I find it funny and ironic that those who criticize China's political action on HoI, base their defense of HoI/HoI2's partisan status on nothing more substantive than political beefs (It's a case of political hacks being scared by historical reality, I am certain that having Tibet independent really stuck in their craw, the Chinese will ban anything that so much as mentions the country, etc). Let's keep this focused on facts people.
Here are the facts:
>I don't believe, due to game mechanics, the Japanese even drew manpower from Taiwan, did they?
Actually yes the Japanese were able to draw manpower for military forces from Taiwan. For instance the ex-President of the ROC's brother died fighting the US forces in the Pacific while in IJA uniform. So in game terms, Japan should be able to draw manpower from Taiwan. Presumably this makes Taiwan a national Japanese province in game terms. Partisans should not appear in Taiwan. To the extent that national "claims" exist, China should have a claim on Taiwan.
>Korea was a different story
True. Korea was occupied by Japan 12 years later than Taiwan, and thus Japan was a bit later in the process of "Japan-izing" it. Japan was able to draw manpower from Korea but the reliability of such manpower was suspect, best for the use of construction units, internal security and the like. Moreover a significant portion of the Korean guerilla strength fled into China and continued to fight along side Chinese Communist units right up until 1949. Recently released documents put ethnic Korean force strength in the PLA at upwards of 50K, easily warranting multiple divisional level units in game terms. Probably the best way to handle this in game terms is to give the Chinese Communists an event sometime in the late 30's/early 40's where they pick up an extra division. I wouldn't let Japan draw manpower from Korea. But no partisans in Korea either - the assumption is that whatever manpower Japan was able to get from Korea is used for internal (Korean pennisula) security purposes. China should not have a claim on Korea.
Tibet - should be a separate country, allied to China with China having a claim on it. If vassalage status exists, Tibet should be a vassal to China. No partisans unless someone occupies Tibet.
Sinkiang/Xinjiang - separate country, China has a claim on it. Better yet however if it is a faction within China. Make the faction hostile to the Nationalists at game start. No partisans unless occupied.
Manchuria - separate country, own force structure, allied and a vassal to Japan. China has a claim on it. No partisans, no matter who (USSR, China or Japan) occupies it. Actually an argument can be made for pro-Chinese partisans, but actual activity here does not warrant it in game terms.
Rest of Japanese occupied mainland China - full partisan activity. No distinction between territory that Japan occupied after 1936 vs. territory that it occupies outside of Manchuria/Taiwan prior to 1936. Japan can not draw manpower from this territory and China has a claim on pre-1936 occupied provinces. All of that territory was occupied by Japan no earlier than 1932, hence the "Japan-ization" effort in these areas was nascent at best. I don't know how the game handles PLA recruitment, but if it is area based and includes enemy occupied areas, then these pre-1936 occupied provinces should be considered fully eligble for PLA recruitment.
Frankly if all these items were modeled properly, the chance of the game being banned in China is very low.
