic on the streets worldwide ground to a halt as fuel became too precious to waste on automobiles. Alternatives were explored, with limited success. Two years later, Chinese operatives would be found across Canada and the United States, running interference and gathering intel that could be used to balance the scales. To counter communist interference, the next red scare was manufactured. As the situation across the United States worsened, both as a result of the deteriorating economy and the New Plague continuing to wreak havoc despite quarantine measures, the federal government used the increasing national paranoia to try and control the situation, by discouraging assemblies, fueling anti-communist sentiment, and encouraging reporting subversive elements. The Vigilant Citizen's Hotline was even established to allow citizens to report neighbors to the government for any behavior that could be construed as in support of communism.

To stave off collapse on the domestic front, China launched campaigns to annex neighboring countries and provide resources for the starved economy. While successful, the strategy was only a temporary solution to a much larger problem: Dependency on fossil fuels. The People's Republic found itself on the border of collapse in the spring of 2066. Trade talks with the United States revealed it to be unwilling to export its own reserves of crude oil. Aggressive negotiations resulted in the talks breaking down completely.

As if to insult the communist state further, the United States government revealed the first cold fusion power cell to the public.

The situation was dire. Although China was able to tap a large deep-sea deposit of oil below the Pacific, it was unable to make use of it due to sabotage. American interference was suspected. Pushed up against a wall, Chairman Cheng decided on an ambitious and extremely dangerous plan: Invasion of Alaska and seizure of its natural resources by force. Chinese troops swarmed the state, with the primary push focusing on the city of Anchorage, necessary to maintain a link with the Chinese mainland. The Anchorage Front Line became a true battleground.

The invasion inadvertently triggered the gradual annexation of Canada, as the United States forced it to grant the right of passage to American military forces. The deployment of the T-45 power armor helped prevent Chinese tanks and infantry from overrunning Alaska. The situation rapidly deteriorated into trench warfare as neither side was capable of breaking the stalemate and forcing peace terms on the enemy and the resource shortage precluded large offensive operations by Chinese motorized forces.

The conflict raged for over a decade. The United States focused its attention on Canada, liberally exploiting its natural resources while ignoring protests made by Ottawan citizens. Riots and protests eventually culminated in a sabotage attempt on an oil pipeline in 2072. The United States military used the incident as a pretext to invade Canada outright and begin annexation. Meanwhile, China attempted to destroy American resistance with aggressive use of biological weapons, leading the U.S. government to commission West Tek with the development of a universal cure on September 15, 2073. The economy of the People's Republic relied heavily on fossil fuels, including uranium fuel, China having mined the most uranium in the world as of 2077. Despite this, the supply did not meet the demand and was the impetus for the invasion of Alaska, as it teetered on the brink of collapse due to the resource crisis.

### **War in China**

Despite claims of fighting a defensive war, American infantry and mechanized divisions launched an invasion of the Chinese mainland in 2074. However, with its economy stretched to the breaking point by the war on three fronts, the U.S. was unable to overcome its foe. American units were bogged down on the Chinese mainland, putting a further drain on American resources and supply lines. By 2076, the war had raged for a decade with no end in sight. Both China and the United States suffered from war exhaustion. However, the U.S. gained an advantage to offset the problems and the introduction of the T-51 power armor in June helped to tip the scales in favor of the U.S. military. The next generation of power armor resolved problems existing in older generations of armor. Mechanized cavalry units outfitted with the T-51bs were sent to the Alaskan and Chinese fronts, carving a swath through Communist forces.

The Chinese economy crumbled under the onslaught as supply lines from nations annexed by the Beijing regime started falling apart. The American regime did not fare any better. In August, food and energy riots start in urban centers across the United States. A state of emergency and martial law was eventually declared, with U.S. military forces being deployed on the domestic front to fight their own countrymen. The United States became, effectively, a military junta.

2077 brought even worse news for the Chinese communists. The Battle of Anchorage ended with a decisive American victory on January 10, with Anchorage back under U.S. control and Chinese forces retreating across the front.

China was backed into a corner, as the United States could allocate its military resources to destroying resistance in mainland China. With the loss of Alaska, the disintegration of its supply lines, and a renewed American offensive on the Chinese front, spearheaded by the newest T-51b powered armor units, China could not defend itself. As if expecting immediate retaliation, the American elite retreated to their shelters, planning a contingency to maintain the war effort even if nuclear strikes occurred. Bases across the United States were sealed and troops redeployed to front line conflicts to maintain the American offensive with great difficulty.

## Society

### **Government**

“Hail to the People's Republic!”— A common slogan among Chinese soldiers and operatives.

China was a single-party state, ruled by the Communist Party. The head of state was the Chairman (equivalent to the United States' president), with the last leader to hold this office being Chairman Cheng. The government was divided into ministries. The only known one is the Chinese Intelligence Ministry, responsible for special operations on American soil.

China used the yuan as currency, and Chinese notes were often considered a tell-tale sign of a Chinese infiltrator in America. The Chinese economy suffered throughout the war, to the point that strict rationing of resources was insituted, including food. The situation was so severe by 2077, that lotteries were used to allocate food rations to Chinese citizens. These could be manipulated by the government to reward faithful service.

Like any sovereign state, China routinely maintained embassies in foreign nations. In spite of the war, the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. remained open, with Xiu-Ling serving as the last ambassador to the United States.

### **Military**

The People's Liberation Army relied on its vast reserves of manpower and industrial capacity to maintain its edge, though unlike the United States, the focus was put on firepower rather than personal protection. Chinese soldiers were issued jumpsuits rather than hard combat armor, though the Type 93 assault rifles that were the workhorse of the army were significantly more powerful than standard American R91s. Tanks were key to the Chinese doctrine, used to support infantry operations during the invasion of Alaska. However, when they were countered by early power armor Americans deployed, China realized that it had no analog and rushed to create its own versions. Due to the handicap, it also intensively researched stealth technology as a counter.

Beyond stealth, the Chinese had an extremely effective intelligence and security apparatus. Apart from concealing its research, Chinese operatives infiltrated mainland United States and set up an extensive covert network of spies and intelligence operatives. The largest of their spy networks were located in and around Washington, D.C., with strongholds throughout the region. China even managed to set up regular patrols by Chinese submarines, such as the SSN-37-1A.

### **Technology**

Due to little success in creating a power armor of comparable performance, While their own version power armor was considered and saw some moderate development, Chinese researchers decided to focus their efforts elsewhere and managed to create practical active camouflage technology, commonly referred to as stealth technology. The development of Hei Gui stealth suits allowed for easy penetration of enemy lines. China's efforts continued apace and by 2075 was rumored to possess an entire fleet of stealth submarines, developed in the Shaanxi Province, nicknamed the "Ghost Fleet."

The United States had little success in their own stealth projects. Various reverse-engineering projects were undertaken. Big MT created stealth suits mark I and mark II based on technology from captured Chinese suits RobCo focused on replicating the modulating stealth field. Robert Mayflower's Stealth Boy 3001 was a portable, personal stealth kdevice with a limited lifespan that could be used by anyone without the need for a full-body suit.

Chinese research into improving their stealth tech never ceased, and the Fujiniya Intelligence Base in Appalachia was on the cusp of a major upgrade in power efficiency for the stealth suit. The Great War interrupted the project, and it was eventually salvaged by Thomas Eckhart's Enclave to create Stealth Boy Mark IIIs.

The MEC Gauss minigun was designed by the Chinese. Atypical for an automatic weapon, it uses Gaussian technology in the form of multiple electromagnetic fields to fire 2mm EC ammunition at a rate of over 90,000 rounds per minute.

### **Sympathizers**

Separate from the infiltrated agents of the People's Liberation Army, China also had a network of spies and communist sympathizers in mainland America, having infiltrated the local civil society to spy on it while smuggling imported Chinese weapons. Such cells could be found in Pre-War Pittsburgh, Old Olney and Point Lookout. In Appalachia, the secessionist militia known as the Free States was accused of being a communist movement by the US government during the propaganda war between both groups.

Even in 2277, Irving Cheng was still sympathetic to the communist regime.