China's new face
President of Xinjiang promises "new era of peace and co-prosperity"
By Pamela Howatt, 11 June 2166
Newly-elected leaders of Xinjiang and their associates outside the Xining house of commons. Left to right: Oz
ambassador Fred Serviss, Lan Xiurong, Prime Minister Huiqing Da, President Jianguo Deming, the Red Lotus,
Zixin Ru.
XINING: A mere year after the combined effort of Oz, the Scarlet Lancers and grassroots volunteers began work to re-establish a functioning government in the newly-liberated Co-operative Federation of Xinjiang, the country swore in its first parliamentary session yesterday.
Having suffered nuclear devastation, a bloody military campaign, and the George I monarchy's theft of government funds prior to its self-imposed "exile", one would think a democratic revolution to be a privilege for a later date. But to the surprise of many, citizens weary of a long succession of dictatorial rulers were eager to finally reclaim sovereignty for themselves.
Following the Dublin Conference last year, Oz began work on re-establishing its inherited Chinese territories as independent successor states. An interim constitution was crafted granting Xinjiang a semi-presidential government, but the legislature remained inactive as the coalition for reconstruction toiled to restore the country's political infrastructure. Elections were tentatively scheduled for June 2, after which the coalition would relinquish full executive and legislative power to the new government. With only ten months to prepare, a plethora of political parties old and new began energetic campaigns. Despite a primarily touch-and-go strategy, the coalition for reconstruction managed to run an election that boasted a turnout rate of over 97%.
The new president of Xinjiang is Jianguo Deming, an eastern lawyer who ran as an independent. Huiqing Da is the separately-elected prime minster and leader of the Co-operative Alliance, a party founded to carry on the work of the coalition for reconstruction. Neither man is known to have worked in any of the previous régimes.
Quick to congratulate the victors were Fred Serviss, Oz ambassador to Xinjiang, and the Red Lotus, leader of the Scarlet Lancers, the organization that had fought to make such an election possible. Serviss praised the day as "a triumph for democracy and the first step toward a better Asia".
Following his election, Deming delivered a public address in which he outlined his vision for the country, reiterating many of the ideals behind the Scarlet Lancers' decade-long fight against the succession of Chinese dictatorships:
"Optimism is in critical shortage these days. The world as we knew it no longer exists; the old power structures have been abolished; common sense is at a premium. The suffering we endured pales in comparison to the barbaric acts witnessed in Korea and Hawai'i, the latter nation having been completely wiped off the map. Mutually-Assured Destruction, the principle that was allegedly our last safeguard against nuclear war, has been utterly debunked. Never before has the fate of the planet balanced so precariously.
"We must acknowledge our distinction in precipitating today's crises. It was China that began the war; it was China that mobilized Hawai'i; it was China that destabilized Asia so horrendously. To be sure,
I never asked for any of this, and neither, I would wager, did you;
I never dreamed of nuclear holocaust, and neither did you. But however much we can claim individual innocence, we must nevertheless accept the fact that we are the descendents of that criminal empire.
"However. We can still hold our heads high, knowing
we are not that empire. The dictatorship has been dismantled; we can finally speak with our own voice. It is time now to undo the tragedy. China led the world to ruin; now let us be the heralds of a new age of peace and co-prosperity. Democracy is not a game where the winner takes all: I speak as your president, but I am not any more entitled to this office than you, or
you, or
you, or any other citizen. True democracy is found not in the rule of the majority, but through the consensus of
every person: our Prime Minister, Da Huiqing, may hold the most seats in Parliament, but that does not preclude him from working with the other parties. Factionalism engendered today's strife. Factionalism is what we vow to overcome.
"If we are to prevent such incalculable disaster from ever repeating, we must look to unite the international community. If China consolidated the world in war, surely we can band together in peace. As the long-suffering historical homeland of the People's Republic of Xinjiang, we have the unique opportunity of erasing the old legacy. Instead of aggressor, we shall be mediator: our sibling régimes we must strive to bring together, not by force, but by mutual commitment and respect. If Asia is to recover,
all its cogs must turn in unison. If the world is to at last surmount scarcity, misery, conflict, it can only be through a universal plan.
"For the first time in
generations, we have been given the freedom to dictate our own fate. Christos Xinjiang told us we were being oppressed for our own good. President George told us it wasn't
his fault; we were just experiencing the growing pains of democracy. King George told us our culture was 'wayward' and in need of 'modernization'. But when the going got tough, when China needed leadership more than ever, they fled, happy to leave us with a ruined country and decrepit nation.
"But we are
not weak. In spite of the overwhelming odds against us, somehow, we survived the war. Take courage: China was once heralded as the strongest country on Earth; with dedication, we can rebuild. We are
not alone: the Scarlet Lancers, who our previous overlords derided as self-serving terrorists, never gave up their fight to free us, and today are working tirelessly to help nurture Asia back to health. The nation of Oz, who had the opportunity, and some would say the 'right', to hold us as indentured servants, instead recognized us as equals and chose to set us free. We
can rebuild, and we
shall rebuild. And then we shall repay our debt tenfold."
He concluded with an indictment against the so-called "Chinese Resistance Forces" headed by ex-king George I:
"Christos Xinjiang; President George; Chiang; George I: these are the men who through arrogance, idiocy, narcissism, and unapologetic contempt for human dignity, nearly destroyed Asia. These are the men who were more than happy to let us burn as they fled the responsibility of their mistakes. These are the men who drained the national treasury to bankroll their escape to Ethiopia, denying what was supposedly 'their' country the ability to mend itself. And now, they have the gall to call themselves a
liberation front! From whom do they intend to free us? Ourselves?
"
No, Mr. George, you do
not get a second chance. You have proven unmistakably that you know nothing but how to destroy. Xinjiang does not need you. China does not need you. The
world does not need you. We shall rise again, under our
own power; we shall demonstrate beyond a doubt that peace is stronger than war, that internationalism is infinitely more preferable than petty individualism. And the little red hen shall enjoy her bread, free from the heckling of freeloaders.
"If anyone had asked me five years ago where I saw myself today, I would have replied: 'Dead.' It seemed as though China's fate was sealed, that we were condemned to live out the agony of its destruction, bomb after incessant bomb. I did not expect to emerge, alive, and free. I
certainly never
dreamed that
I would be in charge of the country! But if there is
anything we can take away from today, it's that the future is
not certain. We
have the ability to make it ours. We
have the choice to turn away from war. We
have the power.
"Let us make good use of it."
Oz Free Press
Electoral statistics:
Co-operative Alliance: 67%
A mix of newcomers and members of the coalition for restoration, its platform is a continuation of the policies already in place, making it the 'status quo' choice even though no status quo yet exists.
Solidarity: 24%
Advocating the strength of "China", its chief goal is the "unification" of the Chinese successors, although what exactly this means and how it plans to go about it are somewhat contentious. It has a strong internationalist angle and shuns appeal to regionalism, and so seems more interested in diplomacy than butting heads.
Social Justice: 5%
Inspired by but unaffiliated with the Scarlet Lancers, it has an extremely well-developed criminal policy, and is almost fanatic in its call for the apprehension of the old régime. Its chief appeal is thus for citizens seeking "revenge", even though by its very ideology the party would not stand for such motivation.
Green Party: 2%
Its main priorities are nuclear disarmament, the curtailment of carbon emissions, and sustainable development. Has developed lofty, if possibly untenable strategies for the development of central Xinjiang, which is mostly desert.
Democratic Party: 0.6%
A leftover from the
ancien régime. Nobody was clear exactly what it stood for during its heyday, and it didn't seem to be able to adjust to the postwar political landscape, losing considerable ground to the better-defined Co-operative Alliance and Solidarity parties.
Nationalist Party: 0.2%
Another leftover from the
ancien régime. Like the Democratic Party, it has been slow to adjust to the new China, and its platform is now largely unrealistic. Given its policies were responsible for driving China into past conflict, there is very little sympathy for the Nationalists, and Solidarity would seem to render the party obsolete.
Communist Party of Xinjiang: 0%
The oldest contemporary party, its platform is torn between advocates of the Old Guard and new-blood reformers. The legacy of Christos Xinjiang has single-handedly destroyed its credibility, and whether the party will ever recover is heavily debated.
Others: 1.2%
Shanghai and Wuhan have broken away from Oz.
But didn't Shanghai just..?
All nations that hold lands in the SouthEast Asiatic Archipelago are invited to join this brotherhood. Together we will stand strong, together we can prevent an atrocity, like we have seen, to happen again.
The Federation may be interested in this offer, but we cannot decide until we know precisely what membership in this union entails.
As well as taking a quick ride on the crazy train to show why this guy was just foreign minister before.
