United Republic of China

Concept #1: Alternate History of China
Premises:
 * China (with the exclusion of Altverse’s Machuria) is divided between (1) the Northern one-party communist sovereign state, the People’s Republic of China (Zhönghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó), and (2) the Southern multi-party democratic republic, the United Republic of China (Zhönghuá Liánhéguó). They are nicknamed North China and South China.
 * [Border suggestion subject to change] The border between the two countries is divided by the Kunlun Mountains at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, the Hengduan Mountains, and the Yangtze River. Tibet, Qinghai, Western Sichuan, and all other land below the Yangtze River which is the primary border at the Chinese flatland belongs to the United Republic of China. As for Shanghai, Chongming Island is a Demilitarization Zone that belongs to neither nation according to the 1950 United Nations Armistice, while Shanghai being south of the Yangtze River, belongs to the United Republic. Guangzhou is the capital of the United Republic of China and Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China. The island of Taiwan/Formosa is also a federal subject of the United Republic of China.
 * After Japanese surrender of Hong Kong and Macau, the reoccupation of Guangzhou by Chinese forces includes the occupation and annexation of Hong Kong and Macau by URCA forces led by General He Yingqin in July 1945 after his victory in the Zhijiang Counteroffensive against the IJA; this was not recognized by the British government and the issue was put on the table at the Potsdam Conference. Both the French and United States governments supported Chinese annexation of Hong Kong (and Macau to which the Portuguese government had not responded) and Britain stood alone against it; the French had preferred that the Chinese take control of Hong Kong rather than French Indochina, and Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to see an end to Western imperialism. In 1950, the British government formally recognized Hong Kong as a federal district of China. The Portuguese did not object to the annexation of Macau by the United Republic of China and it is assumed that it recognizes Macau as a part of the URC.
 * The Chinese Civil War "ended" in 1950 when the United Nations helped formalize an armistice and an official border between the two countries. Future clashes aggressions are prevented primarily because of the URC's decision to pursue non-alignment during the Cold War, although the URC continued to maintain substantial trade with the First World and was generally seen as an observer of the First World.
 * When the US gets involved in the Vietnam War in 1961, the URC maintained its non-alignment policy and declared neutrality. Trade with the US and both Vietnamese states were ceased during this time until the US pulled out of the war.
 * The Khmer Rouge never existed and the Kingdom of Cambodia continued.
 * The URC never obtains nuclear weapons while the PRC does.
 * After the Sino-Soviet split, in the 1970s, the United States begins relations with the PRC, which the URC tolerates, however after the Tiananmen Square Incident in 1989, the United States temporarily ended economic relations with China, however by the 2008 Beijing Olympics all traces of the temporary sever of relations had gone and in the 21st century the PRC had shifted to capitalism.
 * The markets of both countries compete heavily for influence in international trade, with the URC tending to be the greater exporter, while the PRC has emerged as a major world manufacturer due to its cheaper labor. Historically, the PRC overall had industrialized faster than the URC due to collectivist agenda. Unlike the PRC, in the URC industrialization differed by the federal district. Federal districts had been particularly organized for maximum financial self-dependency which corresponded with district tax systems in order to prevent large amounts of wealth from being drained from poorer districts to wealthier ones. As a side effect, this system had allowed richer districts to industrialize faster than the poorer ones until 2001 when the system was changed. The major district wealth gap between the richer coastal districts and the poorer inner districts has been blamed on the URC's failure to reform the district tax system and support inner districts with welfare decades earlier.
 * The People's Republic of China is about two or three decades behind of what it is by the 2010s in real life. For instance, many parts of the large cities seen today are either not present or greatly underdeveloped. Skyscrapers are few and roads are often crowded. Subways are also rather lacking in speed and quality and no high-speed railways yet run cross-country, although they are being commissioned; diesel engine trains are widespread and more commonly used. Fashion is also rather conservative and lacking in variety although bans on certain unorthodox fashion have long been lifted. Internet cafes are rather new to the public scene and are usually only found in mainstream cities. Association football is not only popular in the People's Republic of China but also practiced widely; the country's professional teams regularly compete against foreigners and are modestly ranked internationally as well as high ranked in the Orient. Mao Zedong's popularity as a historical figure continues to remain high in the PRC, even among Chinese millenials. The Simplified Chinese writing system is used. Beijing and Tianjin are the largest cities and the only cities that rival the United Republics four major cities.
 * PRC population is 571,313,230 people (calculated by adding up real-world 1990 provincial populations part of the alternate history PRC as well as real-world provinces belonging to Altverse Manchuria, then subtracting by the population of Altverse Manchuria. Much of the general population are concentrated in Beijing and Tianjin as well as the North China Plains and the Sichuan Basin.
 * As mentioned, the United Republic's wealth gap is clearly observed when contrasting inner federal districts with coastal federal districts that have better access to trade and the outside world. Major cities include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changsha, and Fuzhou; these four cities are linked by operational high-speed rail all finally introduced in the late 2000s. Two rails linking Guangzhou and Changsha to Kunming in Yunnan District are being constructed and plans for another linking Lhasa in Tibet has been proposed. All coastal provinces are considered developed status. Fashion and lifestyle is very liberal, especially among the middle class to upper class community. Meanwhile, traditionally undeveloped rural areas that largely make up the inner URC have experienced a monumental rate of development since the beginning of the 21st century after reforms to the national tax wealth distribution network. The Traditional Chinese writing system is used.
 * URC population is 443,326,345 people (calculated by subtracting China's 1990 population by the populations of Altverse Machuria and the alternate history PRC). Much of the general population are concentrated in its metropolitan areas and the Yangtze River down-stream plain.

Alternate History #1 - Kuomintang Federalist Chen Jiongming never attempts to assassinate ROC President Sun Yat-sen
Chen Jiongming was a founding member of the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance that helped kickstart the Chinese Revolution and the construction of Sun Yat-sen's provisional government of China. Later on he became the commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Army and was regularly appointed military governor of Guangdong province. For a long time he was a supporter of Sun Yat-sen's leadership and followed behind him until Sun decided to end his allegiance to the Beiyang government (he was disillusioned by warlordism in China) and create a Republic of China anew. As governor of Guangdong, Chen had given Sun the opportunity to base his new Republic in Guangdong province. However, Chen Jiongming disagreed with Sun on how to construct his unified Republic of China: Sun wanted to unify China by force and institutionalize change within the country under a single-party sovereign state, while Chen wanted peaceful unification of China with a federalist approach and a multiparty system. Federalism had been a popular idea at the time and China's warlord cliques had both sympathized and utilized federalist governance while opposing centralism as well as communism, especially during the war against Yuan Shikai's brief revival of the Chinese empire.

In real history, Chen had renounced his allegiance to Sun's Republic of China in favor of a united republic recently established by the Zhili warlord clique in 1922. He and Guangdong forces had rebelled against the Republic and attempted to assassinate Sun by shelling his family residence. Sun and his family barely escaped and were saved by gunboats commanded by General Chiang Kai-shek. This event had allowed Chiang and Sun to develop a strong friendship of trust. Eventually Chen Jiongming was defeated by military leaders allied with Sun and the federalist dream for China basically collapsed. Sun later sent Chiang to study communism in the Soviet Union, only for the purpose of the trip to backfire as Chiang develops an anti-communist attitude during his time in Russia.

'''In this alternate history, Chen never tried to assassinate Sun. Chen continues to hold his own beliefs but does not want to come in conflict with Sun. He remains the military governor of Guangdong Province and a powerful figure in the province. Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-sen never develop their "friendship of trust" and Sun never sends Chiang to the Soviet Union to study communism; instead Chiang remains head general of the Republic of China military and does not attempt to gain any political influence whatsoever. '''

'''When Sun dies of liver cancer on 12 March 1925, the KMT becomes divided between leftists sympathizing with the Communist Party of China and rightists who are anti-communist and support the conservation of traditional Chinese nationalist values. The rightists lose a lot of their influence in the KMT when Wang Jingwei becomes Sun Yat-sen's successor as the leader of the KMT; Wang Jingwei was the head of the KMT's left-wing. In November 1926, Wang and his leftist subordinates dominating the KMT Central Political Committee further angered defeated rightists by moving the capital of the Republic of China from Guangzhou, Guangdong to Wuhan, Hubei where the population was generally pro-left. Simultaneously, preparations for the Northern Expedition led by General Chiang Kai-shek were made under the Committee's orders, particularly the final formation of the National Revolutionary Army.'''

'''Meanwhile in Guangdong, provincial military governor Chen Jiongming who like other members of the KMT right-wing, was against the decision to move China's capital to Wuhan. Chen Jiongming had a lot of power in Guangdong and his name was decently known in the province. As governor and the commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Army, Chen decided to continue operating politically on behalf of the Republic of China. Chen established alliances with local warlords and annexed warlord lands. His greatest action was the pacification of the anarchical Guangxi province making it a part of his "federal republic" national concept for the Republic of China. Right-wing KMT leaders eventually rallied behind Chen due to his popularity. As Chen's federalism seemed to be working, even formerly strict right-wing centralists like Hu Hanmin began promoting Chen's regime. '''

'''In May 1927, news of the rise of Chen's regime reached the North. The Zhili warlord clique led by warlord strategist Wu Peifu announced support for Chen's federalist regime, but Wang Jingwei and the leftists were not happy and called Chen a counterrevolutionary and declared Wuhan to be the rightful capital of the Republic of China. Wang Jingwei called off the Northern Expedition which had reached Nanjing and Shanghai at the time. Enlisting the aid the Chinese communists and their military force of 5,000-strong known as the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, Wang went to war with Chen's regime. Arriving reinforcements from Nanjing led by NRA senior general He Yingqin numbered about 87,000; these soldiers did not have much battle experience but were well-trained at the Whampoa Military Academy at Guangzhou. Among these troops were many famed founders of the People's Republic of China such as Zhou Enlai and other eventual People's Liberation Army leaders. '''

'''On the other hand, Chen had about 102,000 regulars in his Guangdong Army, many of whom were experienced soldiers and vets of the Guangdong-Guangxi War and others former soldiers of warlord cliques. He also had allied with local warlords possessing armies of several hundred each. Chen's greatest advantages were the abundancy of supplies in Guangzhou and his control over the Guangdong Arsenal which was the Republic of China's primary weapons arsenal. Wang on the other hand lacked advantages. He realized that his movement to Wuhan had become a military mistake as he now faced two fighting fronts, one in the North against the Zhili clique, and another against Chen's regime. Wang also lacked control over the Red Army commanded by Mao Zedong and his communist compatriots, and in general lacked unity with them, especially due to his recent hesitation regarding suggested implementation of CCP social policies in the Wuhan administration.'''

'''Fighting broke out in Ganzhou in Southern Jiangxi between several divisions of the Guangdong Army and the Red Army in the month of June. The Chinese Comintern ordered the Red Army to retreat to the Jinggang Mountains, where they stalled hoping for He Yingqin's forces to enter the mountains and reinforce the communists. Yingqin's forces arrived in August but his intel was about a month outdated. The NRA blindly entered the mountains where they faced a near-encirclement engagement by the Guangdong Army. Much to Yingqin's dismay, the Red Army did not help attack the Guangdong Army during the encirclement attempt and instead fled the mountains. This mistake was a consequence for the lack of unity and communication between the NRA and Red Army, which Wang would soon regret. Yingqin's Army retreated with the Red Army out of the mountains, leaving supplies for Chen's forces that were meant to be given to the Red Army. The remaining forces took up refuge in Changsha, where Wang and Mao Zedong disputed over the direction of their war effort. Mao wanted to move the government to safety in the North while Wang wanted to maintain full defense of Wuhan. Subsequently, the Battle of Changsha occurred in September 1927 and was a decisive victory for Chen. Dozens of NRA battalions surrendered and defected to the other side, knowing that Chen could not be stopped. After losing control of Changsha, Wang decided to pull all of his forces back to Wuhan, but his decision was met with rejection by most military advisors including General Chiang Kai-shek who wanted to focus on countering the threat of the Zhili warlords. Consequently, Mao decided to take his Red Army to Guizhou to "fight another day," and many NRA servicemen who converted to communism joined them (for instance Zhou Enlai). After losing control over his military forces, Wang surrendered Wuhan to Chen as did the National Revolutionary Army, and Chen gained control of Hubei in addition to other provinces conquered to be part of his federal republic. Chen assumed leadership of the Republic of China and Hu Hanmin became chairperson of the Kuomintang (he would eventually become the Premier of the United Republic of China). Meanwhile, Wang was imprisoned and committed suicide while on parole in 1930.'''

'''In December 1927, Chen travelled to Nanjing to meet Chiang Kai-shek and reorganize the Northern Expedition. Chen reformed the nature of the campaign such that warlords could be given the opportunity to peacefully announce allegiance to the Republic of China. The Zhili clique in Beijing and many other minor warlord cliques joined the Republic of China and Chen gave them governance over their federal districts. However, the Fengtian clique led by Zhang Zuolin remained hostile. Defeated by Chinese Muslim General Bai Chongxi in February of 1928, Zhang Zuolin and the remaining Fengtian and retreated to Manchuria where they faced Zhao Guangping and his Manchu Republic. Imperial Japan saw the Fengtian advancement on the Manchu Republic to be an opportunity to establish a sphere of influence in Manchuria by helping the Fengtian clique in exchange for control over Manchuria. However, Zhang was very hesitant and opposed to accepting Japanese aid. Because of this, the Japanese assassinated Zhang, who was replaced with his son Zhang Xueliang who they excepted to be more compliant. To their surprise, in December Zhang Xueliang declared allegiance to Chen's Republic of China and waged war on the Manchu Republic in an attempt to integrate Manchuria as a federal province of the Republic of China. '''

'''On March 1, 1929, Chen Jiongming led the First Republic Congress with members of the various political parties in order to develop a federal Constitution. However the Congress had fell into chaos with harsh disagreement between parties, particularly those that arose from the New Culture Movement in 1919 and disagreed with the conservative nationalists. The gathering was rather disorganized. To resolve the conflict and remove radicals, Chen allowed parties to run social events across the nation to garner public support and democratically elect provincial delegates and then preside over the construction of the Constitution. This plan would also simultaneously build the platform for Chen to construct the legislative body of his new government. The results of his plan greatly improved the second Republic Congress in September over the first, and a Constitution was developed and adopted with the structure of government planned completely. '''

'''Meanwhile, fighting with the Manchu Republic extended into the summer of 1929 and Zhang had by then recieved the support of the National Revolutionary Army, allowing him to crush the Manchu Republic and force Zhao out of China. Chen declared Manchuria a federal province of the Republic of China, and declared China unified on 12 August, 1929, which became known as Reunification Day. Chen also renamed the Republic of China (Zhönghuá Mínguó) as the United Republic of China (Zhönghuá Liánhéguó). However, the focus Chen placed on the consolidation of Manchuria had led him to neglect the communist threat in Shaanxi. '''

'''Chiang's campaign against the Communists had been put on hold many times. Since the end of Wang's Wuhan administration, the Communists had escaped from Guizhou where they were able to combat Chiang and his NRA for half a year before moving to Xikang where they spent the winter to rest from war; from there they settled in the Western Sichuan mountainous region. Chen had allowed the communists to always remain at least a long step ahead of his anti-communist campaign. He lacked intel to fight unknown but seemingly always increasing numbers of communist forces that went up anywhere they had settled in. Often, when Chiang forces arrived in allegedly communist-held settlements, they would be met with only desolations. The whereabouts of the Communist leaders were rather confusing and generally unknown. Chiang's forces would go on for days without any sign of a target, and Chiang would order a retreat back to an NRA camp, only to learn that the communists would regularly come back to desolate areas in order to salvage supplies. Wars with warlord cliques prevented Chiang from sharing jurisdiction and dividing his army for more efficient search results. Consequent to the fall of the Manchu Republic, the communist insurgency found refuge in Shaanxi province where they had completed the Long March and united three Red Army groups, each capable of fighting decisive battles with Chiang's National Revolutionary Army. '''

'''1930 became known as a dark year when Chen's federalism fell under question. In Gansu province, ex-warlord provincial governor Feng Yuxiang's governance was met with hostility by Hui Muslim rebels led by Ma Tingxiang. During Chen's diplomatic trips to Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Hanoi, Feng went under the federal government's nose. In the winter of 1929 to early 1930, Hui Muslims starved and fell into poverty as Feng had seized supply shipments arriving from transcontinental supply routes in order to construct his provincial capital at Lanzhou. In the spring, Feng's provincial government has used the Hui people's cropland to grow opium poppies. In retaliation, the Gansu Hui Muslims rallied under Ma Tingxiang and rebelled against Feng. Because Ma thought the federal government was responsible for the treatment, he refused to negotiate with United Republic Congress. Meanwhile, Feng lied about his actions and explained that Ma had been comitting acts of banditry and was growing unsanctioned amounts of opium. This led the federal government to support Feng. Before the revolt was crushed, Chen Jiongming returned to Nanjing where he learned about the incident. Chen was surprised to learn that Ma was eager to negotiate with the President of the United Republic of China. The Judicial Yuan assessed the situation and then put Feng and Ma on trial. Ma was relieved of all charges while Feng was declared guilty and charged with treason, which was a surprise to the government and its civilians. In provinces particularly in the Central Plains and the Southern Valley regions, civilians protested for stronger central government and the resignation of their ex-warlord governors. Civilians accused governors of corruption and possession autocratic power.'''

'''Promptly, the United Republic Congress amended the constitution in order to bestow more powers to the central government and reduce the power of provincial governors by distributing  authority among newly developed civilian-elected positions in provincial government. The URC no longer called each region a "province," instead referring to them as "federal districts," and made several territorial changes. Each federal district would be governed by three branches of government inspired by the structure of federal government of the USA. Changes were also made within the federal government, particularly with the establishment of the Federal Control Agency, a federal service led by twenty-six federal government agents selected by President Chen to investigate the efficiency of public service and signs of corruption in both district and federal governments through the practice of auditing and other forms of evaluation. '''

'''While Chen's actions were met with positive feedback from the general population, he faced a hostile reaction by ex-Zhili warlord governors of Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shandong; the governors formed a military coalition generally comprising of former Zhili clique soldiers under their command during the warlord era, and called themselves the Four Lions of the Orient. The United Republic of China called it a "revival of the Zhili clique" and the war with them became known as the Central Plains War lasting from May 1930 to November. In July, Hebei surrendered after the Battle of Beiping (Beijing's previous name) when Chiang Kai-shek's forces entered the battle, and the Four Lions became the Three Lions. At the height of the war in October, the Three Lions coalition new they had lost the Northern Front to Chiang's forces, and so concentrated a blitzkrieg-style invasion on the capital of Nanjing to the South. However, despite the effort the invasion failed the coalition suffered an expense of a large amount of their forces. Within a month Chiang invaded Shandong and the rebellion ended with the unification restored. However, the war had put Chiang Kai-shek's campaign against the communists on hold, allowing the communist threat to significantly grow. Worst of all for the 'URC'  during the Central Plain's War, Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong had established unofficial relations with the Soviet Union and had begun recieving supplies from the Soviet Union collected in Xinjiang to fuel his so-called "Chinese Soviet Republic" in Shaanxi.'''

'''The Chinese Civil War in Shaanxi was temporarily halted by the Imperial Japanese invasion of Manchuria following the Mukden Incident in September 1931. Earlier in June 1931, Chen and Zhang Xueliang had discussed plans to transform Manchuria into a federal district. At that time, Manchuria was essentially an observed territory of the United Republic and the effort to integrate it into the federal republic were stalled by ethnic tensions between the Han Chinese and Manchu community in 1930 that erupted into civil war during the Central Plains War. After the occupation, Chen debated on whether to confront the Empire of Japan or confront Mao Zedong's communist state in Shaanxi. Earlier, Mao's accomplice Zhou Enlai had proposed a truce to confront the Japanese together. Chen decided that a truce could only be made if the Communist Party would be willing to be party of his multiparty democracy and disband the Red Army groups. Mao Zedong refused and the United Republic of China continued the Chinese Civil War against the communists in the spring of 1932, formally ending diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. '''

'''The communists survived offensives against the National Revolutionary Army. Seeing that he could not longer tolerate a stalemate in his campaign, Chen began talks with Nazi German military ambassador Hans von Seeckt who arrived in China on May 1933 to commence a German military mission. After the 'URC' had expressed interests in a French military mission against the communists, Chancellor of Germany Adolf Hitler had intervened, hoping to expand Germany's foreign relations with China. In 1934, Chen reached an agreement with Nazi Germany under the supervision of von Seeckt, and called off Chiang's campaign, ordering his return to Nanjing with the NRA. Chen commissioned 80 German-trained military divisions for the purpose of fighting the communist insurgency. '''

Alternate History #2 - The Second Sino-Japanese War is completely different
Premises of the alternate Second Sino-Japanese War


 * In real history, the lack of agreement between warlords loyal to the Republic of China about how to distribute the commissioned 80 German-trained NRA divisions stalls the creation of these divisions, and so by the time Germany stops cooperating with the Republic of China, only 8 of these 80 commissioned divisions were created, and they were only infantry divisions. In alternate history, Chen had asserted full command over the United Republic of China Armed Forces and had made reforms that drastically reduced the authority of the warlords in federal government affairs. This allows 63 of the 80 commissioned divisions to be created by the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, among them 10 tank divisions armed with Panzer I's. Each division consisted of about 1,000 to 2,000 men, and were integrated into the United Republic of China Army (URCA), along with 120 regular divisions of about 4,000-5,000 men each. The United Republic of China Air Force (URCAF) was also given several lines of German Ar 65 biplane fighters. By the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the United Republic of China had a military personnel of 1.3 million. 
 * The Second United Front (alliance with the Communists) is never created and Mao Zedong relocates his Chinese Soviet Republic to Qinghai in 1938. Many war refugees join the communists in Qinghai for food and supplies which they had amassed over the years of the insurgency. 
 * The Rape of Nanjing doesn't occur because most people living in the city were brought to Chongqing much earlier during Chiang's retreat from Shanghai. 
 * Somewhat successful evacuation plans cause a lack of Chinese civilians under Japanese jurisdiction. The Three Alls policy is never made and no puppet government in mainland China is created. Rather than set up a puppet government, Japan decides to annex China in the future, after the war ends (assuming that Japan is victorious). To prepare the annexation, IJA leaders assume autocratic rule over conquered lands, which become known as Imperial fiefdoms. Chinese POWs and remaining citizens are integrated into these fiefdoms where they are forced to work and live in maltreatment. However, this buys URC forces enough time to regroup and plan more counteroffensives. 
 * The communists gain power among refugee populations located in Northern China while URC governors, many ex-warlords, tend to refugee populations in the South. It is among the general refugee population that people become divided between either CCP or URC. Families become split as individuals hear rumors that the other side may provide better food and shelter. In general, the rate of people joining the CCP is greater than the rate of people joining the URC. While most governors are benevolent to the people and utilize systems of distribution, others are not so generous, and the refugees starve. Meanwhile in the North, the CCP had distributed much of the food and supplies they had amassed during the insurgency, promising them to those that signed up with the Communist Party; this encouraged many to travel North in order to recieve more food and supplies. However, freezing cold northern winters often caused people to travel/return South to areas of warmer climates and rain for farming. URC government officials often held returning individuals as traitors and there was a degree of persecution and violence against these individuals. At the same time, the CCP persecuted refugees who were former landowners and government officials of the URC. 
 * The Soviet Union turned over most of their concessions in weapons and supplies left by the Japanese to the Communist Party of Manchuria instead of the Communist Party of China, although at the earlier request of Mao, Xinjiang and much of Northeastern China including Western Manchuria was ceded to the Chinese Communists. 

'''The Battle of Shanghai is a brutal stalemate lasting four months although the Japanese do advance gradually. As winter arrives, Chen orders a retreat and regroup in Nanjing and Chiang Kai-shek pulls his forces out of Shanghai after burning the parts of the city he held. Chen moves the capital to Chongqing as the Japanese advance; millions of war refugees from Nanjing move to Chongqing. Meanwhile, the Battle of Shanghai captured enough media attention for foreign countries to send supplies to aid the Chinese war effort. As the Battle of Nanjing occurs, Chen Jiongming contracts and dies of typhus in Chongqing. Premier Hu Hanmin is elevated to Acting President and resumes all responsibilities of Chen. Hu calls for the evacuation of refugees toward the west to Xikang and Yunnan. Most Northern refugees fall under the observation of communists in 1938 who have relocated the Chinese Soviet Republic to Qinghai. '''

'''Meanwhile, URC counteroffensives are successful in 1939, causing a stalemate and halt in the Japanese advancement. Concessions of land were tossed back and forth between the Japanese and Chinese from then, until the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria and later the US bombing Japan, allowing the Chinese, both CCP and URC, to begin a mass reclamation of land until the Japanese military surrender to the United Republic of China (no surrender was made to the CCP which Japan did not yet recognize).'''

'''By the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the URC's remaining forces faced approximately 2 million well-united communist militia and an addition of five million vaguely armed peasants, in comparison to 4.2 million generally disunited URC forces. Furthermore, the Communist Party had promised peasants control over Chinese land, allowing them to mobilize large numbers of volunteer militiamen. In February 1946 at the end of the winter, the Red Army engaged URC provincial forces in Henan and were able to conquer Henan with provincial forces on the run. As a result, President Hu Hanmin called for the regrouping of URC forces in Chengdu and other cities along the Yangtze River. After his astonishment about the effects of Communist propaganda on peasant war refugees in the North, Hu Hanmin launched a propaganda campaign of his own in 1946, warning peasants aligned with the communists and his own refugee population that the Communist Party would "litter the great countryside with prison work camps where the Chinese people would be forced to work and be treated like Russian mules." The United Republic of China Armed Forces had the advantage of planes, where they would drop leaflets urging refugees to escape South to avoid being bombed. Hu had refugees convinced that there was farmland available in the South for planting rice that they could eat. At the same time, Mao Zedong would counter Hu's accusations and the indirect debates would go back and forth as the UCRA and Red Army clashed between the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. In general, Mao was usually more convincing and refugees whom were former proletariat joined the communists in the masses. '''

'''While the Red Army had the advantage of manpower and could overrun the UCRA, the large amount of casualties on their sides would deeply lower morale; Chiang Kai-shek had called the communists "barbaric hordes incapable of fighting competitively and with strategy." Despite URC advantages, the communists had devastated the URC's offensive campaign by using their manpower to block off supply routes, go on missions to destroy railroads, and commit quick atrocities on Southerners; the communists convinced the peasants that Southerners they had killed were their upper-class oppressors. Meanwhile, earlier on from 1946 to 1947 the URC had struggled to feed a substantially larger and enormous refugee population that was terribly displaced. The United States and other Allied had declared their inability to lend major support to the Chinese people, much to the United Republic Congress' dismay. '''

'''In August 1948, the Red Army had gradually pushed down to the banks of the Yangtze River and the edge of the Tibetan plateau. Just as it seemed that the invasion of the Yangtze downstream would come inevitable and swift, Hui Muslim Ma Tingxiang who was allegiant to the URC incited a rebellion in Qinghai that came to be known as the Blue Jihad, a violent reaction by Northern Muslim refugees against the communists who had disrespected their religion and places of worship. Weeks into the rebellion, the URC's newly formed Qinghai Expeditionary forces travelled across the Qin mountains to aid the Hui Muslims in the Battle of Xining; this deliberately delayed Mao's plan to invade the Sichuan Basin. '''

'''In January 1949, the United States and the United Republic of China agreed on an alliance. The United States Navy observed the relocation of hundreds of thousands of URC refugees to United Nations refugee camps in Formosa/Taiwan and supplied the URC military with food. The United States did not, however, sanction the yield of weapons and ammunition to the URC military or have the US Army take military action against the communists in fear of starting a war with the Soviet Union; President Truman wanted the Soviet Union to see US involvement as purely a pursuit of peace and humanitarian aid. In July 1949, the Red Army successfully invaded and took over the Sichuan Basin. The fact that the US military would not take action soured Hu's view of the United States; Hu blamed the defeat in Sichuan Basin on lack of foreign military intervention. '''

'''Hu, member of the KMT political party, was deeply anti-separatist while the United Republic Congress overall had become more willing to tolerate the existence of the People's Republic of China and pursue peace. During the 1950's election in February 1950, KMT Acting President Hu Hanmin was replaced by Chiang Ching-kuo, General Chiang Kai-shek's son and politician who was a member of the Democratic Progessive Party that promoted peaceful future relations with the People's Republic of China; his agenda to end the war attracted positive attention by the mass majority of the URC population and Chiang won by a landslide. Shortly after he was inaugurated President, Chiang Ching-kuo began talks with the UN Council to bring an end to the war. '''

'''When presented with a peace negotiation, Mao Zedong rejected the idea of peace treaty, having wanted to unify China under a communist sovereign state. However, USSR dictator Joseph Stalin did not want to sour relations with the United Nations at the time while he was in the process of beginning his Soviet expansionist agenda; he did not feel it was worth it and/or that it was the right time to unify China under communism then. Stalin persuaded Mao to accept an Armistice agreement only, which was also suggesting that the unification be made in another time. The Chinese Armistice was signed by both parties on 27 July 1950. All Chinese land South beyond the edge of the Tibetan plateau, West beyond the Hengduan Mountains and South of the Yangtze River belonged to the United Republic of China, with the addition of Taiwan/Formosa Island and island territories in the South China Sea; meanwhile the People's Republic of China would take the rest (with the exception of Soviet-occupied Manchuria).'''

TBC