Shanghai

## Description:

Often referred to as the "City of Cameras" or "City of Security," Shanghai has obtained international infamy for its highly intrusive surveillance state. After The Fiscal Suicide of 2020, the People's Republic of China immediately fell into chaos as the Chinese Communist Party turned on itself, driven by greed and corruption; as such, the largest factions in China came out as the region's leading Megacorporations. Among these new factions is Qianwei Surveillance Co., a Megacorporation formed from China's Ministry of Public Security and the surveillance arms of the CCP's secret police forces. Shanghai is, much like the Old World's New York City or San Francisco, built along the coast and on the delta of a large river; this makes large parts of Shanghai into islands, connected to the mainland by massive highways, tunnel networks, and shipping lanes. Shanghai remains a massive industrial hub, economy epicenter, and financial hub.

Shanghai maintains positive relations with most other Asian Supercities, including Hong Kong and Macau. Shanghai maintains a rivalry with most Japanese Supercities, Tokyo in particular.

### Geography & Climate:

Shanghai straddles the delta of the Yangtze River and opens onto the East China Sea. While many of its more western Districts were originally part of the mainland, a combination of erosion, extreme pollution, and large-scale infrastructure projects have separated more sections from the mainland as a defensive measure. The Supercity's coastal location makes it very flat, and therefore excellent for large construction projects, including the skyscrapers and "Walled Cities" that give the Supercity its reputation. Shanghai's cityscape has not expanded much since the Fiscal Suicide, despite the fact that its population has increased by more than 3x in the past 80 years; this has produced a chronically overpopulated urban sprawl with major problems supplying basic utilities and facilities to a majority of its residents. This has made human life nearly worthless in Shanghai, as almost everyone is considered replaceable; entering the Supercity as a permanent resident is nearly impossible as a result of this overpopulation.

Shanghai has retained most of its subtropical climate from before the heavy terraforming and pollution took its toll on the landscape. The region has an average temperature of about 66 degrees Fahrenheit, with rainy springs and dry autumns. However, the heavy pollution has blotted out most natural sunlight and produced a smog-covered, poisoned atmosphere around the city; only the highest buildings in Corporate Districts breach the smog layer, meaning that even the air the Supercity's citizens breathe is provided by Qianwei Surveillance Co. and its subsidiaries. Acid rain and choking smog remain ever-present health dangers, further lowering the life expectancy inside the Supercity's walls.

### Organization:

Shanghai is owned almost solely by a single Megacorporation: Qianwei Surveillance Co. Approximately 85% of the Supercity is owned by Qianwei or one of its many subsidiaries; outside Megacorporations are constantly penalized, threatened, bullied, spied on, and harassed for operating within Shanghai, and few are allowed to own property in the Supercity at all. Qianwei's infamous paranoia has produced a perpetual tension within Shanghai, present not only within the Megacorporation and the Supercity's administration but also among the average citizenry, who are incentivized and sometimes forced to snitch on their neighbors or friends in order to stay alive. Qianwei's all-seeing surveillance state enables them to manipulate the Supercity's internal politics with a scalpel, and grants them otherworldly control over the Supercity's populace, even on a subconscious level; this has allowed them to retain almost total control over the Supercity's properties and industries and given Qianwei a potent influence on the global stage. Qianwei has also constructed a purposefully bloated and impenetrable bureaucracy, forcing everyone, including outsiders and employees alike, to navigate labyrinthine offices and regulations to get anything done; this creates checks and balances and helps slow down most attempts at intrusion or infiltration by dividing the work amongst an unnecessarily large number of people. Oftentimes, a single employee sees only part of the paperwork they file; only high-ranking officials, the wealthy elite, or rich gangsters can cut through the red tape and get things done with any expediency.

Shanghai is policed by Qianwei Surveillance Co., specifically its [COPS] and Office of Retraction, which serves as the company's secret police and espionage division. The legal situation in Shanghai is a complicated one; due to the intrusive surveillance maintained by Qianwei, most crimes are predicted or known about far in advance. However, most street crime is allowed to occur, as many high-ranking company officials benefit from some amount of the ongoing criminality; similarly, street crime rarely interferes with the company's bottom line, and so they take little action against it. This has allowed for the elimination of most judicial systems within Shanghai, as the entire Supercity acts as a kind of lawless prison unto itself, with systems in place to prevent citizens from being able to leave. Shanghai police take action against some violent crime, usually only the violent crimes that can easily be solved or that involve high-profile individuals or dissidents; the only crimes that are always investigated are those that relate to dissidents working to undermine Qianwei, whether they be involved with rival Megacorporations or are organized purely to fight Qianwei. Dissidents are rarely given the option of prison, and are instead "retracted," or "unpersoned" as they are killed and all record of their existence erased. Criminals that fail to bribe the right local official or that involve themselves in large-scale operations which cannot be ignored by Qianwei's surveillance systems are imprisoned or executed as dissidents; imprisonment involves slave labor, torture, and a wide range of incarceration options, many of which were derived from KPD strategies. Shanghai's overpopulation problem also creates a culture which does not value individual human lives; this, combined with Qianwei's paranoia, culture of suspicion and betrayal, and violent history have produced a police force which prefers to shoot first and never ask questions. The intense bureaucratic systems that operate Shanghai also incentivize local authorities to eliminate criminals permanently rather than file the mountains of paperwork to arrest them; arrested criminals are often those of large notoriety or those with whom the authorities have special grudges or vendettas. Shanghai's judicial system is not any better; the courts have a 90% conviction rate, with the last 10% being bribed criminals who talked their way out of trouble.

##### List of Criminal Organizations:

1. Maofu Clan
	1. [REDACTED]
2. [REMOVED]