| rdfs:comment | - The original People's Republic of Tyranny, China played a fair amount of roles as the Big Bad during part of The Cold War--afterward, portrayal has tended to move towards that of an international Anti-Hero, of the Lawful Neutral sort--although given Values Dissonance, it sometimes could qualify as Chaotic Neutral instead. The portrayal of Communist China can be roughly divided into two periods: The main cause of this was The Korean War - while the Soviets were not (obviously) attacking UN forces, which included the US and the UK, the Chinese most certainly were. Examples of Red China include:
|
| abstract | - The original People's Republic of Tyranny, China played a fair amount of roles as the Big Bad during part of The Cold War--afterward, portrayal has tended to move towards that of an international Anti-Hero, of the Lawful Neutral sort--although given Values Dissonance, it sometimes could qualify as Chaotic Neutral instead. Following the Communist Revolution of 1949, the Kuomintang gang went to Taiwan and set up a government, meaning mainland China became Communist. The prior regime were no saints themselves--Chiang Kai Shek marked his rise to power in China with a massacre of his opponents, and courted fascism; China was receiving Nazi advisors up until World War II, when Germany withdrew them so as not to work against its Japanese allies--and were not exactly seen as such by the Western media--China and Asia in general had long been vilified in popular culture--but they were seen as a lesser evil, partially due to alliance in World War II, and partially due to the fact that they were unlikely to aid the Soviet Union in international disputes. Therefore, Red China became a recurrent villain in Cold War literature; not as common as the Soviet Union, but definitely there, with the addition of the traditional mystique that Asian cultures have always been steeped in. It probably is no exaggeration to say that Red China was the Cold War-era successor to WWII's Imperial Japan in villain roles, in the same way that the Soviet Union was the successor to Those Wacky Nazis. The portrayal of Communist China can be roughly divided into two periods: Fu Manchu meets Dirty Communists (or Yellow Peril meets Red Scare), to a very large extent. The Chinese are sneaky and crafty, like to brainwash people (the term was invented in China) and generally trying to subvert Western freedom. Will team up with the USSR at times. The main cause of this was The Korean War - while the Soviets were not (obviously) attacking UN forces, which included the US and the UK, the Chinese most certainly were. Not so much Dirty Communists here, although you will get Renegade Chinese. China becomes a rich, well-developed country, but still prone to torture and general international shadiness, although not on pre-79 levels. Many things are still Banned in China, though usually available through bootlegged media. Also notice that since China has lately acquired a huge potential as a consumer market for Western media, it makes almost no business sense to offend their powerful censorship by casting China as the villain. Why 1979, you may ask? Though China did start to open to the world in 1972 after Richard Nixon visited China, Mao Ze Dong had a stranglehold on power until his death in 1976, and supported the most radical politics in China. Immediately after he died, those radical elements were arrested, and Deng Xiaoping made a grab for control of the Party. The economic reforms he implemented starting in 1978 turned China from a sclerotic command economy into a supercharged powerhouse. Sometimes, Red China Takes Over the World. Incidentally, red is also a traditional color of China, predating Marxism. Examples of Red China include:
|
