THE QIANRONGESE PEOPLE OF THE YEAR
2015 was one of Qianrong's most tumultuous years in recent history-
Now, RFQ ranks the top five individuals who shaped the country this year.
2015 was one of Qianrong's most tumultuous years in recent history-
Now, RFQ ranks the top five individuals who shaped the country this year.
Before December of last year, the Free Democratic Republic of Qianrong appeared invincible. Even with terrorism spreading across the country, most analysts and experts predicted that the autocratic regime that had run Qianrong since its declaration in 1927 would triumph in the end, as it had in the Qianrongese Revolution, Qianrongese Civil War, and First Domestic Terror War. Order would be maintained at all costs, and in the end life would continue largely unchanged. Even immediately after the December 1 military coup that saw Hsieh Jiang-De killed, many expected that nothing much would change. This was not the first time the military had forced a leader they felt to be too weak out of power- Chancellor Wu Fao-Yang was forced from power in 1998 for being insufficiently decisive, though his fall from power was far smoother and far less bloody.
But all the estimates and analyses went out the window when someone stood up to self-declared Acting Chancellor Guo Tse-Zu. That someone was Li Jian-Zheng, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Free Democratic Republic. Li's rise to the position had been a minor news story in October of 2014; most of the coverage revolved around several lines in his first speech as Speaker calling for the creation of a global anti-terrorism alliance, an unusual sign of independence for the leader of a rubberstamp legislature. But in October, nobody could have guessed how that independence would cause the victory of pro-democracy forces in the Winter Rebellion, or the creation of the Second Independent State government.
Of course, we need not dive too deep into Li's accomplishments. Anyone in Qianrong knows why he is now ranked alongside Yang Hao-Ming and Zheng Hye-Jeou as a "Father of Modern Qianrong". He abolished the Free Democratic Republic, and then worked with both allies and enemies to create a new government that would represent the widest possible swath of Qianrongese society, learning from the mistakes of the First Independent State and Free Democratic Republic. He was the first Yinglidao leader of a country whose population is 22 percent Christian. He founded the National Rights and Liberties Index, which the Qianrongese government has openly relied on to check its own record and the records of foreign countries. He refused to continue in government, saying it was time for a new generation of Qianrongese leaders to take over- but was awarded the title of honorary president anyways. The Qianrong that we live in today might not exist if somebody else had been named Speaker in October.
It should thus be obvious why Li easily takes the title this year. There is no denying that this year was a tumultuous one, one where Qianrong was in the headlines internationally more often than most would like. But even in this hectic, violent year, Li Jian-Zheng made the headlines and changed a country forever. No other Qianrongese newsmaker this year came close to matching him. As a result, we name former Acting Chancellor and Chairman of the National Transitional Council Li Jian-Zheng as the 2015 Qianrongese Person of the Year.
There is no denying Qi Chien-Xuan’s ties to the Free Democratic Republic.
Qi Chien-Xuan was born to then-Defense and Intelligence Minister Qi Yong-Chang in 1952. After the assassination of Zheng Hye-Jeou by Xian Men-Sheng in 1956, Qi Yong-Chang, Zheng's right hand man and protege, was named his successor. He would reign until 1979, when he died of a cerebral hemorrhage. As a result, the first twenty-seven years of Qi Chien-Xuan's life were located in the spotlight. She grew up in the National Palace, the center of the repressive FDRQ regime. But even then she rebelled, subtly, invisibly, without attracting the attention of the secret police edifice her father controlled; she smuggled banned books into the National Palace itself, and sometimes used government funds obtained from corrupt officials to finance breakouts from political prisons. No doubt her father inadvertently aided her in this; ever doting on his daughter, the few individuals who attempted to inform him of his daughter's actions often found themselves in prison for slander or simply dead. Within the heart of the authoritarian edifices of the FDRQ, the young Qi Chien-Xuan turned the organs of oppression on each other.
The Free Democratic Republic is now defunct, of course, and Qi- who had taken up modest employment as a secretary and later an attorney, instead of a high-level governing position that her family ties easily could have gotten her- returned to the limelight as a politician in her own right. First she was Opposition Leader, and after the Namorese Cables scandal, she became Prime Minister. And as Prime Minister, she has continued to fight against the ghosts of the FDRQ- against the legacy of her father. There are some parts she has continued- both her father and herself fought the ASQ- but even there, she has refused to resort to the tactics her father used to crush dissent and root out suspected sympathizers. She has chosen to stick to morality and transparency, instead of returning Qianrong to secrecy and shadow. She has taken action to protect judicial independence and political liberty, rather than continuing Qianrong's history of autocracy and authoritarianism. She has even rejected realpolitik in favor of maintaining the values of the government- something almost unheard of, even in democratic countries. In this respect, she stands out from the vast majority of world leaders in that she acts for the betterment of the nation before the betterment of herself.
For Prime Minister Qi Chien-Xuan, being a political dynast is not a blessing. She did not enter power to continue the legacy of her father, Chancellor Qi Yong-Chang, or her cousin, Acting Chancellor Hsieh Jiang-De. Instead, she entered power to reject their legacies, build a better Qianrong, and continue the fight that she began in the National Palace so many decades ago. Once, she used the corruptions of authoritarianism against each other; now, she sets off to destroy their shadows in Qianrong once and for all. Prime Minister Qi's firm adherence to the values of the new government and her rejection of the dark histories of her family and her nation earn her second place on this year's list- and very well might get her first place next year, if she continues along her present path.
Earlier this year, when the Qianrongese media started mentioning the Revolutionary People’s Army for Equalitarianism, it was as a footnote. They were the weaker, lesser part of the terrorist network created by the Alliance for Sovereignty in Qianrong, used by Ngo Huu Tra to gain some extra backing in areas where he lacked it. They were desperate pretenders to the legacy of Huang Jun-Tseng, attaching themselves to a more powerful group in a desperate attempt at some form of relevancy. But under the leadership of Long Jiao-Dan, who took a once-defunct organization and rebuilt it from the ground up, it has become obvious that nothing could be farther from the truth. The RPAE- now the Qianrongese Soviet Republic, a de facto governing body- has now forced an indefinite ceasefire with the Second Independent State. Once derided, they are now the main enemy in the Second Domestic Terror War. And it’s all thanks to the brilliant, charismatic, cunning, and utterly ruthless leadership of Long Jiao-Dan.
Long Jiao-Dan has proven himself in what can only be described as a baptism of fire. His organization started out small and disconnected, one of many groups vying for dominance as the Second Domestic Terror War expanded. His big break came when he successfully formed an alliance with Ngo Huu Tra, Supreme Leader of the Alliance for Sovereignty in Qianrong. Ngo probably viewed the alliance as nothing more than a handy way to maintain some sort of dominance in regions where the ASQ's message was less popular- especially as the increasingly genocidal tendencies of Ngo's group alienated an ever-greater number of Qianrongese. But Long took and did not give back; instead, right under the noses of the feared ASQ, he used their financial and equipment support to construct his own network, and his own army. And when, after the death of Ngo, the fracturing of the ASQ, and the RPAE capture of Xiangmen, the ASQ ceased to be useful, Long- now the more powerful partner in the alliance- turned on them. This Machiavellian politicking has successfully turned him into one of the most powerful people in Qianrong, and shows part of why he's become such a formidable threat for the SISQ.
But at the same time, as he turned on allies and added to his seemingly ever-growing list of victories and titles, Long skillfully manipulated the public image and foreign events in his favor. After the economies of many major Esquarian countries collapsed, sending a fragile Qianrongese economy into the dumps, Long made several major moves to win over public opinion. For the time being, at least, he appears to have succeeded- though whether or not his nation will continue to run reasonably smoothly, or if it will devolve into something more resembling the power-hungry and ruthless nature of its leader, remains yet to be seen. With the government on the defensive militarily and on the popular front, he forced them to negotiate in Xiangmen, establishing an indefinite ceasefire- a triumph second only to total control over the archipelago, which may be nearly unattainable for both sides at this point.
Love him or hate him, there is no denying that Chairman Long Jiao-Dan is cunning, clever, charismatic, and utterly and unashamedly ruthless- and there is no doubt that he has been successful. Remembering that the title "Qianrongese Person of the Year" is simply for the individuals who did the most to shape Qianrong and its news this year, and not necessarily a commendation or condemnation, the success and strategy of Long Jiao-Dan earn him third place this year.
The winner of the 2014 Qianrongese Person of the Year title, Supreme Leader of the Alliance for Sovereignty in Qianrong Ngo Huu Tra takes fourth this year in part because he was, technically, only alive for half of it. Indeed, his death- revealed by the hacktivist group Esquarileaks- was a major news story. And after his death, the once-feared terror group he ran has become a shadow of its former self. Most of his legacy, it appears, will be in inadvertently facilitating the Winter Rebellion and the rise of individuals such as Qi Chien-Xuan and Long Jiao-Dan to power.
But that is not the only mark that Ngo Huu Tra- often called the "Most Hated Man in Qianrong"- leaves within the country. The terrorism carried out by his organization left the country economically weak and in a state of shock. The inability of the National Self-Defense Forces to counter his campaign of terror has led to massive leadership changes and the adoption of new and different strategies by the government. And, of course, there is the one horrifying feature that Ngo left on the ASQ and that brought so much ruin to Qianrong.
During the First Domestic Terror War, and the opening days of the Second, the Alliance for Sovereignty in Qianrong was focused simply on the division of QIanrong into an independent Minjian, Tuhao, and Mahusayna. They used violence and terrorism in an attempt to achieve this goal. But Ngo Huu Tra added a new and fearsome aspect to the ideology of the ASQ: that of genocide. Ngo's personal hatred of what he viewed as the pollution of the archipelago by Otekians, Christians, and Shudri became ASQ policy, and the guns of the terrorists turned towards the murder of innocent civilians on a scale that even horrified some within the terrorist group itself. Hundreds of thousands were forced to become refugees and displaced persons. Entire neighborhoods were obliterated, the inhabitants shot and the buildings razed. Ngo Huu Tra gave "terrorism" a whole new meaning for Qianrong, ended thousands of innocent lives, and brought ruin to the Qianrongese Archipelago.
There is no denying that Ngo Huu Tra shaped the darker side of Qianrong this year. His xenophobic delusions and the campaign of genocide they led to transfixed and horrified the nation- and no doubt were part of why so many crowded the streets to celebrate his death. While his death was no doubt some justice for the nation of Qianrong, Ngo Huu Tra robbed millions of people of their friends and family. As a result, he takes fourth place on this year's list for personifying all the potential evil and malice in man.
2015 was a better year for Song Li-Chao than 2014, though the bar could not be set much lower. The final Chancellor of the Free Democratic Republic was rescued only days too late to prevent its end, and spent weeks in a hospital, recovering from malnourishment, sleep deprivation, physical and psychological torture, and- in what has become a mocking punchline for his ex-ally Breuvi Shjoraski- even castration at the hands of the ASQ. The party he once belonged to, the Nationalist People's Party, was banned and dissolved. In his absence, the situation in Qianrong had changed entirely- perhaps, had he not been slowly brought back into it by a hospital staff, he might not have recognized the country we now live in as Qianrong.
And yet somehow, he has thrived. He has overshadowed other rightist leaders in the Qianrongese government, including Zhong Fang-Ye, Wu Guo-Sun, and Le Gia Dinh. His angry, passionate speech has drawn him support- and, when it's directed at countries like Luziyca or Namor, this support often comes from both sides of the aisle. He may no longer be Chancellor, but he effectively leads the right in the SISQ's upper house as Vice President. Should the right defeat the left in the upper house when elections come in 2016, it is likely that he would become the President of Qianrong- the first individual to be both Chancellor and President of Qianrong. Somehow, in spite of the collapse of everything he knew and the rise of an entirely different political world overnight, Song Li-Chao has remained a major figure in Qianrongese politics. While he may not have shaped the headlines as often this year, he has certainly gotten himself into a position to resume shaping them in the future.
He might have won in 2013, and taken second in 2014, but in 2015 former Chancellor and incumbent Vice President Song Li-Chao takes fifth place. If his political fortunes continue to grow, though, he could be taking a higher spot in 2016 or 2017. Whether that becomes the case remains yet to be seen. But if 2014 and 2015 say anything, then the Great Survivor will likely still be around and kicking.
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