People's Republic of China

China (officially known as the People's Republic of China, or abbreviated as the PRC) was a powerful country in East Asia. With more than a billion inhabitants, it was, along with the United States of America and the Russian Federation, considered to be one of the world's superpowers.

Geography

One of the largest countries in Asia, China shared land borders with at least twelve countries, including Russia, North Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Burma, Nepal, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. ("Day 7: 12:00am-1:00am") Along its eastern shore on the Pacific Ocean, several cities, including Hangzhou, offered ports to allow international travel and commerce.

China also shared a northern border with the Russian territory of Siberia, where, according to Cheng Zhi, the government operated several maximum-security prisons. ("Day 4: 5:00am-6:00am")

Government

The head of state of the Chinese government had the title of Premier. ("Day 4: 2:00am-3:00am", Cat's Claw)

Xu Boxiong was the Premier of China prior and during Cat's Claw.

The Chinese had two main intelligence agencies; the Ministry of State Security and the Guojia Anguan Bu. (CTU Operations Manual)

Culture

Go was a traditional Chinese board game that continued to find players in the modern era. Many overseas enclaves founded by Chinese immigrants, including Chinatown in Los Angeles, California, were home to Go parlors. ("Day 3: 3:00am-4:00am")

Military

Owing in part to its enormous population, the People's Republic of China boasted a robust military force, comparable to that of the United States or Russia. During Day 2, while planning the U.S. retaliation against the Middle East, General Bowden reported that there would be no upper limit to American casualties should either China or Russia enter the conflict against the United States. ("Day 2: 11:00pm-12:00am")

Its navy included a fleet of nuclear submarines that could be dispatched to within a few miles of the United States' west coast. ("Day 6: 5:00am-6:00am")

Foreign relations

The People's Republic of China was represented at the G8 summit. China was also a member state of the United Nations, represented at the Day 8 peace talks between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Kamistan. It also operated consulates in several American cities, including one in Los Angeles. However, diplomatic relations between China and the United States remained tense and often openly hostile. (Cat's Claw, "Day 4: 2:00am-3:00am", "Day 8: 3:00pm-4:00pm")

History

Consulate assault

During Day 4, agents at CTU Los Angeles discovered that Lee Jong, a Chinese national with information on Habib Marwan, had taken refuge in the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles. After diplomatic negotiations failed to acquire Lee in time, President David Palmer authorized a CTU field team to raid the consulate and take Lee by force. During the mission, however, the consul Koo Yin was killed by friendly fire, sparking a major international incident. The consulate's head of security, Cheng Zhi, interrogated Howard Bern, another field agent, and discovered that Jack Bauer was the one who led the mission. To prevent a possible war, the U.S. government agreed to turn Jack over to the Chinese government. ("Day 4: 2:00am-3:00am", "5:00am-6:00am")

To prevent the possibility of Jack implicating the American government in ordering the raid on the consulate and giving up valuable intelligence under torture, Walt Cummings authorized Secret Service Agent Dale Spalding to kill Bauer. David Palmer learned of this plan and warned Jack, who conspired with Tony Almeida, Michelle Dessler, and Chloe O'Brian to fake his own death. ("Day 4: 6:00am-7:00am")

A labor camp in China, where Jack Bauer was held

However, eighteen months later, following Jack's reemergence, a team of Chinese operatives led by Cheng Zhi kidnapped Bauer and brought him to China on a freighter. For the next two years, he was tortured for information on American intelligence and defense secrets, but never broke under interrogation. On one occasion, a team of mercenaries staged a fake rescue operation as a ruse to determine the identity of an American undercover agent inside the Chinese government. ("Day 5: 6:00am-7:00am", "Season 6 Prequel")

On Day 6, following eleven weeks of suicide bombings in the United States by Abu Fayed's terrorist cell, Jack Bauer finally returned home, his release having been negotiated by President Wayne Palmer. The terms of the agreement, while unspecified, were implied to have come at a heavy cost for the United States. ("Day 6: 6:00am-7:00am")

FB subcircuitboard incident

Later during Day 6, however, Cheng Zhi contacted Jack Bauer with a startling revelation: Jack's girlfriend Audrey Raines, believed to have been killed in a car accident while searching for him in China, was alive and held captive by the Chinese government. In exchange for her release, Cheng demanded the FB subcircuitboard from one of Fayed's suitcase nukes, a component that would allow unprecedented insight into Russian defense technology. Following a botched exchange, Cheng and his men absconded with the component, causing a major international incident between the United States and Russia. President Yuri Suvarov demanded that the U.S. recover the subcircuitboard or face an attack by Russian forces on one of their military bases in Asia. ("Day 6: 11:00pm-12:00am", "12:00am-1:00am", "1:00am-2:00am")

For assistance in analyzing the component, Cheng turned to Phillip Bauer, who agreed to help in exchange for the Chinese government offering him and his grandson Josh asylum. Josh was kidnapped during an assault on CTU Los Angeles and brought to one of Bauer's oil rigs off the coast. To prevent the component from falling into Chinese hands, Secretary of Defense Ethan Kanin ordered an airstrike on the rig by two F-18 Hornets, to destroy the chip and kill both Cheng and Phillip Bauer. Jack Bauer and Bill Buchanan took a helicopter out to the rig, rescuing Josh and arresting Cheng Zhi just before the airstrike occurred. With the subcircuitboard destroyed, Russia withdrew its forces, ending the standoff.

White House Chief of Staff Tom Lennox reminded President Noah Daniels that the actions of the Chinese government, in allowing one of their military units to operate on American soil, could not go unpunished. The extent of the U.S. response to the incident, if any, are unknown. ("Day 6: 5:00am-6:00am")

Override device incident

On Day 9, Cheng Zhi gained control of the Defense override module, a dangerous device that allowed one to hack into any nation's military drones and weapons systems. Cheng, angry at his home country and also working on behalf of Russians, immediately used the device to send an order to the U.S. nuclear submarine USS Massachusetts to sink the Chinese aircraft carrier Shenyang. ("Day 9: 8:00pm-9:00pm")

The sinking of the Shenyang had its intended effect of swiftly creating a dangerous situation between the U.S. and China. Though President James Heller attempted to convince the Chinese President Wei that the sinking of the Shenyang was not ordered by the U.S., he was not believed, as no direct evidence could be produced and Cheng was thought to be dead by the Chinese. A military buildup by the Chinese was soon detected, forcing the U.S. to go to DEFCON 3. ("Day 9: 9:00pm-10:00pm")

External links

• People's Republic of China at Wikipedia