I like it! The simplest scenario would be that the Civil War never occurred. How 'bout this ...
On 27 August 1945, Mao Tse-tung (accompanied by the US Ambassador, Patrick J. Hurley) flew from the Communist redoubt in Yanan in Shensi to Chungking. [1] Meetings with Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang officials lasted until 10 October 1945. The negotiations resulted in the signing of the 'Double Tenth Agreement' which, in turn, issued in the Third United Front. The Chinese Communist Party was now fully recognized as a ligitimate political party. The stated common goals were economic reconstruction of the war-ravaged country and the establishment of a democratic China. [2]
As part of the agreement, all Chinese armed forces were to be placed under the command of Chiang. Since the National Revolutionary Army was viewed as having allegiance to the KMT, the new combined force was rebranded as the Unified National Army (
Tung-yi Kuomin Chun or TKC). Former NRA and Red Army units remained intact up to the Company (
Kung-ssu) level but were integrated into new formations at Battalion (
Yin) level. Chiang would be the titular Commander-in-Chief but the TKC would fall under the control of a new Ministry of Defence (Kuofang Pu).
In the meantime, a Constituent National Assembly session was called for November 1945. Lead CCP representatives would be Chou En-lai and Teng Hsiao-ping. The result was a new Constitution of the Republic of China. The biggest change was the replacement of one-party rule (by the KMT National Congress) with a new All-China Congress composed of Kuomintang and CCP appointees. This was a 'Temporary Provision' - an interim form pending democratic elections.
To Chiang's surprise, Mao did not put himself forward for high office - Chou En-lai would fill the political role of top CCP official in the All-China Congress. Instead, Mao accepted responsible for developing and implementing Land Reform policies. The outcome was a large-scale transfer of land-ownership to poor farmers with fairly reasonable compensation for landlords paid out by Chungking. As Mao had said: "The battle for China is a battle for the hearts and minds of the peasants."
Economic reconstruction faced the challenges of recovery from over a decade of total warfare. At the end of WW2, there were about 1.2 million Japanese troops in China along with around half a million civilians. Chiang was empowered to take their surrender (as well as those in Taiwan and Indochina north of the 16th parallel). By December 1945, a million Japanese soldiers had been disarmed in China. In the north, US Marines landed to disarm and begin repatriating Japanese troops. In the south, the NRA (and later the TKC) did the same. But there was a difference. Chiang had ordered good treatment of Japanese internees. That bore fruit when skilled personnel - both Japanese civilians and ex-military - were offered temporary paid positions in reconstruction work.
The employment of unrepatriated Japanese technicians and workers was not exactly kept a secret from America but it was kept low-profile for a number of reasons. A simple reason was American disapproval just when aid and assistance in China was most needed. A further cause of friction with Washington was Chungking's insistence that the fact of Japanese surrender entitled China to take control of Taiwan (where the NRA take-over did not go over well locally but the US avoided interfering - at the time, the US had enough on its plate). Another of Chungking's moves succeeded in both surprising and wrong-footing Washington - the 'surrendering' of Manchuria.
In August 1945, the Soviets had conquered Manchukuo and occupied it with more than half a million Red Army troops. The US had no intention of trying to displace these Soviet troops and Chungking was in no position to force Moscow's hand in Manchuria. Instead, the All-China Congress exercised the only power it had and formally recognized the independence of the former Manchukuo state. For the moment, a ruined
Man'chzhuriya - along with its Japanese internees - was the responsibility of the Soviet Union. A campaign to reintegrate Manchuria could wait until the rest of China had been rebuilt.
Meanwhile, the Republic of China remains stable ... so long as none of the leaders lose the plot
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[1] This diplomatic feat was one outcome of the 1944 'Dixie Mission' (or United States Army Observation Group) to Yanan.
[2] Chiang's wording of an 'eventual' democracy was a sticking point. Eventually, it was agreed to hold free elections no later than the end of August 1948.