China

**China**, officially the **Republic of China**, is a country in East Asia. It is bordered to the east by Japan, to the north by Russia and Mongolia, to the south by Indochina, and to the west by Tibet and East Turkestan.

The country is officially led by Zhang Xueming, the second son of the assassinated warlord Zhang Zuolin. Zhang is the commander-in-chief of the aging National Pacification Army, once the all-powerful military dictators of the country. It has been split into the dying old guard of the Zhang Clique and the younger, more collaborationist Shikan Clique, which has eclipsed it by allying itself with two pro-Japanese forces: the Kwantung Army, under Otozō Yamada, and the Concordia Association, under Ruan Zhenduo. These groups make up the “Four Pillars”, vying for control of China while it lies under Japanese alignment.

## Important people

### Zhang Clique

* **Zhang Xueming**, second son of Zhang Zuolin, who, despite personally resenting his pro-Japanese masters, has been forced into a puppet of the Shikan Clique and its benefactors. Only narrowly avoided being deposed by the Concordia Association.
* **Zhang Xueliang**, older brother of Zhang Xueming and fervent anti-Japanese nationalist, forced into exile in the Pacific States.
* **Feng Zhanhai**, a sincere leader of the Zhang Clique who'd shown himself to be among the most brilliant Fengtian commanders following his leadership of the Northeastern Loyal and Brave Army. He was a vehement supporter of the return of Zhang Xueliang from exile. Acts as Zhang Xueming's *de facto* mouthpiece and is, as a result, the real leader of the Zhang Clique, acting on behalf of his sympathies since Zhang himself is deemed too suspicious to act.
* Su Bingwen, a general who has secretly been supporting and training anti-Japanese guerillas in Manchuria to fight for eventual Chinese freedom, clamouring for the eventual return of Zhang Xueliang to lead the Chinese into a Second Sino-Japanese War.
* Fang Zhenwu, a dissident Zhang Clique general working alongside Su Bingwen.
* Shen Honglie, the aging godfather of the Chinese Navy and a close confidant of Zhang Zuolin before his assassination. Served as a heavy supporter to Zhang Xueliang, but was forced to retire following his deposition.
* Lü Ronghuan, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was fired and replaced with a Concordia Association minister after the assassination of Zhang Zuolin.

### Shikan Clique

* **Yang Yuting**, founder of the Shikan Clique, who deposed Zhang Xueliang on behalf of the Concordia Association to become President of China. He is suffering from dementia and nearing the end of his life, as the Concordia Association is gradually taking his role under a civilian dictatorship rather than a military one.
* Chen Yi, former Governor of Fujian and a close ally of Japan. He is Yang's presumptive heir (hence why Sun's takeover is surprising) and will be appointed as Sun's temporary successor as President in the event of his deposal.
* Sun Dianying, an opportunist and former bandit warlord notorious for changing sides, who switched to the Fengtian Clique during the reunification war and supported the coup against Zhang Xueliang. He is Yang's chief advisor, responsible for delaying the Concordia Association's complete absorption of the government, and has been decried by rival Shikan Clique members as the “thief-in-chief”, believed to be utilizing Yang's dementia for his personal gain.
* Ren Yuandao, current Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, appointed by the Shikan Clique to sideline Shen Honglie. Secretly in contact with various members of the National Liberation Army, something that the Japanese Tokumu Kikan is currently conducting a secret investigation on (without the knowledge of the untrusted Chinese government).
* Xiao Shuxuan, a Xinhai Revolution veteran who defected to the Fengtian Clique during the reunification of China, becoming a top general. Despite being of the Shikan Clique, he is much more independently-minded than many of his colleagues, and actively vies for Chinese reorganization and reform. Vehement rival of Sun Dianying.
* Bao Wenyue, a political independent and the current Minister of War.
* Ye Peng, an officer of the Hebei Province who would later defect to the Fengtian Clique and become one of its strongest supporters.

### Concordia Association

* **Ruan Zhenduo**, a career bureaucrat and longtime minister who served as one of the founding fathers of the Concordia Association, presiding over the slow, but steady, recovery of the Chinese economy alongside the drastic collapse of civil rights in exchange.
* Sun Qichang, a former associate of Zhang Xueliang who defected upon the Concordia Association's coup d'état, eventually becoming one of the highest-ranking members of the organization. He still holds sympathy to his old compatriot, however, and seeks to genuinely build an equal relationship between China and Japan, believing sincerely in the pan-Asian myth. Current Minister of Economy.
* **Xu Liang**, an educated technocrat who has served as the secretary or advisor to numerous boards across China before finally becoming the front-runner to be the next Prime Minister.
* **Bao Guancheng**, the former mayor of Harbin and longtime ambassador to Japan, and a staunch pan-Asianist. An extremely corrupt politician who has repeatedly avoided prosecution due to his warm reputation in Japan, and currently vying for the premiership on behalf of Li Shaogeng and Mantetsu's economic monopoly.
* Wang Yintai, a longtime Fengtian advisor with a soft spot towards the Zhang clique, who has (unsuccessfully) sought to balance the interests between both China and Japan.
* Li Shaogeng, a former railway director who rose among the ranks to become the longtime Minister of Transport between multiple premierships, becoming one of the most powerful members of the Concordia Association.
* Zhou Xuechang, a former Zhili minister who joined the Fengtian government after the fall of Beijing, now representing the most pro-Japanese factions among the bureaucracy as the Minister of the Interior.
* Gao Guanwu, former governor of Jiangsu and current Minister of Special Intelligence.
* Ding Jianxiu, one of the most senior members of the Concordia Association and a career politician.
* Yue Kaixian, a rather esoteric bureaucrat with very little actual ties to pan-Asianism, but who has made a name for himself regardless due to his efficiency.
* Xie Jieshi, the Prime Minister and previous Minister of Foreign Affairs and one of the longest-serving cabinet members in China, replaced Lü Ronghuan after the assassination of Zhang Zuolin.
* Lü Yiwen, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs.

### Kwantung army

* **Otozō Yamada**, head of the Kwantung Army.
* **Jun Ushiroku**, Yamada's trusted second-in-command and Vice Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army.
* Kenji Doihara, a general who became the mastermind of the Chinese drug trade by coercing the Mitsui zaibatsu to lace their export-only cigarettes with opium, generating massive profits for Japan as millions would become addicted to these narcotics. Current Japanese attaché to China.
* Takeo Imai, an important general within the Kwantung Army and veteran of the Reunification War.

### Warlord remnants

* Feng Yuxiang, governor of Shanxi and head of the Guominjun, a powerful and pragmatist military group of Christians, nationalists, and socialists.
* Qi Xieyuan, governor of Anhui and one of the most fervent, if elderly, Japanese collaborators.
* Liu Zhennian, governor of Shandong and successor to the late Zhang Zongchang, the "Dogmeat General".

### National Liberation Army

* **Ji Hongchang**, a former commander within the Shanxi Clique who became disgusted by Feng Yuxiang's collaboration with the Fengtian government, mutinying to join Federal China. After the (inevitable) collapse of the state, he will once again escape to join the countryside resistance, linking the guerillas of himself, Tang Juwu, and Wang Fengge to create the National Liberation Army.
* Fang Zhenwu, a Xinhai Revolution veteran who ran afoul of his army's leadership and was cast astray, eventually linking with Ji Hongchang and leading his loyalists into the countryside to fight the Japanese occupiers.
* Tang Juwu, a former Zhili Clique commander who was shocked by the purge of Zhang Xueliang and his loyalists, becoming radicalized against the Japanese and forced to escape the army, eventually becoming the leader of the People's Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army.
* Wang Fengge, a former businessman and Big Swords Society member who would go on to create the Righteous and Brave Army, later joining the NLA by merging his forces with that of three other forces.
* Guan Xiangying, one of the initial nationalists under the Chinese Syndicalist Party. He watched Fengtian form and morph under Chinese influence until reunification, eventually taking matters into his own hands as he led the alignment of northern Syndicalists into the NLA.