OOC: Megapost time.
In July of 1937, the Glorious Warlord Chang Kai-Shek died of malaria. Upon hearing this tragic news, the nation went into a period of mourning, as the warlord's government scrambled to choose a successor. Eventually, Weng Wenhao (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Wen-hao), a young, energetic educator, geologist and inventor was chosen to lead the nation. He came with a new technocratic and scientific modernizing agenda, and new foreign and economic policies and plans. This agenda was further embraced when a leading medic announced that the old leader's life could have been saved if China had obtained the latest European technology (the truth of this statement was never confirmed). Wenhao wrote a new ideological basis for the Chinese state and political system, and with the support of the army and many of the people began a serious reorganization. This new platform was known as Progressism, and emphasized technological supremacy above all else. In order to achieve this, it believed in an authoritarian, meritocratic and highly bureaucratic system. Progressism considers itself to be an independent ideology, on par with Communism, Capitalism and Fascism, and superior to the later three, which it views as either too idealistic (communism), disorganized (capitalism), or militant (fascism) to progress into the future. It is less obsessed with spreading itself than the other three, since it believes that its nations will one day be so far technologically superior, that spreading will cost almost no resources. In many ways it is an extreme trend of what China, Corea and Japan have already been experiencing.
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The Progressist Manifesto of Weng Wenhao
It is not the strongest of the nations that survive, but the ones most responsive to change
The Chinese people have learned this resounding lesson of history well and truly. Once our people were great, we ruled from Mongolia to Vietnam, from Corea to Tibet and were revered across the world. Our emperors built a fleet which would sail to India and beyond, while the Europeans still wallowed in feudalism and dirt houses. This fleet reached Indonesia, Arabia and the Americas (OOC: blatant historical revisionism. There is no evidence that Zheng Hes fleet ever reached the Americas, but that doesnt stop the manifesto from claiming it did to bolster its case for progressive greatness).
But then, our fleet was destroyed and our progress shattered, not by external foes, but by superstitions, fears and government conflicts here at home. In Europe, the idea of progress and Enlightenment was embraced, and they came, on black ships to our country. Our nation had abandoned the way of progress and taken on spirituality, which fell to Europes guns in the Boxer Rebellion, a glorious but fatally misguided attempts at liberation. For generations we were slaves to Europes squabbling oversees masters, before militarism did to them what government division did to us, crippling the progress of their people, allowing us to be free.
Now, we stand at the brink of a new opportunity, the likes of which have never been presented to us. The old is swept aside, as our new order rises. In our universities and factories, we construct new inventions that bring a hope of scientific innovation and progress to the world. We must not squander this opportunity, we must see clearly the failures of the old before we can hope to break our chains and reinstate the new. First, we see from our own history that a disunited government destroys progress by petty infighting. Yet such foolish government, masquerading as the democratic will of the people has deluded much of the Earth with its whims, and further corrupted the Europeans, turning them from progress to decadence. We however are wiser than that, and shall not be tempted and deluded. Second, the fall of Europe shows that militarism, far from spurring technological rise is in fact its undoing. Yet on that continent, a new and more radical militarism has risen. And the last of the old I wish to lay bare before you, people of China, is Communism, which is a system and view that is merely another seductive mask for division. It is based on setting the worker against the ruler, while true progress must free both the worker and the ruler from their mutual shackles of ignorance.
The failures of these old systems show that the government of true and pure progress must be united, competent and see its people as equals upon the same path to liberation, science and Enlightenment. We shall achieve this by making a layered system of administration, from the leader, to regional masters, to provincial masters, to county governors, to city governors. Whenever a ruler dies or leaves, the most competent of his subordinates (i.e. the one who did the most to improve the lives of his people via infrastructure and the security of his nation via military modernization) shall be chosen to replace the deceased. There will be no division, since in their sphere of jurisdiction a rulers word is absolute. There will be no tyranny since every rulers advancement depends on the advancement toward the future of his people. Meritocracy will be the supreme law of this glorious technocratic land. Scientific research will be our main focus, and we seek also to spread our enlightenment to the other peoples of this world who yet live in superstitious ignorance, while cooperating with those who have broken the shackles of the past and like us, have seen this new light in its true splendor.
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To China
From Japan
Your instigation of dissent in our colonies is a serious matter. We have offered the prosperity that comes with friendly relations and that leads to a bright future. Your actions in Formosa and Hainan to disrupt our benevolent leadership can only been seen as the first steps on a path to war between our two nations. If that is your desire, we will march down that road with you to the detriment of both our nations. Such a path is not one we would choose or encourage others to take, but understand us well, Japan will not stand by and permit China to meddle in our domestic affairs.
So once again, we offer you friendly relations and peaceful endeavors between Japan and China. What say you?
As per out new government policy which is averse to conflict and the threats to progress that it poses, we would like to offer you several agreements, one of which will hopefully be amicable to both sides. If these offers are declined, then we will have to act in support of the will of the people of these islands. However, you seem like a reasonable nation, and we both realize that war is a major barrier to progress. Hence I hope to settle this diplomatically:
Offer 1: We are willing to buy the two islands for 40ep
Offer 2:
Referendums will be held in both regions to decide which side they want to join. We will pay you 20ep before the referendums begin. If you lose the referendums, your merchants will receive special economic rights and free trade in the now Chinese regions, so that commerce between us may continue. If we lose, similar rights will be extended to our merchants, in the now Japanese islands.
Offer 3:
You give us your secrets in aircraft technology (OOC: so we also have 70 RP in air) and improved trade and commercial conditions for our merchants on these islands, and the islands remain yours.
Offer 4:
You pay us 40 ep and the islands remain yours.
Choose, or make a counter-offer.
