| 民主主義人民共和國的滿洲 Mǎnzhōulǐ Mínzhǔ Zhǔyì Rénmín Gònghéguó |
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| Democratic People’s Republic of Manchuria | |||||
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| National Anthem 歌唱祖國 ["Ode to the Motherland"] | |||||
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| Capital | Changchun | ||||
| Largest City | Liautung | ||||
| Official Languages | Mandarin Chinese | ||||
| Regional Languages | Manchu Korean Mongolian Russian |
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| Demonym | Manchurian | ||||
| Government | Single-Party Socialist Republic | ||||
| - General Secretary of the Communist Party | Qin Shi Huang | ||||
| - President | Xien Weibao | ||||
| - Premier of the State Council | Wang Shuwen | ||||
| - Chairman of the National Congress | Qian Sanqiang | ||||
| - Chairman of the Defence Committee | Xie Shengwu | ||||
| Formation - De facto - De jure |
1947 15th August 1949 |
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| Total Area | 1,564,115.75 km2 | ||||
| Population - Total Population |
63,987,074 (September 2013) |
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| Alliance Affiliation | The International | ||||
| Currency | Manchurian Yen | ||||
| Nominal GDP - Total - Per Capita |
2012 estimate ▲ $1.736 trillion ▲ $19,206 |
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| Driving Lane | Right | ||||
| Time Zone | UTC+8-UTC+9 Manchurian Western, Manchurian Eastern |
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Manchuria (Chinese: 滿洲里; pinyin: Mǎnzhōulǐ), officially the Democratic People's Republic of Manchuria, is a sovereign state located in East Asia. Manchuria is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of Manchuria (commonly referred to as CPM), with its seat of government in the capital city of Changchun. It exercises jurisdiction over 14 provinces, three autonomous regions and 3 special economic regions. From northwest to northeast, Manchuria shares land borders with the Russian Federation, Mongolia, the People's Republic of China and the the DPRK (North Korea).
The ancient Manchurian civilization - one of the world's earliest - flourished in the lush forests and river basins in the Eastern Asian Plains. For milliennia the political system was an imperial hereditary monarchy, beginning with semi-mythological dynasties such as the Wen-dynasty, perhaps as early as 2 500 BC. Manchuria's influence was at it's peak when Manchu armies invaded the Chinese Empire in 1644 and established the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China. It would last until the fall of imperial rule in China in 1912.
Manchuria regained it's independence from China when Japanese occupation ceased after the Japanese defeat in World War II. After a brief armed conflict with the Chinese Kuomintang, the Republic of Manchuria declared itself an independent state from the Republic of China in 1947. A year later communist forces, backed by the communists in China under Mao Zedong and Stalin in the Soviet Union, took power in Manchuria. After having de facto been independent for 2 years, the country was finally recognized independent from the then in 1949, People's Republic of China. Thus, on the 15th of August 1949 the Democratic People's Republic of Manchuria was founded, under the rule of Wen Xienshan, who is still revered as the founding father of the republic, like Mao Zedong in China and Kim Il Sung in Korea.
Since the introduction of economic reforms in the early 90s, Manchuria has become a fast growing, major Asian economy. It is rapidly becoming one of Asia's largest importer and exporter of goods. Manchuria has been a member of the United Nations since 1951. It is a member of the International-alliance.
Economy[]
- Main article: Economy of Manchuria
Administrative Divisions[]
The DPRM has administrative control over 14 provinces (One being the capital Changchun). Manchuria also has three subdivisions termed autonomous regions, each with a designated minority group and three special economic regions. These "special economic regions" are basically areas where there is a free market economy and they also enjoy some degree of political freedom, there are e.g. multiple political parties in these regions, which there is not in the rest of the country.
Liautung special economic region
Provinces[]
- Changchun (Capital)
- Zhang
- Huanggutun
- Mukden
- Guandong
- Chuang
- Shandong
- Manchukuo
- Yinlong
- Heixiazi
- Heilongyang
- Sipingjie
- Xinjin
Autonomous Regions[]
- Korean Autonomous Region
- Russian Autonomous Region
- Mongolian Autonomous Region
Special Economic Regions[]
The Special ecnonomic regions are all cities.
- Chengde
- Beizhen
- Liautung
Politics[]
| Communist Party of Manchuria 共產黨民主主義人民共和國的滿洲 | |
 | |
| Founded | 14 May 1931 |
| Ideology | Communism, State Capitalism |
| Political position | Far Left |
| General Secretary | Qin Shi Huang |
| Chairman of the Supreme Congress | Qian Sanqiang |
| Members | 20,164,110 (2011) |
| Headquarters | Changchun |
| Seats in the - National Congress | 2116 of 2419 |
| Website | cpdprm.mr |
The politics of the Democratic People’s Republic of Manchuria takes place in the framework of a single-party socialist republic. The leadership of the Communist Party is stated in the Constitution of the DPRM. State power within the republic is exercised through the Communist Party of Manchuria, the government offices as well as provincial and local counterparts of the government offices. In practice all government offices has a corresponding post in the Communist Party which also in practice means that each government official holds a post in the Communist Party and renders the state office merely a rubber-stamp ceremonial post.
Since 2013 this is also the case with the Office of the President of Manchuria, although the president is officially the Head of State, the real executive power is vested in the Chairman of the Communist Party, who is also automatically the Chairman of the Defence Committee and thus the Supreme Commander of the Armed forces.
Since the takeover of Qin Shi Huang’s leadership changes to the traditional system of governance have been going through an extensive overhaul. This rapid policy changing culminated in the adoption on the 2013 Constitution, which though still defining the Communist Party as the leading entity of the country, does not contain a single reference to communism or socialism and also drastically increased the powers of the office of the Chairman of the Communist party, in practice transferring most powers from the President and other military posts. The new constitution also created the Defence Committee, which holds the command of the armed forces. Experts say that this is a further step to consolidate power of the new leader and potentially the start of building a similar cult of personality around him as was done for the former president.
Qin Shi Huang-leadership 2013-[]
Qin Shi Huang unexpectedly took over the leadership of the Communist Party in April 2013 and then president Zhang Zhixiang was swiftly removed from office in after having ruled the country since 1998. Foreign experts have cited everything from poor health to involvement of the Army in some sort of coup d'état, but so far the official explanation given by the Foreign ministry of Manchuria was, and has remained that "the Communist Party accepted Zhang Zhixiang's removal from office acting upon his own wish".
Qin Shi Huang rapidly started replacing officials both in government and in the Communist Party and seems as of July 2013 have established himself as more than a temporary solution. In June of 2013 he was for the first time referred to as the Supreme Leader by the country's television.
Offices[]
President[]
| Qin Shi Huang | |
| |
Supreme Leader of Manchuria
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 14 April 2013 | |
General Secretary of the
Communist Party of Manchuria | |
|---|---|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 14 April 2013 | |
| Deputy | Qian Sanqiang |
| President | Xien Weibao |
| Preceded by | Zhang Zhixiang |
Deputy General Secretary of the CPM
| |
| In office 16 October 2009 – 14 April 2013 | |
| Succeeded by | Qian Sanqiang |
| Born | 14 May 1978 Changchun, Manchuria |
| Nationality | Manchurian |
| Political party | Communist Party of Manchuria |
| Residence | Changchun |
| Alma mater | State University of Moscow |
| Profession | Politician, Soldier |
| Religion | Atheist |
The President of the Democratic People's Republic of Manchuria (Chinese: 總統民主主義人民共和國的滿洲) is the head of state of Manchuria. The office of the President is a ceremonial one, as the real power lies in the office of General Secretary of the Communist Party. The President is elected by the National Congress and is a state organ (vs. an administrative post in the CPDPRM).
Despite being only a ceremonial position it serves as an important national symbol.
The current president, since April 2013, is Qin Shi Huang's close friend and protegé, Xien Weibao, who unexpectedly was elected to the post after the removal of Zhang Zhixiang from office.
Premier[]
The Premier of the State Council of the DPRM (Chinese: 總理民主主義人民共和國的滿洲) is in its simplest informality the "Prime Minister" of the DPRM. In theory this post is the head of the country's government.
The Premier is formally approved by the National Congress upon the apparent nomination of the President. In practice however, the candidate is picked by the Communist Party General Secretary and the National Congress approval is only a formality.
The Premier is traditional a powerful member of the government of Manchuria and in the Communist Party.
National Congress[]
The National Congress (Chinese: 全國大會民主主義人民共和國的滿洲), often abbreviated NCM, is the highest state body and the unicameral legislative house in the Democratic People's Republic of Manchuria. With 2419 members it is one of the largest parliaments in the world.
Due to the Communist Party being the only allowed party in the country, the NCM is in practice a nearly powerless rubber-stamp legislature, ratifying decisions already made by the Communist Party and the national leadership.
Military[]
- Main article: Armed Forces of Manchuria
The Armed Forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Manchuria is the military services of Manchuria.
The Communist Party had until 1999 a paramilitary force, but it has since been disbanded and assimilated into the regular armed forces.
Justice[]
Law and justice in Manchuria is a mix of traditional Chinese approaches, Western legal system as well as influences from the Soviet legal system.
The 1969 adopted legal code is largely based in the Soviet Union's exemple of socialist law. There are however also a large number of Chinese and Manchurian particularities. Although recent attempts has been made to reform the legal system, the task has proven to be slow and difficult.
Legal system[]
Manchurian criminal and civil cases involve trials that are "primarily official investigation[s] of the truth of the claims and defenses presented", and Manchurian law is thus very similar in this respect to civil law of European countries like France and Germany.
Rule of Law[]
Up until recently the Manchurian legal system has been regarded as an arm of politics and the courts as basically agencies of the government. Reforms are currently underway and the country's legal system is slowly moving away from the old system which is designed more to protect the state from an individual than to protect the individual from the state.
Extensive extra-judiciary powers are given to the state security agency (secret police) State Intelligence Directorate (SID), which is under direct administration of the Office of the President and answers only to the president.
Human rights[]
Manchuria has had a relatively good track record when it comes to human rights after 1990. Certainly in comparisson with neighbouring North Korea. However, in Manchurian law, rights are granted by the state and thus are subordinate to the state, and thus the tendency has been that the juridical system emphasizes economic and social rights over civil and political rights.
Culture[]
Though heavily influenced by confucianism, the Manchurian is one of the most westernized of Asian societies. Pretty much all the ancient traditions and customs were more or less eradicated during the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Society functions as a mixture of meritocracy and technocracy. Your paste of advance is determined by your merits rather than your family connections. Also unusual for an Asian society, women are equally represented in working life, and some branches of society even show a higher proportion of women represented. A notable exception to this is the ruling Communist Party, which only has a 15% share of females. And the higher up you move in the Communist Party hierarchy the smaller the percentage, ie. out of 2116 representants in the National Congress only 103 are women, as well as only one female member of the government.
Television and media[]
Manchuria has ever since it's independence in the 50s been a flag bearer in television and media among socialist regimes in Asia. Although until the 90s there were only the state controlled television channels available, there has since the beginning been a large variation in programming with a relatively high quality. In the past two decades many new, both state owned and private channels and radio stations have appeared. Tough there is still some censorship, the control is not as strict as it was 20 years ago.
The state broadcasting company Asiavision Broadcasting Network (Asiavision in short) operates 16 channels, 11 in Chinese, 2 in Korean, 1 in English, 1 in French and 1 in Russian. Of these channels all or some are shown in China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Nepal, Thailand, Myanmar, Mongolia and Russia. 3 of the channels are also since 2010 viewable online in HD quality.
Since 2007 Asiavision annually organises the Asiavision Song Contest, after having bought the format from the European Broadcasting Union.
Architecture[]
Music[]
Cinema[]
Sports[]
Unlike other East-Asian countries, many winter sports are popular in Manchuria, such as ice-hockey and ski jumping. However the real national sport of the country is rugby, which is immensly popular. Other popular sports include soccer and tennis.
Manchuria made preparations to make a bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics, but later decided not to, and is instead now preparing to make a bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics.