Lushan Archipelago

The Lushan Archipelago is a group of low-lying tropical islands and atolls off the coast of Coius belonging to Songguo. The archipelago is the homeland of the Chau people, who are nearly 10% of the Federal Union's population. Including ethnic-Songhua inhabitants, there are close to 55 million people living in the islands, which are notable for their fabulously abundant fisheries, pearls, and good soil (which draws much of its fertility from volcanic ash that periodically falls on the islands when the Ruyishan Volcano erupts).

History

The Chau people lived in their own kingdoms and well-established states for centuries as dynasties rose and fell on the mainland, though they traded with and were influenced by the Songhua. It was during the Hong Dynasty that the islands were conquered and the first Songhua colonists arrived. When the Hong Dynasty fell, its remnants fled to the islands, and the Jurchids pursued them there, seeking to conquer this rich tropical province. They too succeeded, and when the Jurchid Empire began to crumble a Songhua fleet representing the Zhen Dynasty eventually arrived and ensured that the Lushan Archipelago remained a province of the Middle Kingdom. Jurchid and Songhua rulers proved quite adept at crushing native Chau rebellions, almost none of which have ever been successful for one reason or another. During the Great War, Nihonjin forces occupied the islands and destroyed the Songhua occupiers. They were eventually kicked out by a combination of Chau resistance and Songhua, Negaran, and Kaxakhi intervention. However, after this, the Chau were sorely disappointed at the Dongjing Convention and given little to no representation in the Grand Assembly. This lead to the First Lushan Insurrection in the late 1930s, which was brutally crushed by the nascent Songhua Federal Armed Forces. Another rebellion, the Second Lushan Insurrection, broke out just before the 6-6 Crisis, around the end of the Blue Banner Rebellion, and was not fully quashed until after the Crisis ended.

Current Status

At present, the Lushan Archipelago, officially the Lushandaoyu Governorate, has only six members in the Grand Assembly. All six are ethnic Songhua, and four of them are military officers. The Ministry of Interior Security has a large deployment of troops and operatives there to suppress Chau nationalist sentiment, particularly the Chau Republican Army. The government has encouraged ethnic Songhua to move there despite Chau resistance, and the islands' fisheries, plantations, and pearl farms are all extremely lucrative. Domestic tourism is rising despite the security issues, but foreigners generally have a difficult time accessing the region, even citizens from other nations in the Sermaye Treaty Organisation.