News from China

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Guangzhou, April 10th, 1964
GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES NEW ARMY MODERNISATION PLANS
Big news from the Military Affairs Commission today, as Marshal Sun Liren announces the implementation of a wide-ranging series of hardware upgrades for the Republic's armour and artillery, incorporating the hard-won lessons of the campaigns against the PRC and its allies, as well as the Shanxi Clique.

The Military Affairs Commission has confirmed that the retrofit programme will include mid-life upgrade packages for the Type 48 Main Battle Tank, and mobility upgrades for the Type 47 Recoilless Rifle, leading to a major jump in the Guangzhou Stock Exchange in anticipation of a rush of government orders.

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Guangzhou, May 11th, 1964
LABOUR COLLEGES OPEN IN GUANGDONG PROVINCE
A step forward for the Republic today, as Guangdong Labour College No. 1 opens in Guangzhou. Before a crowd of thousands, the flag of the Republic rises over the concrete and glass campus, to the accompaniment of a military brass band. In two weeks, the college's first class of 1200 students will begin their four-year programmes.

The establishment of the Labour College system was a major plank in the Democratic Socialist Party's electoral campaign. Touted as a means to offer technical education to talented youths who would otherwise find higher learning outside their grasp, the Labour College Programme offers free room, board, and degrees in Mechanical, Electrical, Military, and Civil Engineering to those who meet the requirements and enroll, in exchange for up to two years of service following graduation devoted to improving the Republic's infrastructure by building and maintaining bridges, roads, railways, and airfields.

Sixteen other Labour Colleges are slated to open in Guangdong Province within the year, with another eighty-three planned, offering degrees in specialties as varied as Agricultural Engineering, Anthropology, and Performing Arts. The Provincial Assemblies of Guangxi, Hunan, and Zhejiang have also expressed interest in joining the programme.

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Somewhere Over the Indian Ocean, January 29th 1965
NO-FLY ZONE OVER OMAN "THREATENS FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION", SAYS FOREIGN MINISTRY

Those awaiting a reply from the government regarding the current escalating situation in the Near-West have an unequivocal answer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today. Speaking directly to reporters from multiple publications, a spokesperson for the Ministry declared that "Oman is a vital link in the trade between east and west, and any attempt to restrict or ban air traffic from the vicinity poses a major threat to freedom of navigation which may merit a response from the Republic's government in the interest of the peace and prosperity of the world."

Oman has been under an Iranian-imposed No-fly zone for the past four days. The Socialist Republics of America has already pledged conditional support for the measure as a means of safeguarding Omani sovereignty, while the Kingdom of India and Kingdom of Victoria have made their opposition clear through official and unofficial channels.

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Oman, February 10th, 1965
OIL STOCKS ON THE RISE AS IRAN SEIZES VICTORIAN AIRLINER

Shocking news today, as the government of Queen Catharine al Victoria has reported that one of their civilian airliners has been forced down by Iranian military aircraft while traveling over Omani airspace. Tehran, announcing the aircraft to be in violation of their self-declared "no-fly zone" over the unstable Arabian country, has as of yet offered no further official statement.

Whatever the result, the markets are already responding. With the possibility of war imminent, the price of oil has already begun to rise, leading to massive gains for United China Petroleum and Sinopetrol in the Guangzhou exchange.


Somewhere Over the Indian Ocean, February 11th 1965
ROCAF ASSETS DEPLOYED TO NEAR-WEST TO "ENSURE FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION"

The Military Affairs Commission announced late this morning, that "significant" air force units would be deployed to the Western Indian Ocean, to "prevent the illegal constriction of international trade and ensure the freedom of navigation for all nations".

The decision has been met with strong opposition in the Legislative Yuan, including from within the government, with some CDSP members declaring the move to be an unwarranted foreign intervention. Minister of the Economy and CDSP Leader Song Qingling denied these claims, characterising the situation as that of "a rogue state imposing a unilateral ban on travel over territory that is not its own, in a clear bid to damage the peace of the world," and voicing her support and the support of the Democratic Socialist leadership for the government's decision.

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Guangzhou, January 3rd, 1966
TINGHAO STOCKS DROP OVER EXPORT ROW

Share prices for Tinghao Food and Beverage Inc (THI) have dropped 15% in the past 24 hours, as news of the Korean Government's ruling against the Guangzhou-based conglomerate's flagship Zanzibar Chili hot sauce brand has reached the Pearl River Exchange.

Developed in combination with partners in Victoria, Zanzibar Chili brand chili hot sauce has been one of the major success stories for the corporation, and a key reason for its higher-than-expected Q3 earnings. A spokesman for the company has told the Evening Post that they are disappointed with Seoul's ruling, but are willing to comply with the Korean government's request for compliance with their advertising laws.

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At the Forefront of the Peoples' Struggle. March 1st, 1966
THE REVOLUTION UNDER SIEGE!

At last, the final conflict is nigh! The corrupt forces of the Bourgeois Republic, aided and abetted by the Fascist Second-Order Devils and the bestial hordes of darkest Africa, have finally moved to strike the final blow against the last bastion of freedom and democracy in East Asia. Still dripping with the blood of our comrades in Iran and Oman, the forces of reaction now stand to snuff out the last hope of the proletariat, so that all the continent may be trampled under the hobnailed boots of capital.

Workers of China! Now is the hour to resist! Now is the time to stand against your oppressors, and see them driven back once and for all. Do not be taken in by the treacherous Social Fascists of the Bourgeois Republic, or the false consciousness of a national pride which serves only to wring the labour out of the broken bodies of the working class! Fight for liberation! Fight for freedom! Fight today, so that one day, we might crush the wreckage of capitalist oppression under our bootheels, so that it will be they who fear us, so that our oppressors will know what it is like to be the oppressed!

LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE'S REVOLUTION! LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC!

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Northern Front, March 25th, 1966
BEIJING FALLS, ALLIED FORCES 50 KM FROM JINAN

The ancestral capital of the Qing Dynasty is once again in the Republic's hands today, as grim-faced 1st Guards Army troops enter the bombed out city centre, in the company of stoic Victorian Peacekeepers, they advance with rifles and flamethrowers held at the ready, should they run into any remaining pockets of resistance. The city has suffered much over the past forty years. After being restored to the Republic for the first time following the First Northern Expedition of 1927, it was taken first by the Japanese, and then by the Communists, who proclaimed it their capital in 1949.

Now, the squatters have been driven from the city, but the struggle to evict them has left much of it in ruins. It may be years before the former imperial capital is restored to its former glory, but its citizens know that with China's reunification almost at hand, they shall never have to fear for their homes again.

Further south, troops from the Federation of Korea join the armoured spearheads of the 1st and 8th Tank Armies as they drive into Northern Shandong Province. Though Soviet and PLA resistance remain stiff, the sight of the Korean Army's formidable new main battle tanks and the knowledge that the provincial capital is almost within sight keeps spirits high, with hopes that the war may be over within weeks, if not days.

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Nanjing, April 3rd, 1966
VICTORY

There is silence in the Southern Capital today.

Gone is the rattle of automatic rifles. Gone is the crash of artillery and the roar of tank engines. Gone are the screams of jet fighters overhead.

Silence. Silence over a China at peace for the first time in half a century.

There is silence too, at the Sun Yixian Mausoleum, where the representatives of the three allied powers pay their respects to the remains of the great architect and father of the New China which has now at last reached its maturity. Attended by a guard of honour, the great man's widow, now Minister of the Economy, places a wreath on the bier. Beside her, the Premier lays a second ornament, in remembrance of all those who had died in the great massacre of 1937.

The dual ceremony is both a commemoration and a promise. A commemoration of all those who have died in China's long period of weakness, as the old ways died and the new struggled to be born. A promise, that such days are now over, and that once again, China faces the world as a strong and unified whole.

There is silence in the Southern Capital, but the sky is clear.

And the day is bright.

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Guangzhou, August 14th, 1966
GSX TAKES TUMBLE AS CDSL SURGE IN POLLS

The Guangzhou Stock Exchange fell 500 points today, as a result of recent polling placing the Democratic Socialist Party at 42% support among voters. Meanwhile support for the CDSL's senior coalition partner, the Guomindang, has fallen below 30% for the first time since the Second Zhejiang War in 1962, tumbling from a high of 51% immediately following the end of fighting in Northern China, especially following revelations that senior GMD officials tactily allowed the Victorian RAPS to carpet-bomb parts of the ancient capital of Beijing.

With the election now only six months away, market analysts cite the CDSL's promise to implement a federal land tax mandate and increase oversight of Guangdong's financial sector as the primary drivers of the current market drop. Many in the financial sector have expressed anxiety over the very real possibility of a Democratic Socialist Majority government.

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Guangzhou, September 29th, 1966
GUOMINDANG ANNOUNCES EXTENDED PERIOD OF POLITICAL TUTELAGE FOR FORMER COMMUNIST-HELD TERRITORIES

In an anticipated message today, Premier Du Yuming announced that the Executive Yuan is declaring that the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Anhui, and Jiangsu, formerly under the control of the illegitimate Beijing communist government, are to be subject to an extended period of political tutelage before they are to be fully integrated into the Republic. While previous processes of political tutelage in areas reclaimed from other warlord governments have only lasted two to three years, the Premier has stated that he expects the process in the newly reclaimed northern provinces to last anywhere from six to ten years. This means that the citizens of these provinces may not be able to vote in provincial or national elections until the mid 1970s.

The Premier cited the need to "break the habit of decades of Communist indoctrination and protect the local population from unscrupulous demagogues who may take advantage of weak democratic institutions" as the reason for the announcement.

In a statement earlier this morning, CDSL leader Song Qingling has already condemned the move as a blatantly partisan attempt to "disenfranchise more than a third of the Republic's population so that the Guomindang can continue to pretend to be relevant in a country which no longer needs to be commanded by a militarist strongman." Minister Song refused to comment when asked if her opposition to the measure was sufficient cause for the CDSL to exit its current coalition with the Guomindang and call for early elections.