China (WOIOCG)

Imperial Dominion of China 中華帝國統治 Zhōnghuá Dìguó Tǒngzhì OTE: People's Republic of China, Taiwan, some of Russian Manchuria, Assuri River region, Shanghai, Hong Kong
Motto:  "龍騰東方" "Lóngténg Dōngfāng" ("Dragon Rises in the East")
Royal anthem:  "中華帝國國歌" "Zhōnghuá Dìguó Guógē" ("Imperial Anthem of China")
Capital		Beiyang
Largest city		Shanghai
Official languages		Chinese
Recognised regional languages		Other Chinese languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien), Tibetan, Uyghur, Mongolian, Manchu, Evenki
Demonym		Chinese
Government		Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy
-	Emperor	Xinshidai
-	Generalissmo	Li Lianjie
-	Grand Chancellor	Tsai Ing-wen
Legislature		National Assembly
-	Upper House	Shàng Yìyuàn (Lords)
-	Lower House	Dāngxuǎn (Elected)
Population
-	estimate	450 million
GDP (nominal)		estimate
-	Total	$18.5 trillion
Currency		Yuan (¥)

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The Imperial Dominion of China (Chinese: 中華帝國統治, Zhōnghuá Dìguó Tǒngzhì) also known as China or the Empire of China, is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 450 million. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, tied with Russia as having the most of any country in the world. With an area of nearly 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the world's third-largest country by total land area. The country is divided into 15 kingdoms and 7 grand provinces. The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and largest financial center is Shanghai. China is currently the largest monarchy worldwide, and has the heaviest concentration of royal families and nobilities. It borders Korea to its east, shares maritime borders with Japan, land borders with Mongolia and Russia to the north and west, Central Asia to the west, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand and Nanyang to the south, and shares maritime borders with Kupanam.

The region that is now China has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era. The earliest Chinese dynastic states, such as the Shang and the Zhou, emerged in the basin of the Yellow River before the late second millennium BCE. The eighth to third centuries BCE saw a breakdown in Zhou authority and significant conflict, as well as the emergence of Classical Chinese literature and philosophy. In 221 BCE, China was unified under an emperor, ushering in more than two millennia in which China was governed by one or more imperial dynasties, including the Han, Tang, Ming and Qing. Some of China's most notable achievements—such as the invention of gunpowder and paper, the establishment of the Silk Road, and the building of the Great Wall—occurred during this period. The Chinese culture—including languages, traditions, architecture, philosophy and more—has heavily influenced East Asia during this imperial period.

In 1912, the Chinese monarchy was temporarily, overthrown and the Republic of China established - however, after the victory of the White monarchists in the Russian Civil War, White Russian volunteers helped restored the Chinese monarchy under Yuan Shikai's descendants. The fragile Empire saw consistent conflict for most of the mid-20th century, including a civil war between the Kuomintang government and the Imperialists, which began in 1927, as well as the Second Sino-Japanese War that began in 1937 and continued until 1945, therefore becoming involved in World War II. The latter led to a temporary stop in the civil war and numerous Japanese atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre, which continue to influence China–Japan relations. In 1949, the Chinese monarchists again, established control over China as the Kuomintang surrendered, and was allowed to exist as a political party under the authority of the Emperor. Imperial rule during this era saw two major projects: the Great Leap Forward, which resulted in a sharp economic upturn; and the Cultural Revolution, a movement to make China the cultural center of Asia. Beginning in 1978, the Chinese government began economic reforms that moved the country away from planned economics, but political reforms were cut short by the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which ended in a massacre. Despite the event, the economic reform continued to strengthen the nation's economy in the following decades while raising China's standard of living significantly.

China is currently a constitutional monarchy, and is considered the Eastern Hemisphere's most powerful superpower. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and a founding member of several multilateral and regional organizations such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Silk Road Fund, the New Development Bank, and the RCEP. It is also a member of the BRICS, the G20, APEC, and the East Asia Summit. China ranks highly in measures of democracy, transparency, and human rights, including for press freedom, religious freedom, and ethnic equality. China is one of the three world superpowers, and has the largest GDP in both PPP and nominal and military budget.

History

Early dynastic rule

Same as our timeline

Qin and Han

The Warring States period ended in 221 BCE after the state of Qin conquered the other six states, reunited China and established the dominant order of autocracy. King Zheng of Qin proclaimed himself the Emperor of the Qin dynasty, becoming the first emperor of a unified China. He enacted Qin's legalist reforms, notably the standardization of Chinese characters, measurements, road widths, and currency. His dynasty also conquered the Yue tribes in Guangxi, Guangdong, and Northern Vietnam. The Qin dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after the First Emperor's death.

Following widespread revolts during which the imperial library was burned, the Han dynasty emerged to rule China between 206 BCE and CE 220, creating a cultural identity among its populace still remembered in the ethnonym of the modern Han Chinese. The Han expanded the empire's territory considerably, with military campaigns reaching Central Asia, Mongolia, Korea, and Yunnan, and the recovery of Guangdong and northern Vietnam from Nanyue. Han involvement in Central Asia and Sogdia helped establish the land route of the Silk Road, replacing the earlier path over the Himalayas to India. Han China gradually became the largest economy of the ancient world. Despite the Han's initial decentralization and the official abandonment of the Qin philosophy of Legalism in favor of Confucianism, Qin's legalist institutions and policies continued to be employed by the Han government and its successors.

Three Kingdoms, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties

After the end of the Han dynasty, a period of strife known as Three Kingdoms followed, at the end of which Wei was swiftly overthrown by the Jin dynasty. The Jin fell to civil war upon the ascension of a developmentally disabled emperor; the Five Barbarians then rebelled and ruled northern China as the Sixteen States. The Xianbei unified them as the Northern Wei, whose Emperor Xiaowen reversed his predecessors' apartheid policies and enforced a drastic sinification on his subjects. In the south, the general Liu Yu secured the abdication of the Jin in favor of the Liu Song. The various successors of these states became known as the Northern and Southern dynasties, with the two areas finally reunited by the Sui in 581

Sui, Tang and Song

The Sui restored the Han to power through China, reformed its agriculture, economy and imperial examination system, constructed the Grand Canal, and patronized Buddhism. However, they fell quickly when their conscription for public works and a failed war in northern Korea provoked widespread unrest. Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese economy, technology, and culture entered a golden age. The Tang dynasty retained control of the Western Regions and the Silk Road, which brought traders to as far as Mesopotamia and the Horn of Africa, and made the capital Chang'an a cosmopolitan urban center. However, it was devastated and weakened by the An Lushan rebellion in the 8th century. In 907, the Tang disintegrated completely when the local military governors became ungovernable. The Song dynasty ended the separatist situation in 960, leading to a balance of power between the Song and the Liao dynasty. The Song was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent navy which was supported by the developed shipbuilding industry along with the sea trade.

Between the 10th and 11th century CE, the population of China doubled to around 100 million people, mostly because of the expansion of rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses. The Song dynasty also saw a revival of Confucianism, in response to the growth of Buddhism during the Tang, and a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as landscape art and porcelain were brought to new levels of complexity. However, the military weakness of the Song army was observed by the Jin dynasty. In 1127, Emperor Huizong of Song and the capital Bianjing were captured during the Jin–Song wars. The remnants of the Song retreated to southern China.

Yuan

The Mongol conquest of China began in 1205 with the campaigns against Western Xia by Genghis Khan, who also invaded Jin territories. In 1271, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty, which conquered the last remnant of the Song dynasty in 1279. Before the Mongol invasion, the population of Song China was 120 million citizens; this was reduced to 60 million by the time of the census in 1300. A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan in 1368 and founded the Ming dynasty as the Hongwu Emperor. Under the Ming dynasty, China enjoyed another golden age, developing one of the strongest navies in the world and a rich and prosperous economy amid a flourishing of art and culture. It was during this period that admiral Zheng He led the Ming treasure voyages throughout the Indian Ocean, reaching as far as East Africa.

Ming

In the early Ming dynasty, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. With the budding of capitalism, philosophers such as Wang Yangming critiqued and expanded Neo-Confucianism with concepts of individualism and equality of four occupations. The scholar-official stratum became a supporting force of industry and commerce in the tax boycott movements, which, together with the famines and defense against Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) and Later Jin incursions led to an exhausted treasury. In 1644, Beijing was captured by a coalition of peasant rebel forces led by Li Zicheng. The Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing dynasty, then allied with Ming dynasty general Wu Sangui, overthrew Li's short-lived Shun dynasty and subsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing dynasty.

Qing

The Qing dynasty, which lasted from 1644 until 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of China. The Ming-Qing transition (1618–1683) cost 25 million lives, but the Qing appeared to have restored China's imperial power and inaugurated another flowering of the arts. After the Southern Ming ended, the further conquest of the Dzungar Khanate added Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang to the empire. Meanwhile, China's population growth resumed and shortly began to accelerate. It is commonly agreed that pre-modern China's population experienced two growth spurts, one during the Northern Song period (960–1127), and other during the Qing period (around 1700–1830). By the High Qing era China was possibly the most commercialized country in the world, and imperial China experienced a second commercial revolution by the end of the 18th century. On the other hand, the centralized autocracy was strengthened in part to suppress anti-Qing sentiment with the policy of valuing agriculture and restraining commerce, like the Haijin during the early Qing period and ideological control as represented by the literary inquisition, causing some social and technological stagnation.

In the mid-19th century, the Opium Wars with Britain and France forced China to pay compensation, open treaty ports, allow extraterritoriality for foreign nationals, and cede Hong Kong to the British under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, the first of what have been termed as the "unequal treaties". The First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) resulted in Qing China's loss of influence in the Korean Peninsula, as well as the cession of Taiwan to Japan. The Qing dynasty also began experiencing internal unrest in which tens of millions of people died, especially in the White Lotus Rebellion, the failed Taiping Rebellion that ravaged southern China in the 1850s and 1860s and the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) in the northwest. The initial success of the Self-Strengthening Movement of the 1860s was frustrated by a series of military defeats in the 1880s and 1890s.

In the 19th century, the great Chinese diaspora began. Losses due to emigration were added to by conflicts and catastrophes such as the Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879, in which between 9 and 13 million people died. The Guangxu Emperor drafted a reform plan in 1898 to establish a modern constitutional monarchy, but these plans were thwarted by the Empress Dowager Cixi. The ill-fated anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901 further weakened the dynasty. Although Cixi sponsored a program of reforms known as the late Qing reforms, the Xinhai Revolution of 1911–1912 ended the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China. Puyi, the last Emperor, abdicated in 1912.

Self-Strengthening Movement - Modernization

Under the regent of Prince Gong, the Qing dynasty underwent a Meiji-like modernization and transformation of its military and economy, which would form the basis of the modernization of China. General Zeng Guofan, who had mastered the establishment of private militias, administered the military wing of the Self-Strengthening Movement, and modeled Chinese defense on the American Revolutionaries, via small and well-trained militias to fight off invasions.

First Sino-Japanese War

Thanks to the differences in the military doctrine and ideology of the Self-Strengthening Movement, the First Sino-Japanese War was not as humiliating of a defeat as in our timeline. Unlike in our timeline, the Qing dynasty does not send as big of a force, favoring small and well-trained armies to fight the Japanese in Korea. The Qing leaders however, knowing that a prolonged war with Japan would not end-well, knowing of Japan's friendliness with the Western powers, signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, without the war payments of 200,000,000 taels.

Second Sino-Japanese War

After the Russo-Japanese War, although the Empire of Japan emerged victorious over the Russian Empire, Japan was severely weakened and exhausted by the war, prompting military leaders in the Qing dynasty to carry forth with an attack against Japanese forces. Unlike the military forces that fought the Japanese in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese adopted Li Hongzhang's small-unit paramilitary warfare, utilizing privately-trained and highly-motivated forces to fight the Japanese rather than a large and outdated Qing military.

Chinese forces attacked Japanese forces in Dalniy, and Port Arthur, destroying the Japanese forces stationed in those areas, leading Russia to form a temporary alliance with the Qing Empire against a common Japanese foe. The Guangxu Emperor and Nicholas II would go on to sign the Harbin Treaty, which established an alliace between the Qing Empire and Russian Empire against Japan, however, the Guangxu Emperor did not view Russians as anymore of friends than Japan, and predicated that one day, China would have to open fire against Russia, but just not now.

In the Second Sino-Japanese War, although Russia didn't get involved, Tsar Nicholas II agreed to lend heavy weapons munitions and training to China, in exchange while Russia still gets to establish railroads and economic influence in China, they would pay a discounted tax and fee to the public authorities.

Although coming at a heavy cost, the Second Sino-Japanese War ended up in a Chinese victory, spoiling Japan's entry into the world as a great power, in which China again, regains its territorial integrity, and evens the playing field.

Great Rebellion, downfall of the Qing, rise of the temporary Republic and Xinhan dynasty

In this timeline, Chinese society was quick to adopt to the Meiji-like reforms of the Self-Strengthening Movement. Thus, well-trained paramilitaries in the country carried out the Great Rebellion against foreign powers, and while the Rebels were defeated, their successes forced the foriegn powers to make concessions, namely in paying the Qing government railroad taxes and paying port fees.

This led to the rise of Yuan Shikhai as the First President of the Republic of China. Yuan Shikhai favored keeping the Manchu elites as part of the new system, comparing them to the Baltic Germans of the Russian Empire, and purged the Tongmenghui and Sun Yat-Sen's party, causing Chiang Kai-Shek to flee. The Republic of China doesn't last long, as Yuan Shikhai becomes the new Emperor, forcing the Manchu royals to recognize him as the Emperor of China, setting the seeds for the modern-day Empire of China and the ruling Xinhan dynasty.

First World War

During the First World War, the Chinese Empire saw the war as opportunity tell most of the foreign powers to fuck off, choosing to side with neither the Triple Entente or the Triple Alliance, as its leaders claimed that all war belligerents were responsible for China's misery in the late 1800s. The First World War is one of the many catalysts that gave birth to modern China.

As a result, China and Japan end up as the "winners" of World War I and the power dynamics shift to China and Japan while the European nations struggle to rebuild, and in a reminiscent of a Cold War, China and the United States found themselves as the two major global powers.

Wu Peifu becomes the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Chinese Forces, and seizes power throughout China, and orders an attack on foreign concessions in China. Europe is so weakened by the First World War, that the Concert of European Powers pretty much collapses. Still, the United States supports Chiang Kai-Shek and Sun Yat-Sen in attempting to overthrow the Empire of China.

During the Russian Civil War, Wu Peifu was originally hesitant to get involved, but eventually sent troops into Russia to help the White Army, which fomented a new era of friendship between China and Russia. With the looming threat known as the United States, Peifu deduced that having a superstate in Russia as an ally gives China a significant boost over the United States.

Zhang Zhongchang would lead the Russia Expeditionary Force (俄羅斯遠征軍), and the REF aided the monarchist Whites against both the Bolsheviks and the pro-US factions of the White Army.

Emperor Yuan Shikai

Northern Expedition 1926-1928

Officers, warlords and princes of the Northern Alliance

The Zhanhou Emperor (secular name: Yuan Keding) succeeded the Hongxian Emperor, and recognized Cyril I as the new Tsar of Russia. In this stage of Chinese history, the country's relations with Russia vastly improved, and was known in both countries as the "New Era of the Two New Emperors".

Both emperors, especially Cyril made efforts to undo what previous emperors had done, apologizing to the Zhanhou Emperor for what he felt was Russian abuses in China. As part of the terms, Baron Pyotr Wrangel, Cyril's Generalissimo of the Imperial Russian Armed Forces, gave the city of Harbin and the China Railway to the control of the Chinese government.

Therefore, since communism fails in Russia, it certainly does not gain a stronghold in China, and therefore, there is never a Bolshevik Russia to support the National Revolutionary Army. China found itself a new ally in Russia and Cyril I's modernization reforms were ideas taken from China's Self-Strengthening Movement.

In spite of China and Russia's hostile relations with Japan, the three major powers cooperated in helping the northern Chinese governments against the southern rebels.

Interwar Period

During the Interwar Period, China grows much like the way the Soviet Union, by re-integrating the Self-Strengthening Movement, by adopting Western technology - and even becoming one of the first pioneers of military rocket technology, via the Huo Jian-series, which the Russians later adopted as the Katyusha system. More factories and arms productions plants became established, and the Imperial Chinese Forces started to develop tank technology. China began to rival Japan in terms of its technological prowess.

The United States in 1935, falls to the Second American Civil War, a war that lasts an entire decade, therefore, the United States is never around to influence Chinese politics, therefore, the Republic of China lacks a powerful ally.

Second World War

The Second World War in China plays out very similarly to Operation Barbarossa and the days leading up to it. The Second Donghak Rebellion in Korea gets Japan busy with the rebels, prompting China to invade Korea from the north.

The Empire of Japan once-again, is a powerful state, beginning to threaten Chinese hegemony and like the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union (Russian Empire in this timeline), Japan and China signed their own Non-Aggression Pact in Korea, dividing in between the 38th Parallel, however this was just a ruse by Japan into initiating the Third Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese, once seeing the Chinese as an outdated military, were stunned by the use of the Hao Jian rockets.

However, China's mismanagement by the military once-again starts to bite back. Zhang Zhongchang was the Generalissimo of the Chinese Empire, and proved to be as incapable of leader as OTL Stalin. In the aftermath of the successful Chinese occupation of northern Korea, the Zhongchang replaced the once highly-motivated well-trained forces, with large conscript forces against the advise of his military commanders, who foresaw that Japanese forces were again, re-building and attempting a retaliatory invasion.

In the beginning of the war, Japan starts its war against China by attacking the Chinese forces in Korea, and driving them back into Manchuria, and conquering large swaths of Manchuria to establish the State of Manchukuo.

As the Japanese invasion neared Beijing, the Chinese forces eventually recooperated, yet in spite of their success Beijing defense, Japan continued to push Chinese forces further west. It isn't until the Battle of Chongqing, basically a "Chinese Stalingrad", that the Japanese forces lost their ability to advance further into China. Chinese forces expelled Japan from first Manchuria, and then Korea. This is also thanks in a large part that China's naval fleet was able to stall the Japanese forces. In this timeline, China's navy is nowhere near as outdated, thanks to the fact that China's economy, banking and industry was still pretty-much controlled by wealthy Manchus, whom the Xinhan emperors kept around.

Although the Imperial Chinese Navy and Imperial Chinese Air Force carried out its bombardment of Japan, used POWs in the land invasion of Japan. Chinese forces invaded Japan from Korea, while Russians invaded from the northeast. The Republic of China landed in southern Korea, much to the opposition of North China and Russia, who felt that the Western powers had no business in Korea. It is also the Chinese forces, both the Empire and Republic of China that liberated Kupanam from Japan.

Very similarly to the Soviet bombardment of Germany in our timeline, the overwhelmingly large Chinese and Russian forces carried out Operation Impossible, and eventually made the push into Tokyo. China develops the first atomic bomb in 1945, and drops it, but not in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, but in a remote area to demonstrate the firepower that the Chinese possessed. A second bomb was dropped, finally culminating in the surrender of the Empire of Japan in 1945.

Japan is divided into two rivaling spheres of influence, with Tokyo as the dividing city much like Berlin. However, most of Japan is held by Chinese and Russian control due to the proximity to both countries, however China controlled the majority of Japan, while Russia controlled the island of Hokkaido. Additionally, the Zhanhou Emperor and Vladimir I were crowned as the titular Heads of State in their particular occupied Japanese territories, under Japanese customs.

Cold War

Second Chinese Civil War

Beifang troops, 3rd Jiangsu Army, c. 1949

In the aftermath of the Second World War, China was left with two rivaling governments, with the Empire of China or "North China" basing their capital city in Beijing and the Republic of China or "South China" basing theirs in Nanjing. Of the two however, North China enjoyed a better economy, industrialization and stability, as well as an indigenous weapons system and a large ally with Russia. With the United States no longer around, France, Britain and West Germany give limited support to the Republic of China.

After the Second World War, North China was considered one of the great powers of the East, having the world's largest standing military force, first atomic weapon, and 4th-largest navy. South China however, has heavily reliant on Western aid. The issues loomed over whom the international community would recognize as the legitimate Chinese state, with the Russian Empire and Warsaw Pact all considering Beijing to be the legitimate government, and the Western powers aiming towards Nanjing.

Like the temporary Soviet-Chinese alliance of our timeline, Russians send military and economic aid towards North China, and convinced the Allies that he would handle the Chinese collaborators with Japan. However in reality, the North Chinese and Russians were just leveraging and using former Japanese collaborators against the United States. Although North China was not "pro-Japanese", shared Japan's views against Western imperialists.

In this timeline, a Second Chinese Civil War occurs, not between communists and republicanists, but between the latter and monarchists. Zhang Xueliang proclaimed that the KMT was a parasite and a virus, and keeping China from reaching its full potential, was proclaimed the Generalissimo of the Empire of China, and opposite him stood Chiang Kai Shek. A third-player between them was Wang Jingwei.

Like our timeline, the ROC would retreat into Taiwan after their defeat in the Chinese mainland. This, would be a key factor, and a contributing factor to cooling of relations between the Republic of China and the western powers, and would lead Chiang Kai-Shek to engage in the infamous and secretive "Beifang-Kuomintang Meetings".

Chinese Unification

Chinese troops of the 3rd Army of Manchuria confront Russian troops

In 1958, the Zhanhou Emperor passed away, leading Yuan Jiarong to become crowned as the Chaoxiang Emperor. Chiang Kai-Shek, who at once been very friendly with the Western Allies infamously admitted, "We have been played, now we must do the same".

Chiang Kai-Shek in 1954 had finally seen the ROC to be a failed experiment, and secretly met with Chinese imperial military advisors and messengers, along with a slew of other KMT officers that included Yan Xishan and Bai Chongxi, swearing their loyalty to the Chaoxiang Emperor. Chiang had stipulated that a new KMT can be formed, one that was friendly to the Chaoxiang Emperor, now that the Emperor was an ethnic Han Chinese, and place southern China under the economic and industrial control of ethnic Hans.

Chiang Kai-Shek soon initiated the Southern Chinese White Terror, purging southern China from the control and sympathizers of the Old KMT, starting with Taiwan. Feng Yuxiang took control of the Old KMT, and declared war against Chiang Kai-Shek. After records of Feng's looting of ancient temples was declassified, support of the Old KMT and the ROC severely deteriorated.

For his role, Chiang Kai-Shek was named the King of the Southern Realm, with the Chaoxiang Emperor divided China into five main Kingdoms, the Northern Kingdom, Southern Kingdom, the Western Kingdom and the Kingdom of Tibet (later the Khaganate of East Turkestan came its own Kingdom after a Manghit was crowned the Khagan of East Turkestan).

The New Kuomintang then shifted their support to the North Vietnamese Army in the Vietnam War, and attacked NATO forces in Shanghai, Macau and Hong Kong. Beifang Army attacked the Russians in the north, while the Kuomintang attacked NATO forces in the south. Contrary to the expectations of world observers, both the Beifang and Kuomintang emerged victorious and captured key targets.

The Chaoxiang Emperor saw huge value in promoting Chiang Kai-Shek as a Generalissimo.

Under the leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek, the now-united Chinese forces secured key territorial gains against Britain and France. Impressively, the Imperial Chinese Forces took Hong Kong from British forces, destroying the British forces in Hong Kong.

Territorial Expansion and Cold War

At this point in time, China was going to become the "next Japan", both Chinese and foreign leaders knew this. The Russians would not stop it, and favored an alliance with China, while the British Empire retained a more-so neutral stance, the United States feared China. Mongolia stood as an "allied buffer" between China and Russia, and was an ally of both nations, co-officiating both Chinese and Russian in addition to Mongolian.

Rapid growth: 1970-present and Cold War with India

China's first indigenously-built naval destroyer, the navy was one of the largest priorities of the modernization of the Chinese military

For much of the 1960s, China and Russia dominated the world. However, in 1947, a new superstate was formed: India. The Chinese and Russians opposed the Pakistan independence movement, and sent forces into India to help quell the Pakistani rebels.

In the following decades, India too, would grow into a superpower to rival China. In 1964, India became the third state to operate WMDs, and embarked on its own naval expansion.

The 1970s and 1980s was marked by a huge rapid growth in the Chinese economy, and the country experienced what many refer to as the "Second Self-Strengthening Movement", or the "Meiji Era of China". In order to tackle the issue of overpopulation, the Chinese government passed the "Two-Child Law".

Launching of the first Chinese space probe, c.1966, the Guān Xīng Zhě,

Unliked the ground-based Russian military, the Chinese put an aggressive emphasis on its navy observing how the United States dominated the world, and how the Empire of Japan nearly defeated the United States. Like the Soviet Union of old, the Empire of China relied on espionage missions as political tensions began to brew against the United States and Western powers, as well as its Russian neighbor to the north, in spite of its begrudging cooperation with the Russians. As such, China truly became a third power in the Cold War.

Since China isn't communist, it becomes one of two bastions of Asian nationalism and succeeds Japan as being the "incubator to Asian nationalism", rivaled only by India, which many Southeast Asians, especially the Maritime Southeast Asians such as Indonesia, saw as their main ally.

With India ramping up its naval and overseas expansion, producing its own aircraft carriers, and building up its ballistic missiles, it started to project influence against China. At this point in history, while Russia is the secondary superpower of the world, it remains uninterested in the Cold War, therefore, the Cold War is between China and India for global supremacy, especially the space and arms race.

In 1969, China sent the world's first manned landing onto the Moon, being considered the winner of the space race, in spite of Russia sending the the world's first satellite via the Sputnik mission.

Modern-day

In the 1990s, India and Russia both experienced internal conflict, that pitted China as the undisputed primary world superpower. India lost Pakistan and Bangladesh to independence, and Russia lost Central Asia, Kalmykia and Ukraine to independence. For a while, India receded from the world stage, focusing on improving internal situation (a decision which later benefit India in the decades later).

The 1990s became an era dominated by China, as Russia was gradually absorbed into the Chinese influence. China achieves what OTE United States does, by establishing a global presence, with 72 military bases in all continents.

In the year 2000, China signed the Sino-Japanese Treaty with Japan, one of the largest milestones in modern Chinese history. In the 21st century, the G-8 Asia-Pacific would expand to many countries, not only in Asia, but also in Oceania, South America, Africa and the Middle East. In 20??, the Sino-Brazilian Treaty was signed, in which Brazil was absorbed into the Chinese sphere of influence.

However, the resurgence of India as the world's secondary superpower has once-again, challenged the rise of China. China, India and Russia are now seen as the "top three" centers of civilization, with the western legacy becoming a thing of the past, the three are also the main leaders of the Concert of World Powers, along with Japan, Indonesia, Nanyang, Brazil and Germany.

Economy

Currently, China has the world's largest economy by PPP and nominal. It is today, the economic superpower of the world. As the country is rich in farmland, mineral resources, population and capital, it began to fully reap the benefits during the Second Self-Strengthening Movement.

Demographics

Ethnic Groups

Although while Han Chinese are the majority, namesake and "base peoples" of the country, China is a very multi-ethnic country, and this very fact is also embraced by one of China's national motto, "Five Races Under One Union" (一個聯盟下的五場比賽).

Currently, Han Chinese are the predominant ethnic group in the country, comprising 80% of the country's population. The Han Chinese are further sub-divided by ethno-linguistic groups, the two largest ethnic groups are the speakers of Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien, are make up the three largest Han groups. Cantonese and Hokkien peopled make up the Southern Kingdom as well as most of the Central Kingdom, while the Mandarin people inhabit central and northern China, the Northern Kingdom in particular, in the Northern Kingdom. The next 20% include of native ethnic minorities, including Huis, Manchus, Tibetans, Mongols, Uyghurs, Kazkhs and Evenkis. The Hui Chinese are for all intents and purposes ethnic Hans who follow Islam, their language is no different than their Han counterparts. Howevers, the Huis also have traces of Persian and Turkic descent within them. Although Huis are fairly dispered around the country, but their heaviest concentration is in the principalities of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia (within the Kingdom of Sanxi) - where they form the majority in Ningxia.

The Mongols for the most inhabit northern China, where they have their own kingdom, the Khaganate of Mongolia. Mongols are the third largest ethnic group in China after the Han and Hui, and are considered one of the "5 Great Races Under One Union". The Manchus inhabit Manchuria, which they too, have their own autonomous kingdom - the Kingdom of Manchuria. The Manchus are a Tungusic peoples, who were the ruling ethnic group in the previous dynasty, the Qing dynasty. Like the Mongols, Manchus too, are considered one of the "5 Great Races".

Another of the "5 Great Races" are the Tibetans, who inhabit the Kingdom of Tibet, they are the 4th-largest ethnic groups in the country who follow their own autonomous faction of Buddhism, a faction followed by most of the Mongols.

The Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group, who inhabit the Autonomous Region of East Turkestan, where the form the majority. However, other Turkic groups, such as the Kazakhs (Central Asia), are the next largest group of East Turkestan followed by other Central Asian Turkic groups, and even Mongols.

Religion

Shaolin Buddhist Pagoda forest

China is a multi-religious society, and is considered one of the most religious and spiritual countries in the world. Most if not, all of the world's major religions can be found in China. The largest religions in China are Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Chinese Folk Religion, Christianity and Islam. However, intermixing between influences from the religions is extremely common in the country, to where sometimes it can be un-distinguishable. Chinese Folk Religion, Taoism and Confucianism are the three oldest religions in China, and Buddhism was introduced around the 60s A.D. Now known as Mahayana Buddhism, it is China's largest religion. and the four religions are considered National Heritage Religions in the country.

Although Buddhism originates in India, but China's own adaptation of Buddhism has no transformed the country into a center of Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism is the largest Buddhist section in China, followed by the Tibetan Buddhism, followed in Tibet and Mongolia respectively. Chinese Folk Religion is a collective term for varying folk religions followed by the Han Chinese, and Sino-Tibetans, outside of Tibet. Taoism is a mysterious religion.

Niujie Mosque, old mosque in Beijing

Chinese Buddhism, via Chinese Folk Religion as well as Confucianism has influenced the countries around it, namely Japan, Korea, Vietnam and to a lesser extent, Mongolia.

Syncretric religions like Tengrism, followed by the Mongols and Turkic peoples are also followed, however Tengrism in China has become very Sinofied, and is known as the Tiandi-Jao. There are other religions such as the Hei-Tao religion that are syncretic to the Manchu people.

Catholic church in Hong Kong

Although Christianity has already had a presence in China via the Ancient Nestorians, did not gain serious traction until the 1700s with the arrival of major branches. The largest branches of Christianity practiced in China are the Protestant, Methodist, Lutheran, Roman Catholic and the National Church of China. China has the world's 7th-largest Christian population. As for Islam, it was introduced during the Tang dynasty via the western Silk Road. The earliest forms of Islam were a syncretic and pagan form. Islam is practiced in China's western regions.

Islam is also one of the largest religions practiced in China, mostly western China, and was introduced by Persian Muslims, particularily East Turkestan and Sanxi, where Islam is the majority in East Turkestan. The Hui people, are native Chinese-speakers who follow Islam where non-Chinese, Turkic-speaking peoples follow Islam in East Turkestan. Likewise, with the Hui people, a distinct Sino-Islamic culture has formed.

Politics

Currently, the Emperor is the Head of State of China, with the Generalissimo as the acting Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Territorial Administrations

Kingdoms

Territorial divisions of China

The Kingdom is the highest territorial administration, and the OTE equivalent is the Region and in this ATL, if no monarch is crowned as the Head of State, then it is a Region. Currently, China has 5 Kingdoms and 1 Region. Autonomous titles also include Khaganate.

1. Northern Kingdom
2. Southern Kingdom
3. Central Region
4. Khaganate of Inner Mongolia
5. Kingdom of Manchuria
6. Khaganate of East Turkestan
7. Kingdom of Tibet

Noble titles and hierarchy

The current noble and hierarchy of China follows a mix of traditions from its past dynasties, such as the latest Qing, Song, Ming and Yuan, as well as Russian and British imperial tradition. As of today, three historical royal dynasties survive, namely the Zhou dynasty, the Yuan dynasty and the Qing dynasty. They are known today in China as the "Three Greatest Living Dynasties".

Emperor/Empress

The Emperor (or Empress in case of females) of all China (全中國的皇帝) is the highest ranking royal in all of the China. They are known as the Guohuang (國黃). The Emperor is addressed by the title Chosen by the Mandate of Heaven (受天命所揀選). Unlike other monarchies, the Emperor-Elect is not on the basis of male or female line, but is decided by the current Emperor, after as series of divinization and rituals which determine his or her becoming the Emperor or Empress.

Although the House of Xinhan is the current ruling dynasty, 1967 Imperial Constitution dictates that it is possible for other royal houses to crown an Emperor, in the case that a emperor of the House of Xinhan cannot be enthroned, as by law, China is a monarchy "under the Mandate of Heaven". Other royal houses that would eligible for having this title are from first, the one of the "Great Three", namely the Manchu House of Aisin-Gioro who were from the previous ruling Qing dynasty, the House of Zhou, descendants of the Zhou dynasty (one of China's oldest) the most recent from the line of King Suzhong, and the House of Yuan, who are descendants from the historical Yuan and Northern Yuan dynasties, from the line Delbaatar Khan. If ultra-disastrous and somehow, someway, nobody from all houses could be found, then the choices go the next line of royal families, namely the princely ranks, and then to the duchal ranks and etc. However this is unlikely as every member of these royal houses would have to practically be dead.

King/Queen

As China is an Empire, it also consists of smaller Kingdoms, which are the second-largest territorial administration apart from the whole of Empire itself. This is taken from both Ancient and Traditional Chinese, and Imperial German tradition. Kings and Queens in China are known as Guówáng (國王). As part of China's Autonomy Rights Laws, natives can also use their own equivalents, which in the case of Mongolia, the Khan is used.

Dukes/Duchesses

The duke/duchess was introduced by European tradition, and starts the realm of the nobility.

Barons/Baronesses

The baron and baroness title is a new title introduced to China, and stems from European tradition.

Sphere of influence

Members of the Shanghai Pact

Asia-Pacific

• Korea
• Vietnam
• Cambodia
• Chagatai
• Laos
• Russia
• Thailand
• Myanmar

Middle East

• Persia

China-Europe Security Treaty

• Russia
• Belarus
• Yugoslavia

Chinese allies, friendly states not part of the Shanghai Pact

• Malaysia (shared with India)
• Kupanam
• Japan

China-Latin America Friendship

• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Peru
• Venezuela
• Brazil
• Panama

China-Africa Security Treaty

• Egypt
• Mauritania
• Ethiopia

Language

The national and official language of China is Modern Standard Chinese (現代標準漢語, Xiàndài biāozhǔn hànyǔ), which was officialized in 1970. Modern Standard Chinese is a stand-alone isolate within the broader Chinese family of the Sino-Tibetan languages. It contains vocabulary, grammer and substratum influences from mainly Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien, however also from the non-Chinese language, such as Manchu, Tibetan, Mongolian and Uyghur to enforce national unity.

Apart from Standard Chinese, the three most-spoken Chinese languages are Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien in that order. China is also linguistically diverse in non-Chinese languages, especially in the western and northern regions.

The largest non-Chinese language in Manchu, the native language of the Qing dynasty's rulers and of the Manchu people. It nearly-extinct, until its successful revival in the 1950s-60s. It is native to Manchuria, and is co-official to Standard Chinese. It is followed by Uyghur, Tibetan, Mongolian, Kazakh, Evenki and other Sino-Tibetan languages.

Every Kingdom/Governorate, Principality/Province, and all territorial units have a right to publicize their native languages alongside Standard Chinese.

Military

The Imperial Chinese Armed Forces (中華帝國武裝部隊) are the official fighting forces of the Empire of China, and currently the world's military superpower. It is divided into the Imperial Ground Forces, Imperial Navy, Imperial Air Force, Imperial Space Force, Imperial Military Police, and the Imperial Strategic Rocket Forces. Additionally, the country has what is referred to as Local Home Guards (當地家庭警衛) which are local paramilitaries, similar to the National Guard in the United States.

Once relying on Russian and American military technology during the Cold War, the military of China now produces its own indigenous weapons. Additionally, China is the world's third-largest possessor of ICMBs and nuclear warheads, possessing a known amount of 7,442 warheads.

Additionally, the Chinese military now boasts possessing the world's most overseas bases.

The Local Home Guards function quasi-autonomously, often-not using their own cultures and traditions - but are subject to audits by the Imperial Military Police who oversees that the Local Home Guards are functioning lawfully and for the defense of the Chinese homeland. Similar to Swiss paramilitary doctrine, members of the Local Home Guards can keep their weapons in their home.