miletus12
Squadron vice admiral
To get yourself lost, just follow the signs.
Posts: 7,470 
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Post by miletus12 on May 15, 2023 23:35:53 GMT
I would suspect that the entire Trust Territory would have been admitted into the Union as one whole thing instead of chopping off the Mariana Islands and Palau, for ease of administration. However, in terms of land mass, they’ll be as small as Maine if they were put together. Population wise, they’d be the smallest. At best, they’d join the US as an unincorporated territory and commonwealth. I’m not sure how the electoral college would be affected by a potential admission of the trust territories as actual states, given that if they did, they’ll only have enough to have 1 electoral vote in the EC. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on May 16, 2023 0:10:52 GMT
I would suspect that the entire Trust Territory would have been admitted into the Union as one whole thing instead of chopping off the Mariana Islands and Palau, for ease of administration. However, in terms of land mass, they’ll be as small as Maine if they were put together. Population wise, they’d be the smallest. At best, they’d join the US as an unincorporated territory and commonwealth. I’m not sure how the electoral college would be affected by a potential admission of the trust territories as actual states, given that if they did, they’ll only have enough to have 1 electoral vote in the EC. I would also think that a Puerto Rican statehood would actually be in the cars in TTL. Given that TTL's President Dukakis would preside over the fate of the former Trust Territories, an admission of Puerto Rico would definitely happen in a Democrat administration. That being said, admitting the entire Trust Territory into the Union as a full fledged state may also solve TTL's growing refugee problem |
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gillan1220
Fleet admiral
I've been depressed recently. Slow replies coming in the next few days.
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Post by gillan1220 on May 16, 2023 1:56:24 GMT
I would suspect that the entire Trust Territory would have been admitted into the Union as one whole thing instead of chopping off the Mariana Islands and Palau, for ease of administration. However, in terms of land mass, they’ll be as small as Maine if they were put together. Population wise, they’d be the smallest. At best, they’d join the US as an unincorporated territory and commonwealth. I’m not sure how the electoral college would be affected by a potential admission of the trust territories as actual states, given that if they did, they’ll only have enough to have 1 electoral vote in the EC. They'd be the smallest and too widespread that would be a problem for the economy and natural disasters. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on May 16, 2023 2:05:57 GMT
Hence I would suspect that they’d keep them as unincorporated territory instead of a state. However, I would also suspect that the typhoon prone Trust Territories would become a hub for construction firms.
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Jun 9, 2023 4:51:00 GMT
RE-OMAKE 03: SERIKBOLSYN ABDILDIN'S INTERVIEW REDUX
NOTE: This is a reposting from the original chapter, which I found to have some significant continuity issues. In the original chapter of this TL thread, I had Gorbachev arrested after coming back from Mongolia while another chapter had him arrested after coming back from the INF treaty signing. Let's hope this clears up the confusion.
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Portions from the Interview with Former Communist Party of Kazakhstan Leader Serikbolsyn Abdildin
Qazaqstan, released on December 8, 2018
Recalling the Power Struggle within the Kazakh Communist Party and the Origin of the December Coup of 1987 and the Second Russian Civil War
Interviewer: We thank you for your service to our nation, and for your steadfast work in building the new Kazakhstan today, Mr. Abdildin. How are you tonight, sir?
Abdildin: I'm good. I am rather excited to tell my story though.
Interviewer: That's the reason why we're here today. Anyways, I was surprised to hear that you were not the first choice to replace Dinmukhamed Konayev. In fact, the first candidate that Mr. Gorbachev had selected was an outsider named Gennady Kolbin, only for him to flatly reject the offer to take over the Kazakh Communist Party. Needless to say, Mr. Kolbin has our respect today for stepping aside and allowing a Kazakh to lead the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. What was your reaction to Gorbachev's initial choice of Mr. Kolbin?
Abdildin: My initial reaction was that of shock. We were furious that Mr. Gorbachev would select a non-Kazakh to lead the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, until Mr. Kolbin told him off for practicing Great Russian Chauvinism. Of course, Mr. Kolbin did suggest my predecessor, Kenes Aukhadiyev, as the next candidate, after Mr. Gorbachev refused to allow Nursultan Nazarbayev to take the coveted position. Needless to say, I was also against the appointment of Nazarbayev, mostly because he had higher ambitions than to become a mere socialist satrap. As for Mr. Aukhadiyev, he played a major role in the post-Soviet development of Kazakhstan, with him almost winning the Presidency in 2001, before losing to me.
Interviewer: What was Mr. Nazarbayev's ambition, if I may ask?
Abdildin: I would say that Mr. Nazarbayev wanted to become the leader of the entire Soviet Union. In fact, Gorbachev's snubbing of Nazarbayev actually led him to defect to what is becoming a secret faction that opposed Gorbachev's reforms. While Nazarbayev initially supported the policies of glasnost and perestroika, he feared that if those reforms went out of control, the Soviet Union would experience a kind of destabilization that will lead to its eventual collapse. Of course, that also led to Nazarbayev siding with Anatoly Lukyanov, who was the de facto leader of the Control Group, which was the unofficial name of the anti-Gorbachev faction.
Interviewer: Did Mr. Nazarbayev eventually got his wish though? It seems that there's been a power struggle within the Soviet Union as to who may eventually replace Gorbachev, and the incident where Boris Yeltsin showed up at a Party meeting, completely drunk and under stress, was used as a justification by another rival anti-Gorbachev faction to call for his ouster. Who else opposed Gorbachev?
Abdildin: Oleg Baklanov, who was also hostile to Lukyanov, wanted to completely reverse Gorbachev's reforms, but could not openly state his hostility to Gorbachev, without any blowback. Fearing Baklanov's potential rise as an opponent to Gorbachev, said Premier would send him to Afghanistan as an advisor to Afghan President Mohammad Najibullah. He made a mistake though, as sidelining Baklanov left him exposed to whatever machinations that Lukyanov have for him.
Interviewer: How was sidelining Baklanov beneficial to Lukyanov?
Abdildin: Initially, Lukyanov was Gorbachev's ally too, and he supported the reforms that were needed. However, he saw the potential of those reforms going out of control as something that would backfire badly, and thus he began to cavort with those politicians who were afraid of glasnost and perestroika. However, Baklanov was also his rival for the top position within the Soviet Union, and indeed, there were many others that gravitated to Lukyanov, including Nazarbayev, Aleksander Lukashenko, and myself.
Interviewer: All right then. Let's talk about the December Coup of 1987. Most historians and former CPSU officials who now serve their successor states have agreed that the December Coup of 1987 had its roots in the signing of the INF Treaty, although the real cause of it was a series of gatherings that took place throughout the former Soviet Union, as well as the growing complaints from certain anti-Gorbachev officials. Indeed, between November 14 and December 5, the most amount of unsanctioned gatherings took place in the Ukrainian SSR, followed by the Baltic republics, and most surprisingly, the Belarusian SSR. Did you think that Lukyanov's caution had worked out to his advantage?
Abdildin: Yes, and no. Lukyanov was able to point the unsanctioned gatherings as proof that glasnost and perestroika were ticking time bombs waiting to go off, but it was the gathering at Ukraine's Holosiivska Square on December 4th that brought in Interior Ministry troops that led to a brutal suppression of the unsanctioned gatherings in Kiev. Keep in mind that the gathering at Holosiivska Square was made by a group of Ukrainian cultural activists that wanted to bring to attention the fact that the Soviet Union was suppressing various national cultures, including Ukrainian culture. The Reykjavik Summit of 1986 had already concluded, and Gorbachev didn't want to travel anywhere else while the War in Afghanistan and the conflict between Pakistan and India continue to rage on.
Interviewer: So why did Mr. Lukyanov waited until 1987 to launch his coup against Gorbachev?
Abdildin: Because had he launched his coup in 1986, that would have ended in failure. Mr. Lukyanov had to build his credentials with the old guard, as well as the entire KGB leadership and the Red Army officers. Keep in mind that Mr. Lukyanov also had to build his own support group that could aid him in slowing down the reckless policies of the Gorbachev government. Yet, after Lukyanov pulled off his coup with the imprisonment of Gorbachev in Sochi after his return from signing the INF treaty, the Union itself was divided over whether or not they should have supported the coup. It was bloodless, but some of the strongest supporters of Gorbachev came from the western regions of the USSR, especially the Baltic States and Ukraine. The unsanctioned gathering in Vinnytsiya and the KGB's brutal crackdown was one of the reasons why the Second Ukrainian War of Independence was one of the bloodiest theaters of the Second Russian Civil War. Additionally though, the first Ukrainian unsanctioned gathering took place as early as 1986 at Holosiivska Square, but that ended without a shot being fired.
Interviewer: Was Ukrainian society affected by its Second War of Independence?
Abdildin: Yes. You have to keep in mind that the Communist Party of Ukraine had irredeemably split after Volodymyr Shcherbytskyi had died on the same day of the coup from his injuries sustained in that car accident, and it was now contested between the pro-Gorbachev candidate in Vladimir Ivashko, Valentyna Shevchenko, who represented the pro-Lukyanov faction, and the third was a faction that favored total Ukrainian separation from the USSR. This faction was being led by the son of Roman Shukhevych, in Yuriy Shukhevych, and they were the most vocal in cultivating hostility towards the Soviet government.
Interviewer: As I understand it, the Second War of Ukrainian Independence didn't officially break out until 1990, but these unsanctioned gatherings had an effect on Ukrainian nationalism, as they were able to spread its message towards the citizens of the Ukrainian SSR. Did these unsanctioned gatherings had consequences beyond their borders?
Abdildin: Unfortunately, the growth of ethnic nationalism within the USSR had also spread throughout the other republics, and it didn't reach the Russian SFSR, until 1987, when we had a man who was an unknown at that time, calling for Russians to reclaim their destiny from the 'shackles of Soviet chains'. That man was Dmitry Rogozin, and he had some bizarre thoughts on Russian nationalism, which we viewed it as his brand of Great Russian Chauvinism. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who was also seen as a radical nationalist, had a notorious prejudice towards Caucasians and Muslims in general. It is also worth noting that Diomid Dzyuban, who was still a student at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, had been arrested by the KGB, on suspicion of being tied to underground Russian nationalist organizations, but the naked aggression in which the KGB displayed in Diomid's arrest had an electrifying effect on the emerging opposition within the Russian SFSR that Lukyanov himself would personally give the order for Diomid's release from incarceration. Unfortunately, we also witnessed some other talking heads that actually managed to succeed in creating a third strain of National Bolshevism. It was this third strain of which the current Russian President, Aleksey Zhuravlyov, belongs to.
Interviewer: That must have been embarrassing for Lukyanov, having a minor religious nobody arrested, and then facing the wrath of the international community for doing so. It is not by accident that this Diomid eventually became the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, right?
Abdildin: Yes, and his brief stay in the Black Dolphin prison had an effect on him. Since his stay there, Diomid had to read books that were available to him in passing the time.
Interviewer: Ok. Going back to the December Coup of 1987, did you think that things could have gone differently if Gorbachev wasn't deposed?
Abdildin: I doubt it, since powerful figures within the Soviet government had grown to view him in a rather negative light. Even when the Soviet army was launching new offensives in Northern Afghanistan to secure the border that we share with them, Gorbachev was fearful of losing more Soviet troops to the Mujahideen, which was understandable. You also have to understand that people like Aman Tuleyev, who embraced Diomidean Eurasianism, and Alexander Lebed, who was basically seen as the Russian SFSR's real man behind the throne, had their political baptism by fire in the late 1980s. Lukyanov would eventually preside over the plans to form the Reformed Union Pact, which reorganized the USSR into a Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics. However, because of an incident in the Ukrainian SSR, the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics would become the face of what the West called Soviet/Russian aggression of the 1990s, in which the break up of the Soviet Union was rather bloody.
Interviewer: We are aware of Zhuravlyov's irredentist viewpoints and was extremely vocal in his support back in the Second Ukrainian War of Independence for the two emerging entities there: the Chernozyomskoye Sovereign Republic, and the Priazovye Sovereign Republic. Both entities there are populated by a mixture of Russians and Ukrainians, though other ethnic minorities had actually moved there as a result of other conflicts breaking out within the USSR. However, when it became clear that Ukrainians wanted nothing to do with Russians, the conflict in the two separatist entities had turned into an ethnic conflict where Russians and Ukrainians are fighting each other. It wasn't an accident that in response to the expulsion of the Russian population from Transnistria and southwestern Ukraine, the Russians simply began to expel the Poles and Lithuanians from Belarus, which they managed to keep as a part of the USSR, and Ukrainians from the two breakaway entities. The expulsions and mass murders were so horrific that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Soviet Union had seen a record of over 200 Russians, 175 Ukrainians, a whooping 34 Lithuanians, 32 Estonians, and 35 Latvians being charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Were you horrified about the events that were unfolding?
Abdildin: Of course. It was completely unthinkable that Soviet citizens would one day turn their weapons on each other and slaughter one another. Of course, the very nature of the Soviet Union was built on ethnic based trip wires that would have caused headaches for the international community to deal with. At the same time though, you also had two additional Russian breakaway entities that did emerge in eastern Estonia and eastern Latvia as well. The Prinarvoye and Latgalia Free State however, were two radically different entities in that they were primarily populated by Russians that have tragically embraced the same kind of fascist ideology that killed their grandparents.
Interviewer: Ah. I believe that it was the unrecognized Russian West Baltic State that has become a dumping ground for the Russian Neo-Nazis, and the irony is that they're occupying the territory that belongs to other nations. Of course, there is an unwritten agreement that the Zhuravlyov government will turn a blind eye should Estonia and Latvia launch a military operation to retake those lost territories, but at the same time the RWBS also served as a crucial buffer between Russia and NATO. Going back to Kazakhstan, the power sharing agreement made between the Russian SFSR and the Central Asian SSRs had been a benchmark of what emerged as a useful strategic partnership, as it enabled the post-Soviet Russian governments to focus more on Asia and the wider Pacific region. Did this kind of relationship also have an effect on the attempted radical Islamist infiltration of Central Asia?
Abdildin: To an extent, yes. You also have to realize that the Caucasus was more vulnerable to Islamist infiltration than Central Asia, because it was the epicenter of the Stalinist deportation of the North Caucasian Muslims, and Al-Qaeda under Abdullah Azzam had used the events of that tragedy as a selling point to help recruit the descendants of the deportees to wage jihad. Unfortunately, they also managed to provoke Iran into getting involved in a limited military operation against the Islamist warlords that dominated Afghanistan after the violent collapse of the communist government there. Even though a longer Soviet backing allowed Afghanistan to invade Pakistan in the aftermath of the Indian capture of Nankana Sahib in January of 1989, its absorption of the Pashtun speaking areas had sped up its collapse, and the Mujahideen was able to redeploy into Afghanistan after the Punjab Conflict ended.
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Jun 17, 2023 17:59:43 GMT
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: NEW ORDER
Excerpts from 'The Man with Three Masks: The Rogue Generals Era from the Eyes of a Soldier-Actor'
by: Romeo Arcilla
UP Kabankalan Printing Press, published on May 10, 2018
Chapter Three: To Bide One's Own Time
(Translated to English from Filipino)
Thank God the civil war was over, but I learned to my shock that my parents were killed during the early stages of the conflict when troops belonging to that bastard president had massacred much of the people of Baler, where I lived. At that time, I was with my classmates from St. Joseph's College of Quezon City when war broke out, and we found ourselves being dragged into the conflict as civilian volunteers. The Quezon City garrison had come under the command of Colonel Oscar Canlas, who was subsequently promoted to Brigadier General under the late President Aquino, and soon took over the 7th Infantry Division, following the death of its predecessor, General Marcelo Blando. As civilian volunteers, we were expected to help out with the major construction and clean up efforts, as well as transporting weapons and ammunition when the soldiers couldn't do it while active combat was happening. However, to our surprise, Colonel Canlas has also ordered that all of the civilian volunteers be given some form of military training as well, since we were told that we would at one point, have to help the troops defend a certain position that the enemy wanted to capture. To our surprise though, it was the Alsa Masa paramilitary forces, along with certain stragglers from the Philippine Constabulary that would train us in basic firearms handling, as well as how to handle explosives. To my relief, that actually came in handy when troops belonging to the former dictator had advanced into the border between Caloocan and Quezon City. We were nervous at the prospect of actually killing another human being, much less a fellow Filipino. Unfortunately, the experiences from the civil war had taught us that any fellow citizen today could one day be a traitor tomorrow. I remembered it all too well; the first time that my squad was deployed to the intersection between Quirino and Regalado Highways. We were told to watch out for any sightings of enemy forces. For a few hours, we gradually got used to the patrol duties and even relaxed for a bit. It was not until when we started to receive our dinner rations that the first gunfire was heard. We ate quickly and headed back to the intersection from our makeshift cantina at Roma Avenue, only to find forty enemy soldiers advancing towards the pillbox where two of my college classmates were firing their machine guns. I went inside one of the tall houses and peeked outside as one enemy officer gestured for his troops to slowly advance. I quickly aimed the M14 rifle that was issued to me and fired, but the bullet missed the target. Worse, that same officer I tried to kill had pointed at the house where I was at, and shouted for the artillerymen to aim their shot at my position. I quickly got out of the house, and went into another one, before the explosion from the artillery shell had buried me beneath the rubble. Fortunately, the pro-government soldiers found me and dug me out of the rubble, before gesturing for me to retreat, as they have arrived to relieve the civilian volunteers. I refused, as we didn't receive any orders to retreat, but to my surprise, Colonel Canlan himself arrived at our positions and told us that we were to help with the delivery of ammunition and weapons to other pro-government soldiers fighting against our enemies.
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Portions from the Interview with Prominent Balkan Pop Star and Noted Filipino Exile Karylle/Ana Yanevska
Radio Televizija Jugoslavija, released on April 12, 2018
Retelling the Exodus from Tadiar's Philippines
Interviewer: Although you've built your reputation as one of the few Balkan pop stars who came from a refugee background, the other one being Ani Hoang, you've marketed yourself as someone who is both less boastful and more reserved. In fact, you have more fans in all of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria than in your own homeland. How do you feel about that?
Yanevska: To be honest, I had forgotten most of what the Philippines was like, as we were forced to leave when Tadiar rose to power. What truly started our painful journey was the time when my mother and I learned that my stepfather, the famous Dolphy Quizon, was killed while participating in the EDSA marches of 1988. The very same one that Artemio Tadiar would use as a justification to create his own dictatorship. The moment that my stepfather died was when my mother and I made our journey towards Subic Bay. We simply grabbed on one of the boats that was eager to get out of the Philippines, and for a few days, we were stranded in the West Philippine Sea, until we were rescued by a Vietnamese Navy patrol boat.
Interviewer: How did that go? I could not imagine that your family must have been relieved, being rescued by your communist neighbor.
Yanevska: Yes, but once we arrived in Vietnam, the Vietnamese government was reluctant to keep us within its territory. My mother wanted to go to Thailand, and to seek asylum in the US Embassy there, but the Vietnamese authorities said that the Thai government will extradite any Filipino refugee that has arrived within its territory and hand them back to Tadiar. However, the Vietnamese government has given us exit visas to travel to any other country within the communist bloc, which made our situation a lot bleaker. Vietnam didn't establish relations with the Western bloc until after the collapse of the Vietnamese communist dictatorship in the Revolution of Dignity.
Interviewer: Bleaker? I can understand that going to China was not an option, as well as Laos, Cambodia, but what about Malaysia?
Yanevska: Like I said, the Vietnamese exit visas only allowed us to travel within the communist bloc. So we eventually traveled to the Soviet Union for a bit, and stayed there for a few months, but the Lukyanov government was not exactly welcoming towards the Filipino refugees that were insane enough to end up there. Keep in mind that the Filipino refugees that normally end up in communist nations are often ex-NPA fighters, many of whom were arrested and taken to various Soviet and Soviet-aligned gulags for their ideological deviation and other kinds of crimes.
Interviewer: So it was in the Soviet Union that you were able to get another exit visa, correct?
Yanevska: Yes, but out of all the embassies that operated inside Moscow, only the Yugoslav Embassy was able to intervene in our plight. Keep in mind that the Dukakis administration had become a bit more hostile towards the Lukyanov regime because of the latter's coup against the late Mikhail Gorbachev, and that President Dukakis had always insisted that Gorbachev remained the legal leader of the Soviet Union. Sadly, the Yugoslav and Bulgarian Embassies remained open while the split within the communist bloc was unraveling. A few months before President Dukakis's death, Poland had announced that they were closing their embassies and consulates within the Soviet Union, with Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and East Germany doing the same thing.
Interviewer: And how did you and your mother ended up in Bulgaria of all places?
Yanevska: I think it was more to do with luck than anything, because not a lot of Filipinos wanted to move to Bulgaria. They heard of how Yugoslavia wanted to take in the refugees, only to take care of them for a bit before sending them to the more affluent Western countries, but not everyone was able to receive a refugee visa to enter Yugoslavia. When we eventually arrived in Bulgaria, we ended up staying at a special hostel for the refugees that arrived there from around the world, even including the ones that directly fled from the Philippines.
Interviewer: How would you describe your early life in Bulgaria?
Yanevska: Extremely difficult. I was enrolled in a local school where so many kids didn't want to be friends with me. In fact, racism and discrimination was sadly common within Bulgarian society, despite decades of communist rule. I had to learn Bulgarian from one of my classmates whose family originally came from Turkey, but of Kurdish descent. However, my stardom actually started when I was performing at a school talent show as a member of a choir there. The students loved my singing so much that they pleaded with me to sing some more after the talent show ended. Meanwhile, my mother had to work two jobs just to get by, but eventually she did work her way up into the local film industry there. You'd probably know her by her minor roles in some of the Bulgarian movies there.
Interviewer: Ah, yes! Now I remember now. She played the role as Fatma Alpay in the show 'Chains'. That was the show about a woman who experienced the Great Excursion, or the events that led to the expulsion of Bulgaria's Turkish minority. Did your mother learn Turkish, by the way?
Yanevska: A bit, although she spoke Bulgarian most of the time in the movie. However, her fame didn't explode until 2015!
Interviewer: 2015? How did she remain obscure from the 1990s until 2015?
Yanevska: Well, she had been famous back in the Philippines as the TV show host in the GMA Supershow, but because Dolphy was her husband and he died when Tadiar rose to power, she felt that being obscure is a much better option than being on the spotlight, as we found out when the Sotto brothers became infamous for their bad behavior. I remembered one of my mother's friends who was also a political exile swearing loudly when news of Tito, Vic, and Joey's arrests in Seattle made international news. Anyways, her first show after we returned to the Philippines was actually with the current President of the Senate, Romeo Arcilla, titled the People's Champion.
Interviewer: People's Champion? I remember that show. It was based on a show in Ukraine called The Accidental President, starring Vitalii Linetskyi, although I am embarassed to admit it, Linetskyi did a better job in the Accidental President than Romeo Arcilla in the People's Champion.
Yanevska: Yeah, and both my mom and Arcilla did a great job marketing the People's Champion. In fact, it was the first time since 1986 that a Filipino comedy show had become popular world wide. It was also cathartic too, since the People's Champion had lampooned Filipino political of the last years of the Tadiar dictatorship, followed by the transitional government of Hector Tarrazona. I did audition for a role in the People's Champion, but my scheduling conflict clashed, since it interfered with my work in Traykov at that time.
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Excerpts from "A Nation in Mourning"
by: Arturo Tolentino
Atlas Publishing, released 2002
Chapter Fourteen: An Unknowing Pawn
I didn't realize it at that time, but when President Aquino suggested to me that I travel to Japan as a representative of the Philippines because of the growing political crisis that has gripped the entire nation, I didn't realize that I would return to a Philippines that has changed leadership, and not in a good way. I was staying at the Nishiyana Onsen Keiunkan since February 20th, while preparing for the funeral of the recently deceased Emperor of Japan. I was impressed with how Japanese hotels and ryokans were presented, which was why I wanted to tell General Tadiar about it when I come back. You could spend all day at the hot springs there, and not worry about whether or not you'll get tired from it, but it is something worth experiencing. However, that is not why I'm writing this now. You see, before the official day of the burial of the Japanese Emperor, the Filipino ambassador to Japan, along with the Japanese Foreign Minister, had arrived at the Keiunkan. Luckily, they arrived in only one car, but the car they used looked like it was rarely used. For some odd reason, both men grimaced at the news that they were about to deliver to me.
"Tolentino-san, the ambassador of your country has told us of this alarming news that came out of there," Sosuke Uno said abruptly. He then turned to Ramon del Rosario, who gulped and broke out the news.
"There has been a coup in Malacanang, and Cory and her entire family are under arrest." I was stunned. Never in my imagination did Artemio Tadiar had pulled off something like that, and I had a nagging suspicion that he was going to do that, with the growing political turmoil that he helped orchestrate. Del Rosario grimaced as well. "I'm sure you know who is behind the coup, right?"
I nodded. "Brigadier General Tadiar might have said it to me in passing before I was sent to Japan, just so I wouldn't become a casualty should he launch the coup against President Aquino."
"That may have been admirable on Tadiar's part, but I hold no love for that woman. Even when Macoy was President, I was careful to not anger him. However, now that Tadiar is going to restore order in the Philippines, I want you to take orders from him and to be the moderating voice in the growing radicalization," del Rosario told me, to my shock, once again.
"It is actually a good idea for me to do so, but are you worried that we might be implicated in whatever crimes that Tadiar's government will commit against the Filipino people? You remember what he has done in EDSA back in 1986," I warned.
Sosuke Uno nodded, but remained firm. "Tell your boss that the Marcos-ODA scandal investigation will be investigated further, but that you have to help out with the investigation. That way, you could become the man who will keep the ties between our nations, should your country become isolated from the international community."
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A few days later, I had attended the funeral of the Japanese Emperor. Judging by the number of foreign dignitaries that were present, including the newly elected President Michael Dukakis, who obediently followed Japanese ceremonial protocol and stayed in his assigned spot. From what Yugoslav Vice President Stane Dolanc had told me after the ceremony had ended, the burial of Emperor Hirohito had surpassed the burial of the former Yugoslav dictator Josip Broz Tito in terms of the numbers of delegates that have come to pay their respects. The mood was somber, which was appropriate for the funeral. Once the ceremony was over, I returned to the hotel where I stayed. Under orders of Ambassador del Rosario, I had to stay for just three more days, until I can return to the Philippines. I hated to admit it, but I don't exactly know how Ambassador del Rosario had joined the Tadiar camp, since he was far away from the turmoil that has gripped the Philippines. For the remainder of my stay though, I was escorted to various places within Japan as I played the role of a tourist. However, there were security personnel that disguised themselves as tourists, to ensure that I wasn't attacked by anyone. Overall, the peaceful stay that I had in Japan, which I paid for myself out of my own pocket, was great. However, it was on March 2, 1989, that I soon found myself facing Mr. Uno once again, alongside Ambassador del Rosario. Just as I was about to leave the hotel to check out, the two men bowed to me, as I bowed back to them. I honestly thought that I was done with them, but as it turns out, there was something more than just a simple visit.
"Arturo, I know that you have to return back home soon, but there is a man who wanted to see you. I admit that he didn't know who you were, but Mr. Uno explained to him about the turmoil back home and he wanted to chat with you," del Rosario explained. He turned to Mr. Uno, who added his own explanation.
"This man wanted to see you because he's dying. He's not sure how long he has left, but as I told him about the general that deposed his own president, he's curious about him." Uno then beckoned for del Rosario to grab my luggage and to bring me to the same car that they drove in when they first visited me.
"Do I know this man?" I asked curiously.
Mr. Del Rosario shook his head. "He doesn't know you personally, but he knows of your reputation. Mr. Uno has told him everything he knows. Come, we're going to visit General Minoru Genda."
I was shocked to the core. I didn't expect to meet the man who planned the Pearl Harbor attack and the events that led to the Japanese occupation of my country, but I shoved those thoughts out of my head as the car left the Keiunkan after Mr. Uno finished talking to the owners of the hotel. We drove for a few hours, until we reached what appeared to be a small house. Of course, I paid attention to Japanese house manners by making sure that I took off my shoes and socks, before entering the house, while both Mr. Uno and del Rosario did the same. Once Mr. Uno knocked the door, we could hear a voice coming from the other end of the door.
"Who's there?" the man asked in Japanese.
"We have come here to bring the guest that you wanted to see. You don't know him, Genda-san, but I'm sure that he would be a great asset to us," Mr. Uno said, as I raised my eyebrows when he referred to me as an asset.
"Come on in! I don't have time to wait!" We entered the living room of what appeared to be a weakened old man, who was being cared for by one of his children. The old man then smiled serenely and laughed lightly. "Is this the man you've spoken of, Uno-san?"
"Hai. This is Arturo Tolentino, the man who came to Japan as a representative of the Philippines for His Majesty the Late Showa Emperor's funeral." I bowed before the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack as Genda simply nodded in recognition.
"Your country's ambassador has told you of the man who has come in to restore order to his homeland. What a patriot! I can sense a bit of myself, as well as the bits of the poor souls that tried to save our nation in their deluded minds before they were arrested. I'm talking about the 2-26 mutineers that wanted to radically change Japan in their image." Uno and del Rosario translated what Genda had said to me.
"That patriot that you spoke of has killed people in the streets of my nation's capital. I could hardly call his actions heroic, given that my previous President has insisted that no blood should be shed on that day," I said firmly.
Genda sighed in despair and shook his head slowly. "Young man, do you really think that demonstrations could end without shedding blood? The Koreans nearly caused a civil war within its borders when they protested against the man who tried to restore order."
"Yes, it can end in peace, without bloodshed," I answered firmly. Genda simply laughed. "What's so funny?"
"Oi! Be respectful towards the man who's hosting you!" Uno snapped, but del Rosario shook his head.
"Such convictions. Tell me, young man. These riots that ended without bloodshed. Do you think they're organically cultivated by the ordinary people? Or do you think they're organized by a hidden hand?" Genda asked me. I wasn't aware of the nature of his question, but I'm starting to fear from the kind of wisdon that Genda has displayed. "Did you really think that both Japan and America are friends once again after the events of the Greater East Asia War? We are no better than vassals. Your country is also a vassal, despite our efforts to free your people during the Greater East Asia War, and America doesn't care much for the interests of its vassals as long as they're doing what they're told."
I sighed in confusion. "My nation isn't that strong, which is why we had to rely on the Americans for help."
"Even if America had at one point, slaughtered your people when it tried to subjugate it?" Genda asked back. "Young man, I am indeed dying, and I don't know when I'll die. The reason why I summoned you here is to relay an invitation to your General to visit Japan when my funeral will happen. The Americans don't care for your country, and both the Soviets and Chinese will not care for it either. It is a tragedy that your people were severely misguided enough to fight us during the Greater East Asia War, but when your country eventually clashes with either the Soviets or the Chinese, you will fully understand what kind of wisdom that I wanted to impart to you."
"Now do you see why it might be beneficial to start improving relations between our two countries?" Uno asked me. I nodded, though, Genda's propagandistic words had chilled my blood to its core. "You are vassals, but you and this Brigadier General Tadiar can make your country great again. All you have to do is to tell your Brigadier General to visit Japan when Genda-san eventually dies."
"The Empire of the Rising Sun will eventually rise again, though with a much firmer and gentler hand. For the betterment of our relations and the friendship of our peoples," Genda said as he raised both of his hands. "Banzai!"
"Banzai!" Both Uno and del Rosario shouted in unision.
I raised my hands slowly and shouted, "Banzai!"
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NEWLY FOUNDED MILITARY JUNTA HEAD TO EMBARK ON TOUR OF THREE COUNTRIES, WITH ATTENDANCE EXPECTED FOR THE BURIAL OF FORMER WWII JAPANESE OFFICER MINORU GENDA
Vancouver Sun
August 23, 1989
(Tokyo, JAPAN) - The new Filipino military junta leadership has announced that Brigadier General Artemio Tadiar, the man leading the junta, will embark on a tour of three countries, as part of his attempts to restore relations with the wider international community. The tour comes at a time when much of the Philippines remains unstable, and renewed communist rebellions are breaking out throughout the country. Tadiar's first destination as acting head of state will be Japan, where he is invited to attend the funeral of prominent WWII Imperial Japanese Navy officer and mastermind of the notorious Attack on Pearl Harbor, Minoru Genda. Unlike the funeral of the recently deceased Emperor Hirohito, the funeral of Minoru Genda would be more of a private affair, with Tadiar himself being the only foreign guest, as Genda himself had extended the invitation to the leader of the junta while he was still alive, through Arturo Tolentino and noted Filipino Ambassador to Japan, Ramon del Rosario. Although it is unsure as to why the former IJN officer had requested a meeting with Mr. Tolentino while he was in Japan as the representative of the Philippines at the funeral of Emperor Hirohito, he was being informed of the events taking place in the Philippines through the current Japanese Foreign Minister Sosuke Uno, who had also harbored a desire for Japan to rebuild its empire once more. Yet, the funeral of Minoru Genda had to remain low key, as protests throughout Asia have broken out in response to the news that the funeral ceremony for Genda may be televised. In the United States, the Dukakis administration has criticized the Japanese government for its plans to televise the funeral ceremony of Genda.
"Many of our veterans today, who fought in the Pacific during the war, are rightly outraged at the public lavishing of the man who masterminded the brutal and unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor, resulting in the deaths of over 3,000 Americans. The fact that the Japanese government wanted to televise the funeral ceremony of General Genda is an indication that Japan isn't fully ready to let go of its past," says President Dukakis during a press conference in Langley, Virginia. "We call on the Japanese government to rectify this event to mollify the feelings of the veterans who have fought for their countries."
Unfortunately, President Dukakis's pleas for Japan to downplay the event has resulted in various Japanese right-wing movements launching protests in front of the American Embassy in Tokyo. Moreover, additional protests are being planned on a future date, but it will take place at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa Prefecture and the Yokota Air Base in Western Tokyo. The ongoing presence of US military personnel on Japanese territory, as well as the resentment over the imposed key element of the 1947 Japanese Constitution, known as Article 9, which banned Japan from having a formal military force, had been a sore point with some of the hardline Japanese nationalists. The arrival of Artemio Tadiar in Japan may be viewed by the Japanese hardliners as a potential start of this new kind of relationship.
"It is an utter disgrace that our society has declined as a result of our own defeat in the Greater East Asia War. From the decreasing number of our people to the Americanization of our way of life, we are fearful for the extinction of our nation," says Shintaro Ishihara, a prominent Japanese hardline nationalist, during an anti-American rally in Tokyo, while leading a procession of Japanese nationalists into the Yasukuni Shrine, where various war criminals were being honored. "We nationalists must restore the honor of our nation once more, and we need to do it by launching a referendum to abolish Article 9 of our constitution that barred us from having a military."
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Excerpts from "The Gentle Hand: Japan's Subtle Effort at Rebuilding its Quasi-Empire"
by: Choi Hyun-sik
Coast Mountain Community College Publishing Press, released on June 17, 2018
Chapter Three: The Ghost of Minoru Genda
No one knew that the real origin of Japan's re-emergence as a geopolitical heavyweight was way back during the burial of noted former Imperial Japanese Navy officer Minoru Genda, since the entire world assumed that the Chinese bombing of Vietnam and the Philippines was the start of Japan's efforts to re-establish its empire. Yet, Minoru Genda himself had kept his contacts with key members of the Japanese government throughout his retirement, and he was notified of the events in the Philippines by the former Japanese Foreign Minister (later Prime Minister) Sosuke Uno. It was coincidential that the late former Philippine Foreign Minister Arturo Tolentino was chosen to attend the burial ceremony of the late Emperor Hirohito instead of the late Corazon Aquino, because the burial ceremony happened around the same time as Artemio Tadiar's coup against her. It was because of Genda's dying wish for just one foreign guest to attend his eventual funeral that it would trigger a chain of events that would lead to Tadiar embarking on a pro-Japanese position, to the horror of the entire Asian continent. It isn't coincidential though, that Genda had cultivated proteges throughout the remainder of his life, including the notorious Toshio Tamogami, who would eventually become Japan's Prime Minister after Shintaro Ishihara stepped down from his position as Prime Minister just this year, citing advanced age as the reason. Nationalist sentiments and a feeling of resentment over the loss of prestige had remained alive, even to this day, long after Japan had been defeated in the Second World War. It is also worth noting that Japan and the Philippines had intensified their cooperation in the infamous scandal involving the previous dictator of the Philippines and the Japanese ODA, starting the decades old investigation that resulted in several ex-Marcos regime officials being convicted of corruption by the Tadiar-controlled Supreme Court of the Philippines. Unfortunately, the convicted officials were not only executed by firing squad, but their families were sent to Tadiar's infamous death camps, where they were worked to death on various projects. The most notable mixed labour and death camp was on Calusa Island, not far from the Philippine Marine Corps base at Cagayancillo. It was at Calusa Island that the inmates worked on underground bunkers for the Philippine military, and mortality rates were high. Another notable mixed labour and death camp in the Philippines was located on Carlota Island, where they built an underground manufacturing plant that produced farming tools. Carlota Island though, was nicknamed the Filipino Gunhamdo, because it resembled the notorious Battleship Island where Koreans were sent to work as slave labour, digging up coal in the mines.
Both Filipino and Japanese intelligence agencies also collaborated in the investigation of the Marcos-ODA scandal as well, since they had free reign to investigate in their respective countries. As it turned out, there were several Japanese officials working for ODA that were also convicted as well, but their trial was publicized so much that they eventually stepped down from their positions and were sent to prison. They were also denied a chance to commit seppuku to atone for their own disgrace, as the succeeding administrations after Sosuke Uno had presided over these investigations. It is also worth noting that a few lower ranked Japanese government officials were also implicated in this scandal too, but it is nothing compared to the ongoing convictions of several middle and high ranked Japanese government officials that are being tried at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Republic of the Philippines. Ramon del Rosario on the other hand, remained as Filipino Ambassador to Japan, until he was recalled to the Philippines in 1999, due to the growing diplomatic isolation. However, the Philippine Embassy in Japan remained open throughout the period of diplomatic isolation, as the Philippines didn't completely isolate itself, with nations like Japan, Australia, Chile, Indonesia, Mexico and Thailand keeping their diplomatic ties with the Philippines open. Juanito Jarasa would succeed del Rosario as Philippine Ambassador to Japan, as Domingo Siazon Jr. and Alfonso Yuchengco had defected to Singapore in the aftermath of the Chinese bombing of the Philippines and the ensuing anti-Chinese riots that broke out within the Philippines, upon the encouragement of the Three Stooges (namely Nicanor Faeldon, Elly Pamatong, and Larry Gadon). The Three Stooges would go on to rebuild the notorious KALIBAPI, which was the WWII era Filipino political party that collaborated with the Japanese occupation forces, before rebranding themselves to the Fatherland Freedom Party. It was the very same Three Stooges that would later introduce the Japanese Two Armed Salute (the same kind of cheering gesture made by Japanese soldiers during WWII) and the Fascist Salute to its members.
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"I know the extent of my own corruption within the Marcos government, but never in my imagination did I see the level of corruption and criminality that existed within Artemio Tadiar's junta. At least Macoy didn't sell his fellow Filipinos to foreign criminal gangs as slaves like what Tadiar did. The number of female political dissidents that were sold to the likes of the Yakuza and the Mexican drug cartels were huge! Moreover, there were large numbers of drug runners that operated their own opium and marijuana plantations within the Philippines that would make any anti-narcotic crusader die from a brain stroke three times over. Let us not forget that we've managed to push for the rehabilitation of the Marcos and Romualdez families when the crimes committed by the Tadiar regime were far larger. At the very least, Tadiar did something good out of his dictatorship. He managed to resolve the corruption that surrounded Macoy and the Japanese ODA, but in return, he had his own version of that very same scandal when a large number of IEDs were blown up in Aparri, which I can guess that it came from the Yakuza. Tadiar's own ODA scandal was the acquisition of Japanese weapons by illegal means, and this was done during the Second Korean War. Not only was the Tadiar regime's acquisition of the Howa Type 89 assault rifle illegal under Japan's constitution at that time, but it was also illegal under Japan's own weapons export ban as well. We don't know how much other military equipment was acquired by illegal means, but there were other hardware that were obtained as well. The main point is, Japan was virtually turned the Tadiar regime into its puppet, no better than Puyi in Manchukuo during the 1930s. On top of that, Tadiar did lead the Philippines into a disastrous war against China over the Spratly Islands, especially Kalayaan Island and Scarborough Shoal as well, and what did we get? A nasty bombing campaign, which he used as justification to commit a horrific terrorist attack. The animosity between Filipinos and Chinese were kept to a minimum before Tadiar rose to power, and what is his most damaging legacy? That Filipinos are to be viewed as vicious fascists? That Japan is now becoming the most powerful anti-Chinese patron in all of Asia? For crying out loud, by 2017, the Japanese are the largest minority group in the Philippines, with over 9 million of them residing here, and a majority of them are actually Japanese migrants from Latin America that were enticed by the Tadiar government to move here for better business opportunities. The ones that come from Japan proper are either hikikomoris or Okinawans, and they're more industrious once they've been exposed to our way of life. The Chinese population of the Philippines, which consisted of Filipinos with Chinese ancestry, had dropped down to just 90,000, as the vicious Sinophobia had led to their exodus, namely to Singapore, the United States, and Taiwan." Rodolfo Cuenca, while addressing the Filipino political exiles in Melbourne, Australia, 2018.
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gillan1220
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Post by gillan1220 on Jun 18, 2023 2:07:42 GMT
Sadly Dolphy dies here too. I wonder what about other celebrities like Jose Mari Chan and comedian Eddy Garcia? the recently deceased Emperor of Japan Hirohito dies earlier then? General Minoru Genda." I was shocked to the core. I didn't expect to meet the man who planned the Pearl Harbor attack and the events that led to the Japanese occupation of my country, but I shoved those thoughts out of my head as the car left the Keiunkan after Mr. Uno finished talking to the owners of the hotel. We drove for a few hours, until we reached what appeared to be a small house. Of course, I paid attention to Japanese house manners by making sure that I took off my shoes and socks, before entering the house, while both Mr. Uno and del Rosario did the same. Once Mr. Uno knocked the door, we could hear a voice coming from the other end of the door. I kinda disagree with using Genda as the one who wants Japan to go back to militarism. Genda was already well-retired by the 1980s, having lived a private life after being forced to resign for accidentally saying Japan would have used nuclear weapons in WWII had it obtained it first. He said during a visit to the USNI in 1962. Genda is also pro-American to begin with. Especially after the Korean War, Genda - now a Third Chief of Staff of the JASDF - advocated for a greater U.S.-Japan partnership for the security of the Home Islands. On top of that, Genda does not need to speak Japanese to Tolentino. Genda was fluent in it, having spent time with American military forces in Japan. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Jun 18, 2023 2:31:21 GMT
Jose Mari Chan may end up with the same fate as the original, but I have no idea about Eddy Garcia. IOTL, Cory attended the funeral of Emperor Hirohito on February 24, 1989. In this TL rewrite, for obvious reasons, Cory could not attend, and so Arturo Tolentino goes in her place. While I admit that I didn't know much about Genda's last few years, I might have based it on his conduct from Fear, Loathing, and Gumbo on the Campaign Trail. However, he's still a Japanese patriot, even if he was pro-American. There is also another theme of Rogue Generals that I didn't discuss this further, and that is the realm of geopolitics. Keep in mind that Hirohito's funeral would have occurred when Tadiar is launching his coup or has already launched his coup.
The greater attention given to the Marcos-ODA Scandal and its investigation is also the key to how Japan eventually helps the Philippines during the Chinese bombing, and the bombing of the Japanese Embassy actually triggers the nationalist anger. The scene where Genda is speaking to Tolentino though, we had to assume that Genda was meeting with someone that he doesn't know, but is informed from Sosuke Uno. You might also see more Marcos cronies actually confessing to their own corruption when talking about the corruption of Tadiar's regime! The ultimate irony of all of this is that Marcos loyalists and Aquino supporters would be politically united....in their hatred of what they see as a de facto pro-Japanese puppet regime in Artemio Tadiar!
In all honesty, it might be more of the new generation that may end up trying to drag Japan back into militarism, given that I've given hints that Article 9 would eventually be repealed and Japanese remilitarization is the main cause of a reunited Korea aligning more with Russia and China, while the US would have a bigger fish to fry. While a reunited Korea may still have room for relations with the US, it is only aligning itself with Russia and China because of hatred towards Japan, and not because it wants to break away from the US.
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gillan1220
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Post by gillan1220 on Jun 18, 2023 2:41:42 GMT
Jose Mari Chan may end up with the same fate as the original, but I have no idea about Eddy Garcia. IOTL, Cory attended the funeral of Emperor Hirohito on February 24, 1989. In this TL rewrite, for obvious reasons, Cory could not attend, and so Arturo Tolentino goes in her place. While I admit that I didn't know much about Genda's last few years, I might have based it on his conduct from Fear, Loathing, and Gumbo on the Campaign Trail. However, he's still a Japanese patriot, even if he was pro-American. There is also another theme of Rogue Generals that I didn't discuss this further, and that is the realm of geopolitics. Keep in mind that Hirohito's funeral would have occurred when Tadiar is launching his coup or has already launched his coup. The greater attention given to the Marcos-ODA Scandal and its investigation is also the key to how Japan eventually helps the Philippines during the Chinese bombing, and the bombing of the Japanese Embassy actually triggers the nationalist anger. The scene where Genda is speaking to Tolentino though, we had to assume that Genda was meeting with someone that he doesn't know, but is informed from Sosuke Uno. You might also see more Marcos cronies actually confessing to their own corruption when talking about the corruption of Tadiar's regime! The ultimate irony of all of this is that Marcos loyalists and Aquino supporters would be politically united....in their hatred of what they see as a de facto pro-Japanese puppet regime in Artemio Tadiar! In all honesty, it might be more of the new generation that may end up trying to drag Japan back into militarism, given that I've given hints that Article 9 would eventually be repealed and Japanese remilitarization is the main cause of a reunited Korea aligning more with Russia and China, while the US would have a bigger fish to fry. While a reunited Korea may still have room for relations with the US, it is only aligning itself with Russia and China because of hatred towards Japan, and not because it wants to break away from the US. The geopolitics of East Asia here is even messier than OTL. If the U.S. loses Korea, that would be a blow to the current president. The way Korea pivots to the ESF isn't even done through an invasion but rather through political means. It's akin to the loss of China in 1949 rather than Vietnam in 1975 and Afghanistan IOTL 2021. The U.S. will be in a hard position here. Japan has remilitarized and WWII veterans would hate it and might be even outright paranoid that Japan will stab in the back. But it appears the diehard Japanese nationalists here see China as the greater threat than the U.S. so Washington will "tolerate" Japanese remilitarization as long as it is directed towards China or the ESF. It reminds me of the anime The Silent Service (1995), which was based on the 1980s manga. In the anime, there is a U.S.-Japan split over a Japanese-built nuclear submarine with American assistance that goes rogue and proclaims itself as the nation of Yamato. Anime Movie - Chinmoku no Kantai (The Silent Service) - English DubRecently, the Japanese Diet has passed a law that Japanese military hardware can now be sold for export. This has something allies have been hopping since Japan restarted its arms industry when the JSDF was formed in the 1950s. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Jun 18, 2023 3:01:02 GMT
Jose Mari Chan may end up with the same fate as the original, but I have no idea about Eddy Garcia. IOTL, Cory attended the funeral of Emperor Hirohito on February 24, 1989. In this TL rewrite, for obvious reasons, Cory could not attend, and so Arturo Tolentino goes in her place. While I admit that I didn't know much about Genda's last few years, I might have based it on his conduct from Fear, Loathing, and Gumbo on the Campaign Trail. However, he's still a Japanese patriot, even if he was pro-American. There is also another theme of Rogue Generals that I didn't discuss this further, and that is the realm of geopolitics. Keep in mind that Hirohito's funeral would have occurred when Tadiar is launching his coup or has already launched his coup. The greater attention given to the Marcos-ODA Scandal and its investigation is also the key to how Japan eventually helps the Philippines during the Chinese bombing, and the bombing of the Japanese Embassy actually triggers the nationalist anger. The scene where Genda is speaking to Tolentino though, we had to assume that Genda was meeting with someone that he doesn't know, but is informed from Sosuke Uno. You might also see more Marcos cronies actually confessing to their own corruption when talking about the corruption of Tadiar's regime! The ultimate irony of all of this is that Marcos loyalists and Aquino supporters would be politically united....in their hatred of what they see as a de facto pro-Japanese puppet regime in Artemio Tadiar! In all honesty, it might be more of the new generation that may end up trying to drag Japan back into militarism, given that I've given hints that Article 9 would eventually be repealed and Japanese remilitarization is the main cause of a reunited Korea aligning more with Russia and China, while the US would have a bigger fish to fry. While a reunited Korea may still have room for relations with the US, it is only aligning itself with Russia and China because of hatred towards Japan, and not because it wants to break away from the US. The geopolitics of East Asia here is even messier than OTL. If the U.S. loses Korea, that would be a blow to the current president. The way Korea pivots to the ESF isn't even done through an invasion but rather through political means. It's akin to the loss of China in 1949 rather than Vietnam in 1975 and Afghanistan IOTL 2021. The U.S. will be in a hard position here. Japan has remilitarized and WWII veterans would hate it and might be even outright paranoid that Japan will stab in the back. But it appears the diehard Japanese nationalists here see China as the greater threat than the U.S. so Washington will "tolerate" Japanese remilitarization as long as it is directed towards China or the ESF. It reminds me of the anime The Silent Service (1995), which was based on the 1980s manga. In the anime, there is a U.S.-Japan split over a Japanese-built nuclear submarine with American assistance that goes rogue and proclaims itself as the nation of Yamato. Anime Movie - Chinmoku no Kantai (The Silent Service) - English DubRecently, the Japanese Diet has passed a law that Japanese military hardware can now be sold for export. This has something allies have been hopping since Japan restarted its arms industry when the JSDF was formed in the 1950s. The ESF wouldn't exist in this reboot, given that I launched it in response to the OTL Russo-Ukrainian War that kinda made it a damper on the original version having a unified Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. I have given a hint that we would actually get a unified Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan in a Eurasian Union State. Well, diehard Chinese nationalists would see a remilitarized Japan as a dangerous enemy, and let's say the entirety of Asia would be more dangerous than Europe and the Middle East combined. There is also another factor at play here: Thailand would be firmly pro-Japanese, like what happened during WWII. And we also get a hint of how Vietnam's communist government would fall in a Revolution of Dignity. Those two nations would actually join Japan, and a post-communist Vietnam might actually be a pet project of Japan and Tadiar's Philippines. |
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gillan1220
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Post by gillan1220 on Jun 18, 2023 3:42:01 GMT
The geopolitics of East Asia here is even messier than OTL. If the U.S. loses Korea, that would be a blow to the current president. The way Korea pivots to the ESF isn't even done through an invasion but rather through political means. It's akin to the loss of China in 1949 rather than Vietnam in 1975 and Afghanistan IOTL 2021. The U.S. will be in a hard position here. Japan has remilitarized and WWII veterans would hate it and might be even outright paranoid that Japan will stab in the back. But it appears the diehard Japanese nationalists here see China as the greater threat than the U.S. so Washington will "tolerate" Japanese remilitarization as long as it is directed towards China or the ESF. It reminds me of the anime The Silent Service (1995), which was based on the 1980s manga. In the anime, there is a U.S.-Japan split over a Japanese-built nuclear submarine with American assistance that goes rogue and proclaims itself as the nation of Yamato. Anime Movie - Chinmoku no Kantai (The Silent Service) - English DubRecently, the Japanese Diet has passed a law that Japanese military hardware can now be sold for export. This has something allies have been hopping since Japan restarted its arms industry when the JSDF was formed in the 1950s. The ESF wouldn't exist in this reboot, given that I launched it in response to the OTL Russo-Ukrainian War that kinda made it a damper on the original version having a unified Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. I have given a hint that we would actually get a unified Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan in a Eurasian Union State. Well, diehard Chinese nationalists would see a remilitarized Japan as a dangerous enemy, and let's say the entirety of Asia would be more dangerous than Europe and the Middle East combined. There is also another factor at play here: Thailand would be firmly pro-Japanese, like what happened during WWII. And we also get a hint of how Vietnam's communist government would fall in a Revolution of Dignity. Those two nations would actually join Japan, and a post-communist Vietnam might actually be a pet project of Japan and Tadiar's Philippines. Seeing how heated East Asia is by the time of the 1990s and the 21st Century ITTL, it appears the Cold War never ended even if the USSR fell and Vietnam turned into a right-wing dictatorship. The U.S. would certainly see the remilitarized Japan as an ally to keep the EUS and China in check. Many WWII veterans WILL NOT approve of this, but there will be those that will. After all, geopolitics is a game of convenience and pragmatism. Realpolitik will be in play. Remember, people who were alive in World War II did not expect both Germany and Japan to become vital U.S. allies by the 1950s. Or how Vietnam turned into a partner against the Japanese from 1944-1945 but would become the enemy from 1964-1975. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Jun 18, 2023 3:48:22 GMT
Not only the US war veterans but Asian resistance fighter veterans would be angry at Japan's resurgence of its military power. There's also the fact that even Indonesia would join the Japanese camp as well, given how fruitful Japanese-Indonesian relations are IOTL. As for Vietnam, I would suspect that the former government in exile that was based in the US would come back as well.
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gillan1220
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Post by gillan1220 on Jun 18, 2023 3:58:01 GMT
Not only the US war veterans but Asian resistance fighter veterans would be angry at Japan's resurgence of its military power. There's also the fact that even Indonesia would join the Japanese camp as well, given how fruitful Japanese-Indonesian relations are IOTL. As for Vietnam, I would suspect that the former government in exile that was based in the US would come back as well. With China being the greater threat here, I guess a sizable portion of WWII veterans and resistance fighter veterans would see it as a necessary evil. Especially now that China bombed Vietnam and the Philippines in 1995 so that would change the viewpoints of everyone. After all, China is the aggressor here. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Jun 18, 2023 4:46:20 GMT
Not only the US war veterans but Asian resistance fighter veterans would be angry at Japan's resurgence of its military power. There's also the fact that even Indonesia would join the Japanese camp as well, given how fruitful Japanese-Indonesian relations are IOTL. As for Vietnam, I would suspect that the former government in exile that was based in the US would come back as well. With China being the greater threat here, I guess a sizable portion of WWII veterans and resistance fighter veterans would see it as a necessary evil. Especially now that China bombed Vietnam and the Philippines in 1995 so that would change the viewpoints of everyone. After all, China is the aggressor here. True. China in this case might have a more interventionist streak in here, given that they would have to deal with both Vietnam and the Philippines, but it's the overreaction that actually triggers the hostile anti-Chinese feelings. At the same time though, within the Philippines you may also have unaligned politicians that may find themselves being dragged into the Tadiar camp out of pragmatism and fear, and other prominent figures as well. TTL's John Arcilla (named Romeo in here) would become more than just an actor. As it was stated in the last update, he has played the role of the President of the Philippines in a sitcom that satirizes the last stages of the Tadiar dictatorship, followed by the Tarrazona episode. And as I've also hinted as well, the ESTO military exercises in TTL's 2018 might set up the stage for a possible second round of the war between China and the Philippines, only it would be fear of a Filipino nuclear program that can lead to the Philippines attempting to build a nuclear bomb of its own. Given that the US might not be trusted by a majority of Asian nations ITTL, it would only make sense for Japan to emerge as a major power broker in the region. In addition to Japanese remilitarization, as it. was stated in the original version and possible in this reboot, Filipino atrocities against North Korean civilians, as well as being hired by a bankrupted South Korean manufacturing company to brutally suppress the striking workers at a car manufacturing plant reminiscent of the Ssangyong motors protest had propelled Huh Kyoung-young to national prominence. Social problems within Korea would also play a role in an upheaval that would lead to a moderately anti-American regime in the reunited Korea (a combination of Korean nationalism and leftover remnants of the anti-Kim faction within the former North Korea would result in the National Syndicalists rising in this case). So tragically, the Tadiar regime would play a major role in a Korean reunification that went wrong as well. Now the biggest question that we should ask ourselves is, how is Taiwan going to react to the existence of what is essentially a Sinophobic regime in the Philippines? Given that Taiwan is a representation of the defeated KMT in China after the Communists had won, they'd also keep a vigilant eye on the Philippines as well. However, there may also be a chance that in a potential crisis gone hot between China and Taiwan, Kinmen and Matsu might actually be granted to China, in exchange for Taiwan going its own way. Taiwanese separatism ITTL could be an interesting thing to watch, especially if it may also lead to a moderately anti-Beijing stance. Taiwanese Hokkien might actually make a huge comeback, as well as Hakka, as a possible symbol of its opposition to Chinese reunification. Heck, if Taiwanese Hokkien becomes the dominant language in Taiwan, that could also have an effect on the Chinese-Filipino population as well, since Hokkien is their original Chinese tongue spoken in the Philippines. In any case, Taiwan is certainly going to take advantage of Tadiar's growing anti-Chinese bias in favor of spamming the Philippines with potential Japanese immigration (though limited from Japan proper as the demographics there are declining, but the Japanese from Latin America would be enticed to come to the Philippines). |
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gillan1220
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I've been depressed recently. Slow replies coming in the next few days.
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Post by gillan1220 on Jun 18, 2023 8:41:42 GMT
True. China in this case might have a more interventionist streak in here, given that they would have to deal with both Vietnam and the Philippines, but it's the overreaction that actually triggers the hostile anti-Chinese feelings. At the same time though, within the Philippines you may also have unaligned politicians that may find themselves being dragged into the Tadiar camp out of pragmatism and fear, and other prominent figures as well. TTL's John Arcilla (named Romeo in here) would become more than just an actor. As it was stated in the last update, he has played the role of the President of the Philippines in a sitcom that satirizes the last stages of the Tadiar dictatorship, followed by the Tarrazona episode. And as I've also hinted as well, the ESTO military exercises in TTL's 2018 might set up the stage for a possible second round of the war between China and the Philippines, only it would be fear of a Filipino nuclear program that can lead to the Philippines attempting to build a nuclear bomb of its own. Just like OTL, China and America will have to wrestle control which countries will fall on its sphere. The re-militarized Japan would serve as good counterweight against the PRC. Given that the US might not be trusted by a majority of Asian nations ITTL, it would only make sense for Japan to emerge as a major power broker in the region. In addition to Japanese remilitarization, as it. was stated in the original version and possible in this reboot, Filipino atrocities against North Korean civilians, as well as being hired by a bankrupted South Korean manufacturing company to brutally suppress the striking workers at a car manufacturing plant reminiscent of the Ssangyong motors protest had propelled Huh Kyoung-young to national prominence. Social problems within Korea would also play a role in an upheaval that would lead to a moderately anti-American regime in the reunited Korea (a combination of Korean nationalism and leftover remnants of the anti-Kim faction within the former North Korea would result in the National Syndicalists rising in this case). So tragically, the Tadiar regime would play a major role in a Korean reunification that went wrong as well. Especially after Jesse Jackson basically abandoned Tadiar when the Chinese bombed the Philippines. That would cost him to lose reelection to Jack Kemp. The loss of the Philippines was a great blow to the Jackson administration and his chances of reelection. Since Korea reunified and became anti-American, how does this reunified Korea expel the U.S. military there? A increased tension? Or something chaotic just like Afghanistan in 2021? Now the biggest question that we should ask ourselves is, how is Taiwan going to react to the existence of what is essentially a Sinophobic regime in the Philippines? Given that Taiwan is a representation of the defeated KMT in China after the Communists had won, they'd also keep a vigilant eye on the Philippines as well. However, there may also be a chance that in a potential crisis gone hot between China and Taiwan, Kinmen and Matsu might actually be granted to China, in exchange for Taiwan going its own way. Taiwanese separatism ITTL could be an interesting thing to watch, especially if it may also lead to a moderately anti-Beijing stance. Taiwanese Hokkien might actually make a huge comeback, as well as Hakka, as a possible symbol of its opposition to Chinese reunification. Heck, if Taiwanese Hokkien becomes the dominant language in Taiwan, that could also have an effect on the Chinese-Filipino population as well, since Hokkien is their original Chinese tongue spoken in the Philippines. In any case, Taiwan is certainly going to take advantage of Tadiar's growing anti-Chinese bias in favor of spamming the Philippines with potential Japanese immigration (though limited from Japan proper as the demographics there are declining, but the Japanese from Latin America would be enticed to come to the Philippines). Taiwan would see Tadiar as an ally of convenience. Tadiar's enemies are the CCP in Beijing, not the authoritarian KMT in Taipei. There's the fact Taiwan is too close to Luzon and Batanes so any conflict involving the Philippines or Taiwan could spillover to each other's territory. Taiwan is still under the defense of the United States, so China would not dare blink. Taipei will also see resurgent Japan as an ally. China is the biggest threat in Asia-Pacific for TTL. Not sure how Hokkien would affect the demographics of Tsinoys in Taiwan. |
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