[DEFEATED] Declaration on China

[Tinhampton]

This resolution was at vote between the 16th and 20th of January, 2022.
It was defeated by a margin of 12,868 votes (about 82%) to 2,733 (about 18%).

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This proposal has been filed to the Security Council Declaration Board.
NOTE: at 0429 GMT on the 14th of January 2022, this proposal reached quorum with Aftenheim's approval, the 56th all told.

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Character count: 3,720
Word count: 598

Many declarations have been written about evergreen topics, including several on nuclear and zombie apocalypses; few, however, have been penned on (hopefully) one-off events, even major ones. I seek to rectify that and to enshrine (further) recognition of the China operations in the Security Council.

Some may say this grants too much attention to those who imposed themselves upon China. I say that the story of the battle of China cannot be told in their absence (nor indeed the defenders' or natives') - without them, that story has no villains and a seemingly much less purposeful cast of protagonists. I am on good terms with the raider point just as much as I am with the native delegate; to erase either would be a gross injustice.

I'm tentatively assuming that Andy and UPC will be talking about China in their Year in Reflection declaration - Giovanniland floated the possibility in that drafting thread but they haven't officially decided whether or not they will. (If they don't, however, I'll happily change the BELIEVING clause to reflect that.)

Declaration on China
A resolution to express a position on international affairs and obligations.

Category: Declaration

Type: Declare

Proposed by: Tinhampton

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THE SECURITY COUNCIL:

BELIEVING that, while the day-long occupation and subsequent liberation of [region=China] in December 2021 were mentioned in SC#379 "Reflections on 2021," this body should more prominently document those events as to educate present and future generations;

AWARE that China is a medium-sized region experiencing founderlessness which is therefore currently overseen by WA Delegate and State Councillor [nation=Zhong-guo], a well-regarded resident endorsed by five natives which has never sought to do any harm to their region or its reputation;

NOTING that on the 19th of December 2021, [nation=Commie Raider Lesbians] (CRL; a vassal state of Aleena Connolly/Wascoitan) seized the Delegacy of China for no good reason on behalf of an imposing coalition of raider and Independent organisations, defeating those from China and elsewhere who sought to defend native rule by just 37 endorsements to 33;

RECALLING that over the next 12 hours, CRL had accrued a handy 80 endorsements or so while Zhong-guo had received about 70: levels of support for the native administration that would no doubt have been much higher had the raider delegate, in the minutes before their stranglehold on power was confirmed, not banned eleven defenders from other regions who were endorsing the native incumbent;

INSPIRED by how, rather than betray or forget about their homeland, Zhong-guo persevered and calmly co-operated with China's allies on how best to take back control of their region, eventually moving to the international defender headquarters of [region=Artificial Solar System] after 21 hours to earn more allied endorsements;

THANKFUL that, while supporters of CRL failed to add to their hundred-strong occupying force as they tried to hang onto power, Zhong-guo attained an impressive 116 endorsements to return to the Delegacy that was rightfully theirs exactly a day after losing it, swiftly reversing the damage that their region had suffered and expelling every single nation that had assisted the CRL regime (including CRL themselves);

AFFIRMING that the diversity of this liberating force, rapidly organised and yet one of the largest of all time, as well as the single largest of 2021 - with participants varying from tenured leaders to nations that had never defended before - was key to restoring native rule in China and should serve as a model in how to build successful military coalitions;

RECOGNISING, in addition, that the endorsements Zhong-guo won on the 19th and 20th of December 2021 - all of them deeply and equally valuable in helping to preserve China's sovereignty - came from nations which moved into the region at very short notice, in contrast to the fairly constant stream of pilers that propped up CRL; and

CONVINCED that this body ought to recognise the acts of those who came to China's aid in its greatest crisis, as well as of those who sought to bring about its downfall, as one of the largest and most memorable examples of international conflict, challenge, and (ultimately) constructive collaboration:

HEREBY:

1. DECLARES that the recent invasion and liberation of [region=China] is deserving of study by raiders, defenders and natives alike (more so than many other military operations), given the many valuable lessons about tactics, strategy, resilience and fortune that it teaches;
2. EXPRESSES its belief that the kind of diligent ingenuity observed in China should be widely and effectively imitated in the service of a sensible-minded international order; and
3. WISHES the best of luck to [nation=Zhong-guo] and the other natives of China in their ongoing efforts to strengthen and rebuild their home.

[Tinhampton]

This post is reserved for old drafts, if any.

[Quebecshire]

First off I would like to state support in principle for this usage of declarations.

BELIEVING that, while the day-long occupation and subsequent liberation of [region=China] in December 2021 were mentioned in SC#379 "2021: A Year in Reflection," this body should more prominently document those events as to educate present and future generations;

Someone is getting ahead of themselves!

RECALLING that over the next 12 hours, CRL had accrued a handy 80 endorsements or so while Zhong-guo had received about 70:

Maybe reword this to signify the difference between how Wasc got her endos (pilers) and how Zhong got their's (in the moment liberating)?

INSPIRED by how, rather than betray or forget about their homeland, Zhong-guo persevered and calmly co-operated with China's allies on how best to take back control of their region, eventually moving to the international defender headquarters of [region=Artificial Solar System] after 21 hours to earn more allied endorsements;

I like this. A lot.

AFFIRMING that the diversity of this liberating force, rapidly-organised and yet one of the largest of all time - with participants varying from tenured leaders such as HumanSanity and Grea Kriopia to scores of nations that had never defended before - was key to restoring native rule in China and should serve as a model in how to build successful military coalitions; and

I am not sure how I feel about this, specifically mentioning HS and GK by name. While they both were crucial leaders in the operation, I'm not sold on singling them out per se. People like Luca were invaluable on the technical side of things, TITO ran conscription like crazy alongside the LDF and SPSF (and TITO stays out of the spotlight a lot) and several people including Haku and New Makasta were FPM people for defenders before the native joined in. So I'm not sure about this one.

This is my feedback for now.

In addition, it might be worth mentioning how the VAST MAJORITY of independent/Independent forces were on the invading side. The only non-defender oriented military in our coalition was EPSA, which sent 3 people. We won because of civilians and I think that deserves more emphasis.

Best of luck!

[Giovanniland]

Interesting use of declarations! I'll give the proposal a more careful read later, but from a cursory read:

AWARE that China is a medium-sized region prized for its name, but without an active founder, currently overseen by WA Delegate and State Councillor [nation=Zhong-guo], a well-regarded resident endorsed by five natives which has never sought to do any harm to their region or its reputation;

Wouldn't this be illegal for a real life reference? I can't really interpret the "prized for its name" part as anything but a reference to the RL country.

[Alfonzo]

It may also be worth mentioning it exceeded our last occupation (Trovons) in numbers

[Quebecshire]

It may also be worth mentioning it exceeded our last occupation (Trovons) in numbers

The New Order Last Days of Europe was actually the most recent occupation, which we liberated (twice). But I don't think that broke the Trovons record, so Trovons was the prior record for the year, if not several recent years.

[Alfonzo]

It may also be worth mentioning it exceeded our last occupation (Trovons) in numbers

The New Order Last Days of Europe was actually the most recent occupation, which we liberated (twice). But I don't think that broke the Trovons record, so Trovons was the prior record for the year, if not several recent years.

Oh god damn really? I'm only 16 and I'm falling off my rocker :[

[HumanSanity]

AFFIRMING that the diversity of this liberating force, rapidly-organised and yet one of the largest of all time - with participants varying from tenured leaders such as HumanSanity and Grea Kriopia to scores of nations that had never defended before - was key to restoring native rule in China and should serve as a model in how to build successful military coalitions; and

I am not sure how I feel about this, specifically mentioning HS and GK by name. While they both were crucial leaders in the operation, I'm not sold on singling them out per se.

I can comment on the rest later but wanted to say I agree with Quebec on this, as one of the people listed in this draft.

It takes a village to do a liberation. I don't think you understand how many people put in work here. I did a rough count and came up with 17 different officers from multiple different organizations who put in serious work to pull this one off, and that's not to mention every updater who jumped in the liberation, siege, or initial defense. Modern defending succeeds because we have cultivated a diversity of strong organizations and officers who work together to solve problems and get the job done.

GK and I didn't do shit. The team did everything.

[Wascoitan]

I like this usage of declarations, when declarations were originally introduced this was actually what I thought they were mostly going to be used for, one off incidents, rather than the general issues that they've mostly been used for previously. tho for your sake I won't praise it too much lest the moralist decide that it's somehow a badge of honor for me or something like that . other than that I have no comments on this, good luck passing it.

[Grea Kriopia]

GK and I didn't do shit. The team did everything.

Echoing this as true. One of the only reasons defending can managing these massive liberations is because of the wide range of officers who put in work in such a short period of time.

[Tinhampton]

I like this usage of declarations, when declarations were originally introduced this was actually what I thought they were mostly going to be used for, one off incidents, rather than the general issues that they've mostly been used for previously. tho for your sake I won't praise it too much lest the moralist decide that it's somehow a badge of honor for me or something like that . other than that I have no comments on this, good luck passing it.

Thanks! I have no plans to turn this into Condemn Wascoitan any time soon, don't you worry

AWARE that China is a medium-sized region prized for its name, but without an active founder, currently overseen by WA Delegate and State Councillor [nation=Zhong-guo], a well-regarded resident endorsed by five natives which has never sought to do any harm to their region or its reputation;

Wouldn't this be illegal for a real life reference? I can't really interpret the "its name" part as anything but a reference to the RL country.

Liberate Christmas (2012) referred to the target region as one "which many people treasure due to its special name." Liberate The conservative christians (2018) also noted that the target region had been invaded by a group that had refounded many "regions that could have otherwise been prized for their names, like The Holy Quran, Hindu, and The outremer;" in real life, The Outremer is the term used to describe the territory that was held by the Crusaders just short of a thousand years ago. Both of those were legal and I don't see how this one isn't in 2021 myself; however, I can understand what you mean and have taken that particular section out for the time being - it was very much a last-minute addition!

snip

more snip

After talking to HS for a bit, I've changed this particular section of AFFIRMING to refer to "participants varying from tenured leaders to nations that had never defended before" in general. I was always a bit shaky on the namedropping myself.

BELIEVING that, while the day-long occupation and subsequent liberation of [region=China] in December 2021 were mentioned in SC#379 "2021: A Year in Reflection," this body should more prominently document those events as to educate present and future generations;

Someone is getting ahead of themselves!

I'm not submitting this before we find out what's happening with Andy's and UPC's declaration - and I've said I'll happily reword that particular clause if they omit China (or if their declaration doesn't pass, of course)
Thanks for your praise of the INSPIRED clause. Hopefully my changes to THANKFUL and, as aforementioned, AFFIRMING - as well as a new RECOGNISING - should also satisfy you.

It may also be worth mentioning it exceeded our last occupation (Trovons) in numbers

Pursuant to this and later posts, I now describe the final China liberation as starring "the single largest [liberating force] of 2021."

[Honeydewistania]

Please change the title. "Declaration on" is the "Convention on/On [title]" of the SC

Also, where's my shoutout?

[Tim]

I have no interest in seeing this passed by a traditionally raider-leaning couch commander who clearly doesn't know the slightest thing about R/D.

[Queen Yuno]

^

Tinhampton is a NEUTRAL player; the reason this declaration even exists is because Tinhampton writes things that praises both sides (raider and defender.) Frankly, I don't even remember the last time Tinhampton praised any raiders, although she totally SHOULD.

Cool, bravo at the post above mine. Drive off a woman who wrote a Declaration that's 100% praising defenders (and seemingly snubbing raiders.) Great defender PR move.

Tinhampton has always been playing unaligned. She writes what she wants to. She's not in any raider regions.

Also, I am friends with the native Delegate of the region China, so good job and thanks to everyone who helped the native Delegate get his region back. That's it. ^.^

[Quebecshire]

Cool, bravo at the post above mine. Drive off a woman who wrote a Declaration that's 100% praising defenders (and seemingly snubbing raiders.) Great defender PR move.

If you would be so inclined as to consider reading this thread, you would see that several defenders have either expressed support or at the very least offered constructive feedback to Tinhampton's proposal. I am also unsure as to why Tinhampton's gender is relevant to this conversation.

[Refuge Isle]

Tinhampton has always been playing unaligned. She writes what she wants to. She's not in any raider regions.

She has, however, only updated as TBH

[Queen Yuno]

Cool, bravo at the post above mine. Drive off a woman who wrote a Declaration that's 100% praising defenders (and seemingly snubbing raiders.) Great defender PR move.

If you would be so inclined as to consider reading this thread, you would see that several defenders have either expressed support or at the very least offered constructive feedback to Tinhampton's proposal. I am also unsure as to why Tinhampton's gender is relevant to this conversation.

I didn't say anything about the other defenders! I only responded to ONE post on this thread which was against Tinhampton's proposal because of ad hominen reasons, rather than the actual merits of her proposal.

I had 0 problems with the posts from the other defenders and if you quoted my entire quoted you'd see that I contradicted them? Anyway--

Additionally:
I didn't bring up Tinhampton's gender, her gender is on her profile signature so i used these proper pronouns to refer to her. I did not mean anything more than that. I was trying to be polite. Originally I wrote "drive off a guy"
-- the word "guy" is my default term to talk about others on the internet, but Tinhampton isn't a guy so I replaced the word, because I want to be polite and respectful.

You don't have to assume hidden meaning where there isn't. I am always straightforward and I always speak my mind. I try to say what I mean bluntly, within reason. I am simple to understand.

I was only expressing disagreement to the single post above mine. I did not say anything about the other defenders.

When you quote the snippet that looks bad and not the whole thing, that misconstrues my entire message. You manipulate my post to make it say something that I'm not; i'm expressing the same views as everyone else in this thread except that one guy who's against this thread. I was only responding to that 1 anti guy to explain to him what he seems to be doing.

I didn't say anything about the other defenders or people on this thread because I have 0 problems with their posts, because I agreed with them.

I only spoke up because I saw some Ad Hominen on Tinhampton from a post.

Sorry if I had to repeat something a few times. Was worried you might misconstrue me again, hahah. Just trying to be clear.

[Comfed]

Full support for this use of declarations in general. Please change the title from the rapidly becoming overused “Declaration on” as Honeydew suggested.

[Bhang Bhang Duc]

I have no interest in seeing this passed by a traditionally raider-leaning couch commander who clearly doesn't know the slightest thing about R/D.

Reads like a a typical bit of Tinhampton opportunism and bandwagon jumping.

[Minskiev]

I have mixed feelings about this. While making a Declaration on every defender success is an unfeasible and bad use of the Security Council, some defender successes should make it because Declarations, to me, are the Security Council taking a stance on things that need a consensus. I would say big changes, new major developments, make the cut.

Does China need a consensus? Not much additional rhetoric can be formulated by a Declaration on the liberation of China. This Declaration would not benefit anyone, it's pointless. I also do not believe that China was very novel. The numbers will only increase and increase in defending's current state. You also shouldn't single people out for causing the success of a liberation. It's many people.

In short, I don't believe China to be worthy of a Declaration. It was a run-of-the-mill liberation, really.

[Tinhampton]

Declarations, to me, are the Security Council taking a stance on things that need a consensus. I would say big changes, new major developments make the cut. Does China need a consensus? Not much additional rhetoric can be formulated by a Declaration on the liberation of China. This Declaration would not benefit anyone, it's pointless. I also do not believe that China was very novel. The numbers will only increase and increase in defending's current state.

We have two prominent records of past events at our fingertips today. The News page predominantly provides short, irregular updates about fundamental (or not...) changes to NationStates. The Security Council, by contrast, is The People's History of NationStates: it is where players and groups of players, using mechanisms available to everyone at all times to accomplish extraordinary things, are recognised by their fellow rulers.

Although important as a short-term reference (and not least to mention thoroughly enjoyable to read), gameplay threads and dispatches may be widely forgotten after a few months, and dug up only by somewhat interested historians in the future. Yet the Security Council's record is permanent, granting those it recognises eternal fame or notoriety even after the relevant documents are struck from the record.

China was one of modern military gameplay's finest hours: whether in terms of the immense scale at which both sides participated, together attracting 1% of all World Assembly nations worldwide; the defender forces of the world singlehandedly overcoming TBH, LWU, and almost every major Independent organisation participating; or even the remarkable determination that Zhong-guo, working in partnership with those defenders, showed in seeking to reclaim their home region. I believe it to be a success monumental enough that the Security Council should memorialise it.

[Matthew the Man]

If you would be so inclined as to consider reading this thread, you would see that several defenders have either expressed support or at the very least offered constructive feedback to Tinhampton's proposal. I am also unsure as to why Tinhampton's gender is relevant to this conversation.

When you quote the snippet that looks bad and not the whole thing, that misconstrues my entire message. You manipulate my post to make it say something that I'm not;

Good pivot from Quebec's other point.

[MossW]

Wasn't Aketura involved in this somehow?

[Quebecshire]

Wasn't Aketura involved in this somehow?

Aketura was involved as the puppet nation of Beafroaft, a resident of The League who was conscripted for the operation.

[Queen Yuno]

When you quote the snippet that looks bad and not the whole thing, that misconstrues my entire message. You manipulate my post to make it say something that I'm not;

Good pivot from Quebec's other point.

Are you trying to say something?