Changlang Crisis

Changlang Crisis
Part of Esquarian Cold War
File:Peitoacrisis2.png Clockwise from top left: The ferry Changlang seized by Peitoa; Namorese Liberation Army missile strikes on Peitoa; captured Aininian crew by Peitoa; the Trang Vai, a Qianrongese supply vessel manned by New Zepuhans that was captured by Namorese forces for holding weapons believed to be headed for Peitoa; Peitoan sinking of the ANS Evergreen
Date 25 May NMR 2366 - 20 July NMR 2368 Location Peitoa and East Namor Sea Result Peitoa returns Changlang to Namor Prelude to Namorese Liberation Army campaign against Peitoa
Belligerents
Peitoa Supported by: Arnborg File:NewZep.png New Zepuha File:Qianrong-Flag.png Qianrong	Namor Ainin Supported by: Template:Country data United Republics Walminghaven Template:Country data Masseau West Cedarbrook
Commanders and leaders
Jung Fa Ryan Cha	Kaitlyn Khan Daiki Jun Steven Mann Walter Dalton
Strength
M32, I-800,Feinao	MAD-13,DY-31, Mojing-class Williams-class
Casualties and losses
Several frigates damaged File:NewZep.png Several crewmen captured File:Qianrong-Flag.png 1 cargo vessel seized by Namorese forces	1 destroyer damaged 2 fighters lost 1 destroyer sunk 1 destroyer damaged 17 KIA, 198 MIA, 85 captured (Aininian sources) 2 destroyers sunk (Peitoan sources)

The Changlang Crisis (Namorese: Чангланг вейи or Changlang Veji), alternatively known as the Peitoa Crisis or the East Namor Sea Crisis, was a crisis between the government of the Republic of Namor (Peitoa) and the People's Republic of Namor and Ainin.

Background

Prior to the Peitoan capture of the Changlang ferry, Peitoa's economy, long impacted by trade sanctions put into place by mainland Namor, further reeled from the damage caused by Typhoon Arlene. The typhoon crossed Peitoa in its path, causing billions of ramons in property damage in both mainland Namor and Peitoa. Arlene---known as Ninghua in Namor and Peitoa---especially ravaged Peitoa's infrastructure, forcing many Peitoans to lose their homes. Thus, the typhoon's aftermath has sparked major criticism against Peitoa's leader, Jung Fa, who was accused of failing to deliver proper relief aid to Peitoans after the typhoon passed. Protests and dissent broke out; although the Peitoan government did not crush them at once, they did try to control the number of protesters demanding Jung Fa take more responsibility in organizing relief aid.

File:Jungfa.jpg

Peitoan leader Jung Fa

Jung Fa denied that difficulties in relief aid was due to inefficiency on the part of his administration, and instead laid the blame on foreign governments which placed sanctions against his government, addressing in a speech that "the unjust sanctions placed on the Republic of Namor by foreign governments, as well as the Greens on the mainland, are making sure the people do not recover from the effects of the typhoon."

The People's Republic of Namor banned all sorts of trade and commercial contact with Peitoa since the Third Namo-Luziycan War, after Peitoa announced its intention to build weapons of mass destruction. The sanction crippled Peitoa's once-vibrant and industrialized economy, cutting food and medicine supplies from mainland Namor to Peitoa. Many believe the effects of the sanction has led to increased resentment against the government, as the Republic of Namor historically manages to maintain its authoritarian rule over Peitoa from improving the archipelago's economy, making the people tolerate the political situation. The sanction's crippling effects, plus the destruction caused by Typhoon Arlene, are what is believed to have driven Jung Fa into detaining the Changlang ferry.

Overview

Seizure of the Changlang

The crisis initiated after Peitoan authorities detained the Changlang, a ferry carrying passengers from mainland Namor, with the president of Peitoa, Jung Fa, charging that the Changlang is a spy vessel belonging to the People's Republic of Namor. Tensions mounted when Jung refused to release the Changlang's crew and passengers unless mainland Namor lifted its decades-long trade embargo against Peitoa, which severely crippled the archipelago's once-dynamic economy. Peitoa's detention of the Changlang, however, only led to many governments intensifying or enacting sanctions to Peitoa, and Namorese President-General Kaitlyn Khan refusing to lift the embargo and ordering the Namorese Liberation Navy to launch an embargo against Peitoa.

In an attempt to exhaust the PRN's embargo, Peitoa attacked NLAN ships on May 26, provoking a mainland Namorese missile strike against Peitoa targeted against Peitoan military units and government buildings. Direct confrontation between the PRN and Peitoa unseen in 69 years has led to major complications in trade and travel around the East Namor Sea. In major cities on mainland Namor, including the capital of Namo, civilian air travel is being interrupted as air flights crossing the East Namor Sea are having their routes redrawn to avoid potential strikes Peitoa can launch against civilian aircraft. This has caused major delays and even cancellations.

Peitoan attack on the ANS Evergreen and Oak Ridge

On June 2, Peitoa announced that it had sunk two Aininian destroyers, the ANS Oak Ridge and the ANS Evergreen, and captured an unannounced number of Aininians (the Aininian government put the number of captured crew members at 85). Ainin acknowledged that both ships were attacked by Peitoa, but denied that the ANS Oak Ridge was sunk by Peitoa, but heavily damaged.

Some of the captured Aininian crew were later interviewed by Peitoan state media because the government wanted to assure others that the crew is being treated with "respect and humanity," but both Namor and Ainin maintained that the crew was only being interrogated in front of public eyes under duress.

In response to the Peitoan attack on Aininian vessels, Forestia declared war on Peitoa. Aininian President Steven Mann invoked Article 4 of the Emergencies Act, granting the government emergency powers.

International monitoring of the Changlang crisis

The Peitoan attack on the Aininian vessels has provoked foreign governments in sending their own navy and coast guard vessels to reportedly monitor the situation and protect their respective countries' civilian, trade or passenger vessels from coming under attack.

Vjaarland announced on June 3 that the Størraad voted in an emergency session to approve the use of potential military force in and around the Peitoan archipelago. Elements of the Royal Vjaarlandic Navy were deployed to international waters outside of Peitoa as a "show of force." Vjaarland's Prime Minister Harald Sjolgaard said that the country's acts are "not a declaration of war against Peitoa...We cannot and will not rule out any possible course of action at this time." As of June 10, forces committed to the area are reported to consist of the Elsmaark Carrier Battle Group and Amphibious Warfare Group One.

Walminghaven's Parliament announced that it had deployed one light aircraft carrier and two guided missile cruisers (Quick-Response Task Force 3) in the East Namor Sea, just outside the so-called 'hot-spot' near Peitoa officially to safeguard the sea-lanes, or, as stated in a press release, "to protect Walmish and allied interests in the region." The New Zepuhan government said it also sent ships near Peitoa to monitor the crisis from a distance, but as the later Trang Vai incident would show it was actually doing so to arm the regime of Jung Fa.

The Leanorian Carrier Group Strike Three was reported to be seen 125 nautical miles east of Peitoa. Bleckonia deployed twelve ships belonging to the Bleckonian Naval Service to protect Bleckonian commercial and passenger ships in the East Namor Sea.

Iglesiantis deployed twenty ships of the Iglesian Navy just outside the East Namor Sea to monitor the situation in the conflict zone.

The Peitoan government did not directly respond at the deployment of ships by foreign countries near the East Namor Sea, but did allude to them as "foreign aggressors." News of international naval monitoring of the Changlang crisis has led to fears within Namor's Khan administration that such monitoring would only make the crisis worse. President-General Kaitlyn Khan called on foreign navies to monitor the situation only from an "safe and acceptable distance."

Trang Vai Incident

The Trang Vai, a Qianrongese-flagged ship manned by Zepuhan crewmen, had been carrying a large shipment of weapons, primarily rifles and small arms, with the intention of arming the Peitoan military. It had departed from Sinro City in early June, shortly after widespread sanctions began hitting Peitoa. On June 7, the ship stopped in Xiangmen in Qianrong, its last stop before its interception. Had it not been intercepted, it would have made port in Novi Namor by June 11.

In mid-morning on June 9, several ships belonging to the Liberation Navy moved to intercept the Trang Vai, which was attempting to break the blockade. The Trang Vai refused orders to halt and be searched, attempting to flee the Namorese vessels while remaining on course. However, four NLAN ships surrounded the Trang Vai, and it submitted to a search. The Namorese found its cargo, and decided to seize the ship, its cargo, and its crew.

Namorese Defense Minister Daiki Jun called the findings "disturbingly alarming," demanding explanations from the Qianrongese and Zepuhan governments. Qianrong and New Zepuha, already moving away from neutrality, quickly became openly pro-Peitoan. Qianrongese Economy-Treasury Minister Qiao Jian-Lin and Zepuhan King Karl Auschlogen both told the Namorese that, because they had not enacted any sanctions against Peitoa, they were going to willingly continue trade with Jung Fa's regime. Acting Chancellor Hsieh Jiang-De of Qianrong denounced the seizure of the Trang Vai as "massive hypocrisy"; he accused President-General Khan of being "power-hungry, lying, brutal, and untrustworthy", adding that "when the Greens sent spies to Free Namor on the Changlang in order to spread Liberationist slavery, and Free Namor took it, Khan cried out as though she had been victimized, and the world blindly believed her.. and yet when Qianrong and Zepuha decided to stand up to her tyrannical imperialism, and she seized the Trang Vai, she had the gall to play the victim." Qianrong also banned any Namorese vessels from entering Qianrong's territorial waters. The Zepuhan government declared the capture of the Trang Vai to be an act of "international piracy," demanding that the People's Republic of Namor apologize, return the Trang Vai to Qianrong, and to return its crew and cargo to New Zepuha.

Following the seizure, the Namorese navy ships involved in the blockade were put on a heightened state of alert in order to "search and intercept ships of similar intentions and motives." Both Qianrong and New Zepuha announced that their trade with Peitoa was going to continue (with Qianrong pledging that trade will grow), regardless of Namorese interference, and that neither country would yield to the Namorese blockade. Qianrongese Acting Defense Minister Guo Tse-Zu warned Namor and Ainin that Qianrong would "continue its defiance... to guarantee that this cannot happen again," warning that "any attempt to break our naval integrity or disrupt Qianrongese-Free Namorese trade will be met with deadly force."

Fighting in Ilhas Belas

The first ground fight between the Namorese Liberation Army (NLA) and the Peitoan military took place in the outlying islets collectively known as the Ilhas Belas, controlled by Peitoa and considered vital to the archipelago's security. The NLA launched an amphibious attack on the archipelago, quickly overrunning Peitoan militia already stationed there. Reinforcements coming from Peitoa to assist fellow troops already on the islets came to no avail, as Peitoans in the township-capital of Meili finally gave in and allowed the NLA to occupy the entire islets.

Death of Jung Fa

The death of Jung Fa saw a deescalation of clashes in the crisis. Peitoan state media announced on July 5 that Jung Fa had died from "natural causes," and the announcement was made twenty-four hours after Minpo Namora, the Peitoan state newspaper, reported Jung died (on July 4). Soon after Jung's death, a provisional leadership led by General Ryan Cha took power.

The People's Republic of Namor reacted to Jung's death by ceasing all bombardments on Peitoa "for the time being." Namorese radio-television (PTH) said that "The conflict was still ongoing during the time state media said Jung died, and is still ongoing, although the Namorese government...hope[s] that the new leadership will take 'responsible actions' in dealing with this crisis." There is an ongoing optimism in Namor that Jung Fa's death will lead to a more moderate leader taking power who will release the crew and passengers of the Changlang, thinking that the new leadership is rational enough to realize how costly the crisis costs Peitoa. On the other hand, others worried that Jung's death will lead to the Peitoan government collapsing, making ways for social chaos which could only bring more harm to the Changlang, wherever it may be.

Ryan Cha's "message to mainland authorities"

Provisional leader of Peitoa, Ryan Cha, issued a televised message directed at the government of the People's Republic of Namor on July 12. The full transcript of the message was put up by Minpo Namora, titled "Message from Provisional Leader Ryan Cha to mainland authorities." In the message, Cha said that the RON Securitate "has completed its examination of all persons on board the captured mainland Changlang ferry." He went on to repeat Peitoa's stance that the Changlang was a spy vessel from mainland Namor, but noticeably called it a suspicion, and also said that "there are also innocent civilians on board that have not been spared from the administrative punishment process." Cha told mainland Namorese authorities that his government will drop all charges of espionage made against the crew and passengers of the Changlang and begin negotiations on releasing it. In turn, Cha asked for a softening in international sanctions against Peitoa.

Return of Changlang

The Changlang was returned to mainland Namorese authorities on June 19. All crew members and passengers arrived at the port of Esquarian City. To many observers, this was the nominal end of the Changlang Crisis.

The ship was returned to mainland Namor one day before Peitoa held the first presidential election since the death of Jung Fa, in which provisional leader Ryan Cha won 99.99% of all votes to become president of the Republic of Namor.

International reaction

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International Organizations

• File:WETO.png WETO: General Lucius Walker, Secretary-General of WETO, said that the organization "stood behind its member [Namor] against unjustified aggression from the illegitimate regime in Peitoa."

Countries

• Namor: The People's Republic of Namor harshly condemned Peitoa's detention of the Changlang ferry. President-General Kaitlyn Khan said that Peitoa has no evidence that the passengers on board the captured ferry work for mainland Namorese intelligence, and called the incident a "barbaric act," threatening lethal force against Peitoa if it does not release the Changlang crew and passengers. Since the initialization of the crisis, Namor is leading military action and economic sanctions against Peitoa.
• Template:Country data United Republics: The United Republics supported the People's Republic of Namor from the beginning of the crisis, though official support was not announced until the passage of additional sanctions on the Jung Fa regime by the Senate. President of the Generalitat Carle Petres stated in an address before the Senate that "Peitoa must bear the burden of proof if it wishes to make accusations. Since it has not fulfilled that burden of proof to our satisfaction, we must err on the side of Namor." The United Republics, however, avoided direct intervention in the conflict, arguing that no Michillian interests are at stake.
• Walminghaven: Walminghaven condemned and denounced the regime of Peitoa, along with, and early into the crisis, pressure from Parliament led King Marcus to order a full trade embargo with the RON. However, it resisted employing the use of further sanctions, arguing the effects it would have on the civilian population. After the conflict continued to escalate, it was one of many "neutral" nations that deployed ships to the so called 'Hot Spot' off of Peitoa, to protect shipping lanes and allegedly to provide support for it's WETO allies, Ainin and Namor if necessary.
• Nevanmaa was officially neutral, but promised the Namorese government that Nevanmaa would not interfere in the crisis. Prime Minister Valtteri Rantala also issued a statement where he said that "the recent events have shown that it is time for Jung Fa to step down from the leadership of the Republic of Namor. I urge all sides to take all measures to prevent the conflict from escalating and to protect long-lasting peace in Southern Esquarium."
• File:NewZep.png New Zepuha: Out of the start New Zepuha adopted a neutral stance and attempted to act as a voice of reason to avoid a dangerous conflict. After the New Zepuhan Parliament came together to deliberate they found it counter productive to sanction Peitoa. The parliament and PM Peter M. Bergmann stood by Britanno in the stance that sanctions would only hurt the people of Peitoa and serve to give Jung Fa ammunition to turn the people against intervening nations. The Ministry of Defense has noted to all nations that New Zepuhan destroyers will be deployed to international waters to protect civilian trade to Peitoa. The Government has an official stance that Namor is only serving to aggravate the issue and that Ainin is only making matters worse by using 'authoritarian tactics to suppress the peoples dissent against an unjust war'.
• File:Qianrong-Flag.png Qianrong: The FDRQ initially took a more neutral tack, with Chancellor Song Li-Chao telling reporters that "there are currently no plans to enact any embargoes against Khan or Jung for any reason at the present", with the Chancellery declaring that there was insufficient evidence to add credence to the claims made by Kaitlyn Khan or Jung Fa. However, as the incident progressed, Qianrong became increasingly supportive of Jung Fa, refusing to enact sanctions even after Breuvi Shjoraski announced that Luziyca would be passing sanctions and seeking Jung Fa's deposition. Following the capture of the Trang Vai, Acting Chancellor Hsieh Jiang-De had openly declared support for Jung Fa, announcing that Qianrong would not only continue but increase trade with Peitoa, using the Qianrongese National Security Forces to ensure that no more ships were seized, and that any further Namorese attempts to disrupt this trade would be met with deadly force.
• Luziyca: Congress implemented sanctions with an ultimatum of either freeing the passengers in 72 hours or cutting all ties with Peitoa. Currently, sanctions are imposed, although Breuvi Shjoraski personally opposes them and wants only the top leaders to suffer instead of the civilians.
• Vjaarland: Prime Minister Harald Sjolgaard condemned the Peitoan government's capture of the Changlang, declaring the act a "gross violation of international law." Following the subsequent attacks upon the Oak Ridge and Evergreen, the Størraad authorized the potential use of military force in and around the archipelago, and elements of the Royal Vjaarlandic Navy have been dispatched to the region.
• Vyvland: President Robert Ujson stated that "the actions of the Republic of Namor are sickening and show a complete lack of consideration for the ordinary people who it has affected. However, we must not, as an international community, run to the conclusion that military action is the right road to take to end this conflict. We must all remember to keep a sense of proportion, and not to do anything that could further worsen conditions for the captives". Ujson's remarks were understood to caution mainland Namorese authorities from a full-on invasion.
• West Cedarbrook: West Cedarbrook views the actions of Peitoa as piracy, and has been supportive of Namor and Ainin in the crisis. The combat zone in the East Namor Sea is the subject of a Red Paper, advising shippers to avoid the area. President Feld announced at the summit in Hartly "We endorse President Mann's position in this crisis. Fighting in the East Namor Sea has already disrupted international commerce, endangered the lives of innocent sailors, and has involved several powers outside that region in patrol and interdiction. The Kramden does not look forward to commitment of forces in the region of combat, but will protect it's shipping nearby, and is diverting traffic to ports outside the combat zone. "