The Republic of China

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Flag of the Republic of China


Map of the Republic of China

The Republic of China

Basic Information

Spreadsheet

The Japanese invasion and the German Flu had shattered the Republic of China into multiple warring factions. Most of these groups quickly entered quarantine, while simultaneously declaring themselves either the rightful authorities, or a successor state to the now-silent central government in Chongqing. No doubt that the leaders of many of these factions planned to restore the central government with themselves at its head, once the quarantine did its work.

However, it would be from outside of China's borders that the true architects of the Republic's recovery would emerge.

During the Second World War, the Republic of China had seconded large numbers of its troops to American and British forces fighting the Japanese in Burma. Trained and equipped to Western standards, these forces not only became vital to the allied victory in the China-Burma-India Theatre, but also became some of the toughest, most experienced troops in the world. When the Flu hit, these forces were presumed lost, but in late 1955, they made a sudden reappearance in the foothills of Yunnan. Led by the legendary General Sun Liren, the sixty thousand men of the 1st and 6th Chinese New Armies were accompanied by many of their former wartime allies, the forces of the British-Indian XIVth Army and the American 14th Air Force.

Believing themselves under the nominal authority of the central government, these forces allied with Long Yun, the civilian governor of Yunnan, to restore order and re-establish contact with Jiang Jieshi and their superiors. For two years, they advanced across the country, bringing much of Southern China back under the white sun, blue sky and wholly red earth of the Republic's banner. As they did so, they built roads, schools, factories, and irrigation channels. They instituted elections under the assumption that the newly reclaimed territories would once again become provinces of the central government. They established local leadership, rebuilt the vestiges of the Republic's institutions, and brought a level of commerce and stability to the region which it had not seen in at least a generation.

But they did not find a single sign of Jiang Jieshi or his central government.

Finally coming to the conclusion that the central government likely no longer existed, Sun Liren and his provisional military regime looked back at the country their army had built behind them, and realised that in fighting for the Republic, they had become the Republic. With possession of much of the country's de-jure territory, industry, and population, the declaration that followed was almost more of a formality than anything else.

Having finally reclaimed its core territories after a decade of violent civil war, the Republic of China's main objective is now to knit together its disparate and war-ravaged parts into a more cohesive whole. Guided by the principles of Nationalism, Democracy, and Social Justice, the central government now seeks to repair the damage of half a century of civil war, and create a unified and prosperous country, fit to stand alongside the leading powers of the world.

Previous Description

Capital City: Guangzhou
Government Type: Federal Republic
National Anthem: Three Principles of the People
Population: 851 530 000
Official Language: Mandarin
Official Currency: Republic Yuan

Government Information

The Republic of China's central government is made up of five "Yuan", or Councils:

The Executive Yuan is embodied in the Executive Council, or cabinet, headed by the Premier of the Republic. The Premier and cabinet have wide-ranging powers as well as control over the Military Affairs Commission, the body responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Republic's Armed Forces, including its General Staff. The Premier of the Republic is elected through the Legislative Yuan, and in turn selects the members of the cabinet.

The Legislative Yuan represents the primary elected body of the Republic's Government. It is returned through a three-year election cycle by a proportional representation system. Usually, no one party is able to secure a majority, so as a result, a coalition government between two or more parties is formed, sharing cabinet portfolios and political objectives. Members of the Executive Council, including the Premier, are appointed from the Legislative Yuan.

The Judicial Yuan represents the supreme court of the Republic. While most cases are handled at the County, Prefecture or Provincial level, some are eventually heard by the Judicial Yuan. However, the Judicial Yuan's main duty is to interpret and enforce the Constitution of the Republic. This Yuan consists of a panel of fifteen Justices appointed by the Executive Council and confirmed by the Legislative Yuan. The President and Vice-President of the Judicial Yuan are the two senior members, and serve for four years, while the remaining thirteen serve for eight.

The Examination Yuan is the body which controls the civil service, and ensures that those who enter the service of the Central or Provincial governments are educated and qualified to an appropriate standard. As a result, they also maintain control over places of higher education and are ultimately charged with accrediting universities, colleges, and trade schools.

The Control Yuan is the internal affairs department of the Central Government. Its agents are charged with rooting out corruption and waste among the civil service and elected officials. Kept relatively powerless by the animosity of the Legislative Yuan and the Provincial Assemblies, the Control Yuan often works closely with the shadowy National Bureau of Investigation and Statistics to secure evidence and deal with particularly determined obstructions.

Ultimately, the central government's power extends mostly to the spheres of foreign policy, trade, military affairs, and the maintenance of certain standards of uniformity, infrastructure, and rule of law. While China's immense tax base gives them a surfeit of resources to fulfil these obligations, most of the day to day work of governance falls to the Provincial Assemblies. These bodies, elected every three years through a proportional representation system, are what maintain much of the public policy the central government is ill-equipped to handle, particularly in matters of economic subsidies, social welfare, and public services like medical care and education. Often made up of the remnants of quarantine-era warlord governments, many members of the Provincial Assemblies look upon the encroachment of the central government with marked distrust.

The head of a Provincial Assembly is the Governor of the corresponding province, and is usually the leader of the party or coalition with a majority in the Assembly.

Executive Council (1976-1979):
Guomindang Majority
Premier of the Republic: Zhang Gongming
Head of the Military Affairs Commission: Hu Lien
Minister of Foreign Affairs: He Zhijin
Minister of the Interior: He Kaichun
Minister of Finance: Ma Liyuan
Minister of Economic Affairs: Dong Sanliang
Minister of Education: Hu Buyuan
Minister of Health and Social Welfare: Liu Tiansheng

Ambassadorial Positions (as of 1973):
Ambassador to the United Nations: Dong Yin
Ambassador to the Federation of Korea: Mortimer Liao-Berenson
Ambassador to the Socialist Republics of America: Lt. Col. Jonathan R Walker (ret)
Ambassador to the Principality of Aragon: João Sebastião Kwok

Current International Agreements

Bilateral East Asian Security Treaty (1958)
Signatories: Republic of China, Federation of Korea

1: The Republic of China and the Federation of Korea hereby make a binding pact of non-aggression, and recognise each other as partners in safeguarding the causes of Security, Democracy, and Freedom of Navigation in East Asia.

2: As of the date of signing, the Federation of Korea Navy is to take up the responsibility of defending the coastlines of both the Federation of Korea and the Republic of China (as determined in the PRICE talks of 1958). FoKN ships thus assigned may be permitted access to Republic of China territorial waters and dockyard facilities on request by the commanding FoKN officer and at the discretion of the local commander or the Military Affairs Commission.

3: As of the date of signing, the Federation of Korea Armed Forces will be permitted to send 40 officer cadets of its Ground or Air branches to attend one of the officer courses at CMA Huangpu. This number will increase by 40 each year following, to a maximum of 400 cadets per year.

SECRET CLAUSE: As of ten years following the date of signing (1968), the Republic of China will also assume partial responsibility for the security of its coastline, as well as partial responsibility for the security of Korean territorial waters. Given unclear nature of state of the RoCN at such a time, division of responsibility will be determined once this clause becomes active.

Bilateral East Asian Treaty in the Interest of National Growth and Stability (1959)
Signatories: Republic of China, Federation of Korea

1: As the SRA has proven itself unwilling or incapable of maintaining the articles of the PRICE agreement of 1958, it is hereby declared null and void.
1a: The acknowledgment of sovereign waters, legal jurisdiction, and zones of interest as set out by the PRICE agreement continue to apply, but only to the Republic of China and the Federation of Korea.

2: The Federation of Korea and the Republic of China hereby enter into a Customs Union, allowing the free and frictionless movement of goods and services, and committing each other to a common regime of tariffs for third parties.
2a: Should a third party raise tariffs against either member of the Customs Union, both the Republic of China and the Federation of Korea are pledged to reciprocate by raising their tariffs in turn to the level equivalent to the highest rate levied upon either member of the Customs Union.

3: The Republic of China and the Federation of Korea hereby allow the defence industries of the other to bid upon each others' military contracts, provided that a substantial (>45%) portion of the labour and materials involved originate from the contracting state.

4: The Federation of Korea and the Republic of China pledge to defend each other against existential threats, be they internal or external. Both governments reserve the right to request moral and material aid from the other in case of foreign invasion, civil war, or the outbreak of German Flu.

Trilateral Organisation for the Establishment of Binding East Asian National Security (1962)
Signatories: Republic of China, Federation of Korea, Kingdom of Victoria

1: This agreement hereby establishes a collective security agreement between the Republic of China, the Federation of Korea, and the Kingdom of Victoria, effective as of ratification by the governments of all three parties and hereby referred to as the Trilateral Organisation for the Establishment of Binding East Asian National Security (TOEBEANS).
1a: This agreement serves as an extension of BEAST (1958) and BEATINGS (1959). Therefore all provisions of those agreements remain valid.
1b: The collective security clause of this agreement is purely defensive in nature. Signatories who initiate offensive war against a non-signatory cannot compel other signatories to intervene.
1c: The governments of the Republic of China, the Federation of Korea and the Kingdom of Victoria reserve the right to negotiate, consult, and make bilateral diplomatic agreements with each other independent of this agreement.

2: This agreement hereby establishes the Taiwan Special Administrative Region, to be jointly administered by the representatives of the governments of the Republic of China, the Federation of Korea, and the Kingdom of Victoria (referred to thenceforth in this document as the occupying powers).
2a: The Taiwan SAR will be hereby divided into three zones of occupation: South (Korean), West (Chinese), and North (Victorian).
2b: These zones of occupation are hereby to be regarded as sovereign territory of the respective occupying powers, and borders between the zones of occupation shall be treated as if between the sovereign territory of the respective occupying powers.
2c: This agreement guarantees the freedom of movement of military and civilian goods and personnel between each of the zones of occupation and the core territories of the respective occupying power.
2d: This agreement guarantees the right of the occupying powers to develop their respective zones of occupation as they see fit, so long as it does not infringe upon the right of the other occupying powers to do the same.

3: This agreement hereby establishes the nature of the joint administration of the Taiwan Special Administrative Region.
3a: The joint administration of the Taiwan SAR is to be embodied in a tripartite administrative council, with each of the occupying powers allowed one vote.
3b: A formal objection to the actions of an occupying power regarding the Taiwan SAR may be raised if it is supported by the two other occupying powers.
3c: Changes in policy regarding the whole of the Taiwan SAR or the amendment of the terms of joint administration outlined in this agreement must be passed by a unanimous vote of the administrative council.

Multilateral Organisation for the Regulation of Asian Legislatures and Economies (1969)
Founding Signatories: Republic of China, Federation of Korea
Secondary Signatories: Liaoning Republic, Mongolia, Northern China, Xinjiang, Tibet, Nepal, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Assam

1: This agreement defines the following categories: Signatories, meaning all states subject to this agreement, which are to be divided into the following categories:
-1a: Founding signatories, being the Republic of China and the Federation of Korea by virtue of existing diplomatic obligations.
-1b: Secondary signatories, being all other states which agree to this agreement.

2: All signatories are to enter an agreement of non-aggression with all other signatories, forsaking the use of military force against other signatory states.
-2a: Furthermore, all signatories pledge to abjure the use of clandestine services to injure, or otherwise obstruct the normal functioning of the governments of all other signatory states.

3: A Pan-Asian Council will be established to allow secondary signatory states to resolve their conflicts peacefully.
-3a: The Pan-Asian Council will be able to propose and enact non-binding resolutions by majority vote, and binding resolutions by unanimous vote.
-3b: The Republic of China will act as primary host and moderator of the Pan-Asian Council. It will be able to propose resolutions, but will not be able to vote upon them
-3c: The Pan-Asian Council will be further subdivided into Regional Councils, to address matters involving issues limited to a specific geographical region. These Regional Councils will be based in Seoul, Hanoi and Urumqi. A representative of the Republic of China will sit as a non-voting observer in all three Regional Councils.
-3d: Any member of a Regional Council may contest a decision of the Regional Council by appealing to the Pan-Asian Council.
-3e: Any alteration to the terms of this agreement must pass the Pan-Asian Council by unanimous vote.
-3f: Applications for membership from non-signatory states must be approved by majority vote in the Pan-Asian Council.

4: All signatories agree to a pact of economic cooperation, in the interest of increasing trade between the respective economies of the signatory states.
-4a: Tariffs between signatory states will be capped at 15%
-4b: In the interests of economic stability, the exchange rate of the signatory states will be pinned to the Republic Yuan, at a rate to be negotiated between the respective signatory state and the Republic of China.
-4c: A Special Pan-Asian Trust will be established by the central bank of the Republic of China, for the purpose of funding infrastructural and economic projects by the secondary signatories.
-4d: Regional Trusts will be established as well, with reserve currencies, contribution requirements, and spending priorities to be determined by the Regional Councils themselves.

5: All secondary signatories reserve the right to withdraw from this agreement at any time.
-5a: By doing so, they relinquish all protections and privileges offered by this agreement.
-5b: Given a non-constitutional change in government in a secondary signatory (ex: military coup), the new government must reapply to this agreement as if they were a new applicant.
-5c: A secondary signatory may be expelled from this agreement should it be found in flagrant and open violation of its non-aggression protocols (i.e. it declares war on another signatory), or by the unanimous vote of all other secondary signatories.

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The Military Affairs Commission

Head of the Military Affairs Commission: GEN1 Hu Lien
Chief of the General Staff: GEN1 Hu Lien
Chief of the Air Force: GEN2. Chen Ruidian
Chief of the Navy: MG Feng Huimin
Chief of Special Operations: MG Zhang Ying
Chief of Civil Defence LG Ma Jiyuan

First established in 1938 to coordinate the operations of the disparate forces of the Republic against the Japanese invasion, the Military Affairs Commission is the ultimate directing authority responsible for the defence of the Republic on the ground, in the air, and at sea. This body of half a dozen uniformed officers operates as the bridge between the civilian government and the armed forces. The Head of the Military Affairs Commission is the senior uniformed officer and Commander in Chief of the NRA, and also maintains a seat on the Executive Council. As a result, the Head of the Commission maintains unprecedented control over the professional military, while also serving under the direct oversight of their elected peers in the Executive Yuan.

Beneath the Head of the Commission are the five Chiefs, appointed by the Head of the Commission and each in control of one of the branches of the Republic's armed forces. The Chiefs are not politicians, and are not expected to be, leaving the responsibility of setting and interpreting policy solely to the Head of the Commission. The duty of the Chiefs is solely to take the instructions they are given, and accomplish them with minimal loss. Due to China's traditional status as a land power, and the Republic's current priority of reunifying the country, the Chief of the General Staff is in practise, the most senior of these officers.

Officially, each of the Chiefs has the authority to make appointments, promotions, plans, and appropriations decisions within their branches. However, the Head of the Commission (and through them, the Executive Council) maintains a great deal of informal power, through their ability to replace Chiefs at will.

Central Military Academy, Huangpu

Commandant: LG Liu Xiaoyun

Founded by Sun Yixian in 1924 on Changzhou island near Guangzhou, the Central Military Academy played a pivotal part in the early years of the Republic. It was from his position as Academy Commandant that Jiang Jieshi was able to secure his position as head of the Guomindang and the National Revolutionary Army. Likewise, the staff at Huangpu (including Soviet advisors) trained many of the senior commanders of both the National Revolutionary Army, and the Chinese Red Army who would rise to prominence through the 30s and 40s.

Though its influence would be evident throughout the Warlord Period and the Japanese Invasion, Huangpu's first phase of existence was short-lived. Following Jiang Jieshi's anti-communist purges in 1926 and the success of the Northern Expedition, the Central Military Academy was moved to Nanjing, and then Chengdu when that city fell to the Japanese in 1937. It would not re-open again until 1958, when the forces of the resurgent Republic once again took control of Guangdong Province.

Its facilities now restored to working order, Huangpu now serves as the senior military training establishment within the Republic of China. Its primary intent is to pass on the decades of professional and practical wisdom accrued by the battle-hardened core of the NRA during their time fighting the Japanese in Burma. Most of its current teaching staff are seasoned veterans of that conflict, and instruct through personal experience as much as academic knowledge, giving the Central Military Academy's courses a reputation for turning out junior officers with a far better grasp of the practical aspects of war than any subaltern has any right to possess.

Following the academy's re-opening in 1958, work was undergone to expand the grounds to include a staff college. for the purpose of instructing field-grade officers in the skills necessary to plan, organise, and fight at battalion and brigade levels. The Jiang Jieshi School of Advanced War Studies is currently the only such institution of its kind in mainland China. It serves as a unique means of transferring experience and wisdom from the battle-hardened veterans of the NRA to a new generation of Senior Lieutenants and Majors.

Subsidiary Colleges:
Huang Xing School of Political Instruction
Qiu Qingquan School of Armour and Artillery
William J. Slim School of Infantry
V. I. Chuikov School of Irregular Warfare
Gao Zhihang School of Aerial Forces
Jiang Jieshi School of Advanced War Studies

The National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China

Order of Battle

Equipment List

Veterans of the war against the Japanese in Burma, the nucleus of the newly reconstituted National Revolutionary Army was likely one of the most battle-hardened military forces in the world when it marched out of quarantine. Despite outdated equipment and logistical arrangements which were often touch-and-go, the NRA was able to reunify most of Southern China over the course of less than three years.

Recently reorganised by the efforts of the reconstituted Military Affairs Commission, the National Revolutionary Army's structure is a uniquely Chinese one, adapted from the improvised ad-hoc formations which had been commonly used during the War of Resistance. Despite keeping the heavy British, American, and Soviet influences which had been adopted during the war, the NRA remains keenly mindful and exceptionally proud of its recent heritage. Many of its divisions bear the names of the great victories and hard-won campaigns which its soldiers and their forebears won against better-armed and better-trained Japanese armies.

However, this new army no longer resembles the haphazardly equipped and organised forces of the War of Resistance, or even the lean, hungry force which marched out of Burma in the mid-50s. While the most hard-bitten and highly skilled veterans of the Burma Campaign and the War of Resistance continue to pass their expertise and experience down as instructors at the Central Military Academy, the 'new' NRA is a thoroughly modern force designed and intended to fight within the often rough terrain of the Chinese mainland. Centred around formations of rugged, light armoured vehicles, and heavily armed infantry trained to move quickly and quietly through any terrain, the National Revolutionary Army of today is determined to complete the mission of rebuilding the Republic and restoring the country.

Marshals of the Republic

"Marshal of the Republic" is not a military rank, but a title, awarded to military officers of the most senior rank (General, 1st Class) who have been deemed national heroes, or otherwise instrumental to the survival of the Republic. Such a title takes precedence over their military rank, and carries a considerable amount of prestige. Yet unlike the previous formal rank of "General, Special Class" (or "Generalissimo) it replaced, it otherwise conveys no additional powers or material benefits.

Seniority within the Marshalate is determined by the date of appointment. The current living members, in order of seniority are:
Marshal Du Yuming (1959)
Marshal Sun Liren (1962)

Doctrine

The doctrine of the National Revolutionary Army is primarily informed by two contrasting, but related experiences. During the war against Japan, the bulk of the NRA fought to defend China proper against an invading force which boasted superior training, equipment, and logistics. However, in Burma, American and British-equipped NRA troops held the advantage in supply and firepower - and learned how to fight against a more mobile and lightly-equipped foe. Following the war against Japan and the subsequent re-establishment of the National Revolutionary Army, the NRA's veteran officers combined the lessons of these experiences to create a new doctrine.

Commonly referred to as "Infiltration Warfare", Chinese doctrine relies heavily on a concept known as "Denial of Certainty". Simply put, this means that an NRA force must not only maintain the initiative on the tactical and operational levels, but that it must completely rob the enemy of any ability to make effective decisions, by preventing them from acquiring "Certainty", or accurate intelligence of NRA positions, movements, readiness, and posture. Infiltration Warfare doctrine specifies three types of Certainty:

Positional Certainty - the knowledge of the enemy's location and movements.
Intentional Certainty - the knowledge of the enemy's immediate objectives and timetable.
Material Certainty - the knowledge of the immediate resources the enemy has on hand to achieve their objective.

An enemy force which is subject to complete Denial of Certainty is one which is constantly on the back foot, not only incapable of acting, but also incapable of reacting, having been starved of the information necessary to determine where the next Chinese attack or movement will come from, when it will take place, or the forces likely to comprise it. Ideally, the result should either be complete executive paralysis - as enemy commanders are forced to expect an attack of any strength, from any vector, at any time - or complete chaos - as enemy commanders are forced to constantly react to multiple unexpected attacks, of unexpected severity, at unexpected locations.

This means that on the offensive, a Chinese force does not advance the way that a more conventional army might. The opening attack is not heralded by artillery bombardments or airstrikes, but by the quiet infiltration of forward columns through and past the enemy defensive zones. Trained to move through terrain and obstacles normally considered impassable, these forward units infiltrate deep into the enemy's rear areas, and launch attacks from on targets believed by the enemy to be safe, or outside the combat area. These forward units are followed up by fast-moving manoeuvre groups, who use the openings created to outflank, isolate, and eventually destroy the paralysed enemy. Only then are the exploitation units let off the leash to run down the confused, fleeing survivors, and carry on the attack.

On the defensive, NRA units are expected to give ground against strong enemy attacks, forfeiting objectives and territory to a determined enemy push without sentimentality or delay. However, this "retreat" is deceptive, as infiltration columns again use rough terrain and "impassable" obstacles to mask their own movements through the front of the enemy attack. An enemy about to conclude a "successful" offensive will soon find their supply lines and lines of communication cut, their rear areas under constant threat of ambush, supposedly "cleared" areas honeycombed with NRA units, and their forward positions already vulnerable to an inevitable NRA counter attack.

To achieve the desired outcome, the National Revolutionary Army's units must be mobile, independent, and versatile. All Chinese military equipment is designed with these requirements in mind. To the NRA, it is better to have a lighter-armed, less-protected vehicle if it can travel over terrain that a better-armed and armoured vehicle cannot. Likewise, NRA formations are organised to be self-sufficient in the short term at the lowest-level possible. Commando mortars and anti-tank grenades are distributed at the fireteam level, and individual sections are expected to be able to operate with minimal outside support for up to a week at a time. Likewise, officers and NCOs alike are trained to think on their feet, be competent in the skills of those immediately above and below them, and act according to their initiative. In this, the expanded role of the Warrant Officer plays a key part, advising relatively junior officers at the company and troop levels.

The end result is less the tightly-disciplined structure of a traditional army, and more a swarm of units and sub-units, coordinating with each other and higher commands to achieve operational objectives within wide constraints set by operational planners capable of parsing tactical, as well as political considerations. These higher-level concerns are in turn disseminated to troops in the field, who are allowed mostly-free rein to make progress towards those objectives. This allows individual commanders on the ground to seize fleeting opportunities with minimal lag time, while the relatively heavy firepower allotted at the section and fireteam levels allow those same commanders to launch attacks with fire support options which would normally only be available at the company or even battalion level in other armies.

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The Republic of China Air Force

Order of Battle

Equipment List

No longer a disparate collection of Second World War-era hand-me-downs and scrounged-up propeller aircraft, the Republic of China Air Force has been reborn as a modern fighting force for the jet age. The patched and jury-rigged fighters of the past have been replaced by sleek supersonic jet interceptors. Powerful supersonic tactical attack craft and mighty high-altitude strategic bombers have taken the place of their lumbering, ageing counterparts.

Yet despite the new aircraft, the new uniforms, and the new organisation, the RoCAF remains an institution forged in the fires of the War against Japan. China's new fighters may be jets, but they are still designed as much for the white-knuckle close-range struggle of the dogfight as for the new school of the air-to-air missile. Its pilots may wear pressure suits and oxygen masks, but the men they seek to emulate are the brave pioneers of Chinese military aviation, who long ago faced all-metal Japanese fighters in wood-and-canvas biplanes - and sometimes even won.

Chinese air doctrine is as it has always been: focused on supporting ground troops. Despite the cocky, almost arrogant attitude of the RoCAF's new generation of fighter pilots, their units are a means to an end rather than an end to itself. Instead, their job is to clear the skies and make way for the Frontal Aviation Regiments. These units are considered the elite of the RoCAF, trained to coordinate closely with forces on the ground, and equipped to land precise, devastating blows on enemy troop concentrations, air defences, and communications, softening up enemy ground forces, so that they may provide openings through which the National Revolutionary Army might penetrate.

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Newspapers of the Republic

The Republic of China maintains press freedom as a constitutional right. Therefore, in those provinces not under martial law, a plethora of newspapers, radio channels, and other sources of news are prevalent. Those listed here are representative of the opinions which can be found within the Chinese press, ranging from the mainstream to the openly seditious.


The Republic Daily is the largest of the Republic of China's daily newspapers. Boasting a circulation of well over thirty million, Republic Daily is a recipient of substantial state subsidies, as well as funding from the Guomindang, inciting common claims of right-wing bias from supporters of the DPP or the Socialist party. However, Republic Daily's editorial bias usually hews close to China's political mainstream, and is generally supportive of central government policy.


Long March is the most popular of the many communist papers still circulating within the Republic. Though the target of official disapproval and none-too-subtle threats by right-wing protestors and even other leftists opposed to its devotion to Maoist orthodoxy, Long March boasts a readership of at least five hundred thousand, though detractors would claim that it is much lower. Long March's editorial committee is openly hostile to the "Bourgeois Republic" and its government, and is vocal in the support of communist states overseas - provided they are on unfriendly terms with Guangzhou.


The Guangzhou Evening Post is not a widely-read paper by Chinese standards, claiming a readership of only a quarter of a million. However, it is the preferred paper of Guangdong's commercial elites, and maintains itself mostly through the patronage of some of the Pearl River Delta's wealthiest and most influential merchant families. This manifests itself in the Evening Post's uncompromisingly capitalist editorial board. It is often joked in Guangzhou's financial district that if hell were to freeze over tomorrow, the Evening Post's late edition headline would encourage its readers to sell stoves to the devil - something which many of the paper's detractors believe cuts quite close to the truth.


Intended for the english-speaking community of Hong Kong Island, the Hong Kong Times-Colonist wears its biases on its sleeve. Monarchist, classist, and unabashedly reactionary, the "Tomb Colony" (a nickname from the common belief that most of its hundred thousand readers are senile old englishmen awaiting death) is the voice of those who still yearn for the times when Britain was the most powerful country on earth. Its editorial board does not pull any punches in expressing its disgust for the modern world it has found itself in.