People's Republic of China

The **People's Republic of China (PRC)**, simply called **China**, is a nation in East Asia and the second most populous country in the world. China shares land borders with Russia, the UIR, North Korea, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, and close maritime borders with Japan. The Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, run from the Tibetan Plateau to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometres long, and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas. China is also a member of Eurasian Economic Union and the Shanghai Pact with its allies, Russia, the UIR and Korea.

## History

### Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century

Major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 with the Communist Party in control of most of mainland China, and the Kuomintang retreating offshore, reducing the ROC's territory to only Taiwan, Hainan and surrounding islands. On 1 October 1949, Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China. In 1950, the People's Liberation Army succeeded in capturing Hainan from the Republic of China (ROC) and occupying Tibet.

Mao's regime consolidated its popularity among the peasants through the land reform with between 1 and 2 million landlords executed. Under its leadership, China developed an independent industrial base and its own nuclear weapons. In October 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council.

After Mao's death in 1976 and the arrest of the faction known as the Gang of Four, who were blamed for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping took power and led the country to significant economic reforms. The Communist Party subsequently loosened governmental control over citizens' personal lives and the communes were disbanded in favour of private land leases. This turn of events marked China's transition from a planned economy to a mixed economy with an increasingly open market environment. China adopted its current constitution on 4 December 1982. In 1989, the violent suppression of student protests in Tiananmen Square brought condemnation and sanctions against the Chinese government from various countries.

During China's 18th National Communist Party Congress in November 2012, Hu Jintao was replaced as General Secretary of the Communist Party by Xi Jinping. Under Xi, the Chinese government began large-scale efforts to reform its economy, which has suffered from structural instabilities and slowing growth.

### Central Asian Wars

*See Full Article: Central Asian Wars*

In late 2016, China feared that social unrest as a result of the slowing global economy due to the Great Recession, China decided to stir nationalist sentiment by staging an invasion of Mongolia. On 11 October, the PLA crossed the border into Mongolia with little warning. One week later, the Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the merger of Mongolia with the Inner Mongolia Semi-Autonomous Region forming the Mongolia Semi-Autonomous Region.

On 26 June 2017, Russian and Chinese diplomats agreed to partition Kazakhstan between themselves. On 16 August, after growing political unrest in Kazakhstan, Russia launched an invasion of the country, sending 20,000 paratroopers into the country in the world’s largest ever airborne operation. On the same day, the Chinese PLA launched their invasion of the country. The Kazakh city of Almaty fell to Chinese forces on 23 August. On 27 August, China invaded neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, capturing the capital Bishkek the following day. Kyrgyzstan officially surrendered to China on 29 August.

The eastern regions of Kazakhstan and all of Kyrgyzstan were later officially annexed by China in incorporated into Xinjiang. When Tajikistan fell to the UIR, China quickly annexed the Tajik enclaves in Kyrgyzstan.

### Reunification with Taiwan

*See Full Article: Taiwan Strait Crisis*

As unemployment rose in China, the government once again tried to stir national fervor by invading Taiwan. The United States was rendered unable to assist the Taiwanese, being caught in the Second American Revolution. The PLA began mobilisation to seize the island. The PLAN mobilised its three carrier battle groups into the Taiwan Strait as well as preparing Chengdu J-20 Fighters, missiles and drones. On 9 March 2019, the PRC demanded that the ROC finally submit to the control of the mainland. Finally after nearly a month of threatening war, the ROC finally yielded to the mainland’s control as an autonomous region. However, Taipei maintained its own powerful military to defend its territory separate from the PLA. Taiwan only had to commit its armed forces to Beijing in the unlikely event of invasion by a third party. Taipei controlled and limited visitation by Chinese citizens from the mainland.

### Korean Crisis

*See Full Article: Korean Crisis*

In January 2019, the leaders of the Shanghai Pact met in Astrakhan, Russia to discuss strategies to extend their strategic reach. They eventually decided to try and break South Korea off from American influence by moving towards a unified Korea. At the subsequent Shanghai Conference in February, South Korea agreed to invest in the North and the Shanghai Pact leaders agreed to assist in forming a Korean Confederation.

The South Korean Ambassador to China notified President Xi Jinping that Seoul was interested in ascending to the Shanghai Pact in order dissuade a Northern attack. In March, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un suggested a quasi-confederation in which the North retained control over its current territory and the movement of people would be restricted.

In August, Russian President Vladimir Putin began plotting to spark a war between the USA and North Korea by pushing Pyongyang into launching a limited nuclear attack against the continental United States. This plot was uncovered by both South Korean and Chinese intelligence services who plot to quickly assassinate Kim Jong-un. On 4 September, North Korean intelligence assets in cooperation with Seoul and Beijing poisoned Kim Jong-un, while making the death appear to be a heart attack. The North Korean military took control of the country.

On 18 September, the two Koreas agreed to reunification becoming the Korea. Seoul became the capital of the United Korean nation and the entire north agreed to initiate free market reforms and open to South Korean and other foreign investment. The armies of the two Koreas merged into the United Korean Army with officers from both the ROK Army and the KPA retaining their current ranks leading to a lot of staunchly anti-American former North Korean generals holding high positions in the Korean Army. However, Korea restricted the movement of ordinary former North Koreans into former South Korea to focus on building up the northern half of the now unified country.

### Angola Crisis

*See Full Article: Angola Crisis*

On 28 July 2020, the President of Angola was assassinated by an anti-China protester leading to a power vacuum which both the Vice President and the military tried to fill. Fearing a civil war might spark in Angola and threaten PetroChina assets in Angola the People’s Liberation Army Navy prepared to deploy a fleet to Angola to intervene. US President Elizabeth Warren pledged support to the pro-Western military to remove Angola from China’s control. Tensions escalated between Beijing and Washington until eventually the Angolan military put General Geraldo Nunda in charge of the country, establishing a quasi-military dictatorship. The US claimed a victory over the Shanghai Pact. Despite the loss of Angola as a satellite state, Chinese investment in Africa continued to surge throughout the 2020s and 2030s.

### The Eurasian Missile Defense Grid

*See Full Article: Eurasian Missile Defense Grid*

In July 2031, China, Korea and Russia announced they would use AI to coordinate the construction and operation of a system of land and sea based lasers and railguns to intercept and destroy incoming enemy short, medium and long range missiles in flight. The system would also include space based military satellites capable of destroying ICBMs by firing lasers from orbit. The last part of system would require coordination between the various space agencies of the Shanghai Pact. AI would be able to destroy hyper-velocity missiles with pinpoint accuracy that could never be matched by humans. The participation of the United Islamic Republic in the Eurasian Missile Defense Grid or EMDG for short was limited due to the inferior technological capabilities of that nation and tensions with the other Shanghai Pact members over their commitment to gradually ending the use of fossil fuels by 2050 or 2060 in favor of green energy. China, Russia and Korea even feared they may one day need to use The Eurasian Missile Defense Grid to defend against a missile attack by the UIR. India and some of the nations of ASEAN expressed interest participating in the Eurasian Missile Defense Grid due to fears of a potential missile attack by the United Islamic Republic or the Caliphate.

The United States announced a similar system around roughly the same time that would initially cover itself and Canada. Critics warned that the proliferation of anti-ballistic missile defense technology could end the threat of mutually assured destruction that had prevented the world's major powers from fighting each other directly in a conventional war since the mid-20th century.

## Government and Politics

The People’s Republic of China is one of the few remaining states that endorses communism, though the actual implementation of said ideology is questioned. The government restricts freedom to access the Internet, of the press, assembly and religion. The country is ruled the Communist Party of China, whose power is enshrined in the constitution. The Premier of China is the head of government, presiding over the State Council. The President of China is officially the head of state, serving under the National People’s Congress. Traditionally the President is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, making them China’s paramount leader.

### Provinces

China is divided into 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and three special administrative regions. These autonomous regions are:

* Greater Mongolia
* Guangxi
* Ningxia
* Tibet
* Xinjiang (includes portions of former Kazakhstan and all of former Kyrgyzstan)

The special administrative regions are:

* Hong Kong
* Macau
* Taiwan

The municipalities of Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai and Tianjin are also granted special administrative abilities as municipal provinces.

### Foreign Relations

China is a member of the Shanghai Pact and Eurasian Economic Union alongside Russia and the UIR, its most significant allies. Korea is also a very important Chinese ally. Beijing and Seoul collaborate on many science, research and industrial projects. China is also a founding member of the Asian Community China is also a member of many economic co-operations, such as BRICS and the G-30, and is the principle founder of both the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS Development Bank. China also maintains a close trade relationship with Australia, and the two countries operate a Free Trade Agreement. Despite both countries being communist in ideology, China's relations with Vietnam are shaky and the two disagree over the over-lapping territorial claims in the South China Sea and the Spratley Islands. China and Japan also have rather hostile relations dating back to Japanese actions in the Second World War. However, China is Japan's largest trading partner and a crucial Japanese export market.

## Military

The People's Liberation Army is the official military of China. China initiated a massive expansion of its military capabilities in the first half of the 21st century. By 2030, China had five carrier battle groups including a pair of indigenously developed nuclear powered carriers, the world's largest drone fleet, the world's largest fleet of attack submarines and several variants of the Chengdu J-20, it's natively developed fifth generation stealth fighter. China maintained one of the world's largest standing armies at over 2.2 million and women as well as over 2 million reserves, 3 million para-military personnel and numerous law enforcement personnel capable of joining the armed forces in a time of need.

China upgraded its ordinance adapting military lasers, ultra high caliber magazine machine guns and railguns for its armed forces by 2030. China also commissioned its first generation of android soldiers as part of a move towards fully robotic militarized by the world's major powers. Beijing announced the active service of the H-20, an intercontinental stealth bomber capable of fully autonomous flight, in 2025. China also developed a fully autonomous 6th generation fighter in the early 2030s alongside its Russian and American counterparts. China developed robotic versions of its latest main battle tanks during the 2020s and 2030s alongside the Europeans, Russians and Americans.

After becoming the first country to successfully clone a human being in 2029, China initiated a new biological warfare program in coordination with Shanghai Pact ally Russia to develop the latest generation of gene-tailored biological weapons. China was also a declared nuclear weapons state and expanded its arsenal of hyper-sonic ICBMs, bombers and submarine launched ballistic missiles to maintain a credible nuclear deterrent. China pioneered and perfected cyber warfare capabilities that would allow her to steal enemy technology and hack and disable enemy civilian and military computer systems in the event of an armed conflict. China tried to develop the capacity to hack and disable an enemy nations electricity grid. They also tried to perfect the ability to hack and commander the growing number of automated drone vehicles in the world's major militaries. During the 2030s, China also began developing nano-technological weapons in collaboration with Russia and Korea which the United Nations classified as a weapon of mass destruction alongside nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

## Economy

China experienced nearly four decades of blistering economic growth and saw the emergence of a manufacturing and export based economy after the adoption of free market reforms in 1978. Although the Great Recession of the late 2010s briefly interrupted China's economic ascent, China emerged as the world's largest economy in the early 2020s and as the architect of a Eurasian wide trade network that became the new epicenter of the global economy. Shale gas reserves in western China and Inner Mongolia helped fund this transformation. China also transitioned into a high tech nation and consumer driven economy in the 2020s after four decades of export driven growth. During this transitional period, Chinese state oil giants Petrochina and Sinopec searched the world for additional sources of coal, oil and natural gas to help satisfy China's surging energy consumption.

By the end of the 2010s, China had constructed high speed rail lines providing 220+ mph service between every major city. During the 2020s, China financed and built the Pan-Asian High Speed Rail System linking China, Korea, South East Asia, India, Russia, the UIR, Turkey and Europe as part of a Eurasia wide trade and transportation network. Beijing dubbed this the New Silk Road Project. By the end the 2020s, China had begun constructing even faster magnetic levitation lines between certain cities. As the railroad spurred industries toons in the 1800s, high speed rail was a cornerstone of China's efforts to become a developed nation in the early to mid 21st century.

China also constructed tens of thousands of miles of highways and hundreds of ports, airports, bridges and tunnels in early 21st century. Shanghai became the world's biggest port facilitating trade between China and the rest of the world. One of China's biggest engineering projects was the Bohai Tunnel under the Bohai Sea linking the city of Yantai in Shandong Province to Dalian to the north. Completed in 2020, the Bohai Tunnel became the longest tunnel in the world and became part of the massive transportation network linking the cities of northern China. By the early to mid 2030s, various infrastructure improvements had helped to create the Bohai Economic Rim around the Bohai Sea in northern China, a massive economic region that was home to more than 300 million people. It included the Chinese capital Beijing and the neighboring megacity of Tianjin.

China contributed to technological breakthroughs in the 2020s that vastly reduced the cost of solar panels while also greatly increasing their efficiency. China and Shanghai Pact ally Korea also controlled the supply and distribution of rare earth metals which were crucial ingredients in nano-electronic components used in the consumer electronics and renewable energy industries in the 2020s and 2030s. In the late 2020s and early 2030s, China constructed vast solar farms in the Gobi Desert supplying a growing percentage of the energy needs of its major cities with clean electricity from solar power via HVDC cables stretching south across the country. China constructed hydrogen fueling stations and other supporting infrastructure for a hydrogen economy on mass across the country in the 2030s. China hoped to end crippling air pollution in its cities b closing all coal plants and replace all gasoline powered cars, buses and trucks with hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles by 2042. All of these new vehicles had an  autonomous driving option helping increase traffic speeds and volumes while reducing congestion in China's major cities. China also expanded the production of electricity from other renewable sources such as wind power and tidal power as part of its plans to develop of post-fossil fuel economy by the mid to late 21st century.

### The New Silk Road Project

*See Full Article: New Silk Road Project*

The New Silk Road Project was a project initiated by the China in the first half of the 21st century to construct a series of highways, high speed rail lines, bridges, tunnels, canals, ports and airports linking the entire Eurasian land mass through land and sea corridors for travel and trade. Beijing intended for this vast trade network to make China the center of the global economy, a status Chinese dynasties had previously associated with themselves. While it did not make China the center of the global economy in the literal sense, the New Silk Road Project greatly increased Beijing's wealth, power and influence to the point that China rivaled the United States as a world power by 2030.

A centerpiece of the New Silk Road Project on land was the Pan-Asian High Speed Rail System. This massive undertaking included a network of primarily Chinese built and financed high speed train lines completed during the 2020s providing continuous 220+ mph service between China, South East Asia, Korea, India, Russia, the UIR, Turkey and Europe. China's state railway monopoly China Railways was responsible for the system. CR collaborated with German multinational Siemens to link the 'Pan-Asian High Speed Rail System to the European HSR network in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

### The Hydrogen Economy

*See Full Article: Hydrogen Economy*

Along with Germany, China led the world in a transition towards a hydrogen economy during the 2030s. The world's leading industrial nations constructed hydrogen fueling stations and supporting infrastructure including hydrogen production plants and hydrogen pipelines on mass in the 2020s and 2030s as part of a worldwide transition towards hydrogen powered cars, buses and tracked.

China was a founding member of the Asian Community in September 2029 which sought to coordinate energy and infrastructure projects across much of Asia as well as a transition towards a post-fossil fuel economy. Beijing coordinated the construction of hydrogen and solar  infrastructure with the other members of the organization. This was particularly true in southern China, South East Asia and the Indian subcontinent where the AC member nations committed themselves to a massive coordinated expansion of solar generating capacity across tropical Asia in the 2030s. This included the expansion of both conventional solar power and orbital solar power beamed to receiving dishes on Earth via microwave. Asia's developing and newly developed nations like China hoped to end the use of coal and crippling air pollution in their cities through the widespread adoption of hydrogen and solar power as well as other forms of renewable energy.

The mass construction of hydrogen fueling stations and supporting hydrogen infrastructure across China went into overdrive in the 2030s as Beijing sought to end the use of coal and oil by 2042. China collaborated with the British, French, Germans and Russians to complete the London-Shanghai Hydrogen Highway, a series of hydrogen fueling stations and supporting infrastructure stretching across Eurasia from Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. This would in theory allow someone one to drive a hydrogen powered vehicle from Europe to East Asia by the 2040s. By 2040, all new Chinese cars, buses and trucks were hydrogen powered and had an autonomous driving option. Along with Germany and the nations of the European Union, China began offering financial incentives to car owners remove the last gasoline powered vehicles from roads in the late 2030s and early 2040s.

Beijing's commitment to hydrogen power severely strained relations between China and nominal Shanghai Pact ally the United Islamic Republic. The UIR was the world's oil and gas superpower and had an economy heavily dependent on the export of hydrocarbons. The UIR refused to join the Asian Community and awarded a high profile HSR project to Chinese rival Japan in 2033 in retaliation for the Chinese led transition away from fossil fuels.

### The Spread of Robots and Artificial Intelligence

*See Full Article: Roboticization*

China played a critical role in the spread of robots and artificial intelligence in the 2030s, 2040s and 2050s. China was a force in the development of self-driving automobiles as well as AI pilots for commercial aircraft which became nearly universal by mid-century. China was also a major player in the drone industry and the consumer robots industry manufacturing both domestic and military robots for use in China and for export to other nations. In 2036, Beijing Robotics, a consumer robotics company based in the Chinese capital, promised to put an android in every Chinese home by 2050 as part of the "Chinese Dream." By mid-century, androids were common in Chinese factories, businesses and homes.

After the development of the first human-like AI in the late 2020s and the early 2030s, the development and spread of quantum computers facilitated the rapid proliferation of new and more advanced types of artificial intelligence. This included androids with human like intelligence after the perfection of quantum processors during the 2040s. Androids and other forms of human-like AI performed many tasks previously performed by humans with a degree of accuracy and precision humans could never match.

The spread of ever more intelligent robots triggered fears that robots and AI could eventual replace humans and make them irrelevant by the end of the century. China was one of the nations more enthusiastic nations about the spread of robotics pursuing technology for unification that would allow the digitization of organic human consciousness and uploading of human minds into robot and cyborg bodies. Beijing was also generally in favor of the genetic and cybernetic modification of humans having pursued an aggressive eugenics program since the early 21st century. By the mid-21st century, China had plans to colonize portions of the solar system inhospitable to humans with androids and cyborgs.

### Space Program

The Chinese National Space Agency or (CNSA) is the official space agency of China. China became the third nation after Russia and the United States to launch manned space missions in 2003. Chinese taikonauts conducted their nations first space walk shortly afterwards. China completed the C.S.S. Tiangong, it's first domestically produced space station, in the early 2020s. India and China conducted several joint missions to the C.S.S. Tiangong During the 2020s. On 23 June 2029, China became the second nation after the United States to land people on the moon. In 2031, China established the first permanent human base on the moon. The Russians conducted missions to help expand the Chinese moon base.

By 2030, China, India, the European Space Agency and Russia had plans for a joint manned Mars mission and the establishment of an international Mars colony by 2036. During the 2030s, China also began experimenting with electromagnetic propulsion for space launches. Beijing expanded existing space launch facilities in the Gobi and Talikmakan deserts and built new space ports to accommodate magnetic catapult launchers that could send vehicles and payloads into orbit.

## Demographics

The People's Republic of China is the second most populous nation in the world as of 2030 due to India overtaking China as the world's most populous nation in 2028. Despite losing the status of being the most populous nation on Earth, China transitioned to a two child policy by 2022 averting a demographic crisis. China's population began growing steadily as the country urbanized, rural standards of living rose and two child families became normal in the cities. As of 2030, China was 70% urban. The merger of the cities of the Pearl River Delta, one of China's main economic regions, created the South China Megacity in 2023, the largest continuous metropolitan area in the world. It also gave tens of millions of Chinese migrant workers urban status. By 2030, China had seen huge migration to many secondary cities and regional capitals creating a slew of new megacities and helping to make China a predominantly urban nation.

**Largest Cities** in 2030:

* South China Megacity (Guangzhou to Shenzhen): 104 million
* Shanghai: 43 million
* Beijing: 36 million
* Chengdu: 26 million
* Chongqing: 23.5 million
* Tianjin: 18.5 million
* Xian: 16.5 million
* Changsha: 15 million
* Shijiazhuang: 14.5 million
* Wuhan: 14 million
* Nanking: 13.5 million
* Shenyang: 13 million
* Kaifeng: 12.5 million
* Hangzhou: 12 million
* Tangshan: 11.5 million
* Zhengzhou: 11 million
* Qingdao: 10 million