Foreign relations of Menghe

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The foreign relations of Menghe are conducted by the Ministry of Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs (MoDFA), in reference to changing trends in Septentrion's geopolitical situation. The Supreme Council and its Chairman play a prominent role in setting the MoDFA's broad policy direction, and the Minister of Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs holds a seat on the Supreme Council's Central Steering Committee.

While Menghe was a peripheral power for much of the late 20th century, the Menghean economic miracle which followed its economic reforms brought it back into the regional spotlight. Menghe is currently the second-largest economy in Septentrion, having surpassed the Federation of Socialist Republics in GDP during 2017. In PPP-adjusted terms, it is close to surpassing the Organized States of Columbia as the region's largest economy. Menghe is also the second-largest country by population and it possesses the largest military by number of active personnel, though it ranks third by total defense spending.

Menghe is the leading regional power in the South Menghe Sea area, though not a regional hegemon, as it still contends with influence from the Organized States and its allies in the Grand Alliance. It is today well-established as a great power, and if its economic growth and overseas investment continue, it may become a regionally dominant superpower, though collectively the member states of the Grand Alliance possess a higher GDP, higher defense spending, and more naval assets by a safe margin. Menghe also lacks nuclear weapons, having dismantled its illegal stockpile in the late 1980s.

Key initiatives

Cho Gwang-hyŏk, the current Minister of Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs, on a state visit to Sylva in 2017.

Prior to 1988, the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe had poor relations with many other countries in Septentrion. As a communist state, it was initially aligned with the Federation of Socialist Republics and a potential enemy for the capitalist powers of the GA, many of whom had deployed troops in the Menghean War of Liberation. During the 1970s, the DPRM supplied arms to communist revolutionaries in Dzhungestan and Sundan, and under Ryŏ Ho-jun it developed an illegal nuclear arsenal, which Ryŏ threatened to use against Dayashina. These actions led many other countries, including the FSR itself, to denounce Menghe as a rogue state.

Choe Sŭng-min recognized diplomatic and economic isolation as two major sources of Menghe's apparent backwardness, and after coming to power in the Decembrist Revolution he committed to changing the country's geopolitical course. Many scholars of international relations divide Menghe's foreign policy under Choe into three broad initiatives: Opening Up, Pivot West, and the Meridian Strategy.

Opening Up

The first major initiative, often dubbed "opening-up" (|Menghean: 캐방 / 開放, Kaebang), involved improving Menghe's international image by stressing the new regime's peaceful intentions. One of the Interim Council for National Restoration's first acts was to suspend Ryŏ's nuclear program and begin dismantling existing warheads, which enabled other countries to lift their STAPNA-induced embargoes. The new Menghean government also used the Menghean famine of 1985-87 to call for aid and support, establishing early bonds with countries like Themiclesia that delivered the first relief shipments.

In the long run, Menghe also lifted many of its restrictions on travel and trade. Dissidents who fled over "class and factional crimes," such as former entrepreneurs and members of the Sim Jin-hwan faction, were granted amnesty if they returned to Menghe, and for the first time since the 1920s, Menghean citizens were free to travel abroad without special diplomatic permission.

Geopolitically, Menghe followed a neutral course, gradually distancing itself from the Turov Pact and stressing its commitment to non-aggression. Inflation-adjusted military spending did not decline in absolute terms, and in fact the Menghean Army and Navy spent the 1990s upgrading and replacing much of their outdated equipment, but it did shrink as a percentage of GDP.

The Pivot West strategy

Marshal Kim U-jin, commander of the Menghean Army, meeting with OS President Clayton in 1998.

By the mid-1990s, Menghe's economy was growing at a rapid pace thanks to improved trade relations, yet many GA member states remained concerned about its continued Socialist ideology. With Choe Sŭng-min's approval, Foreign Minister Wang Jŏng-sik embarked on a "Pivot West strategy," investing more effort in cooperation with the Casaterran powers. This led to the 1996 GA-Menghe Treaty of Mutual Friendship, in which Menghe formally reaffirmed its non-aggressive aims abroad and the GA member states disavowed any intention of removing Choe from power. This opened the way for a continued warming in relations between Menghe and the various GA member states, including Themiclesia, Tol Galen, and Dayashina.

Nevertheless, around the turn of the century Menghe's relation to the two major power blocs remained ambiguous. Menghe imported or license-produced most of its military supplies from the FSR, in part because GA member states were still reluctant to sell it military-grade equipment, a fact which Menghean leaders resented. The pivotal event came in 2005, when Menghe and its neighbors Maverica and Innominada intervened on opposing sides in the Ummayan Civil War, leading to multiple shootdowns of each other's aircraft. Faced with a new rival alliance on the southwestern border and concerned over the risk of another confrontation, Choe doubled down on the Pivot West strategy, expanding the GA-Menghe Treaty of Mutual Friendship and investing heavily in improved bilateral ties with GA member states.

As part of this process, Menghe also continued to distance itself from the FSR, which responded by stepping up its own support for Maverica and Innominada. This, coupled with the arrest of a prominent Orthodox missionary in 2009, led to a spiraling deterioration in FSR-Menghe relations.

Meridian Strategy

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"Arise, Meridia," a 49-meter-tall statue in Occitanie built with Menghean support in 2011.

Simultaneously with its Pivot West approach, Menghe also pursued a "Meridian Strategy" aimed at establishing allies in the southern continent of Meridia, and in the developing world more generally. Many of Meridia's states, such as Verpletterant and Sundan, remain under the control of the descendants of colonial elites which make up a small share of the population. As a long-run strategy, Menghe began partnering with opposition parties and protest movements, expanding the International United Front for Opposing Imperialism (IUFOI) to bring together various activist groups. The long-run goal of this strategy is to promote a return to indigenous self-rule in Meridia, and to ensure that any new regimes replacing the current ones are sympathetic to Menghe.

In contrast to the pragmatic Pivot West initiative, the Meridian Strategy is dictated to a large extent by the ideological aims of the Menghe Socialist Party. Unlike the MPCP of the 1960s through 1980s, the MSP has no intention of exporting socialism to other states, and regards the "Menghean model" of developmental state corporatism to be uniquely rooted in Menghean culture. The IUFOI itself has willingly partnered with democratic and pro-market movements abroad. Yet the leaders of the current Menghean regime, like those of the DPRM and the Greater Menghean Empire, remain committed to opposing Casaterran colonial and neo-colonial dominance of the developing world, even when this obstructs the more pragmatic strategy of partnering with existing governments.

In spite of its implicit support for regime change in apartheid-based and neocolonial states, the Menghean Ministry of Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs maintains that Menghe itself is not an imperialist power. This view is encapsulated in the Seven Principles for Menghe-Meridian Engagement, which were promulgated in 2003 and have since then been extended to ties with other developing countries:

  1. Menghe is not an imperialist power, and has no intention of becoming an imperialist power. Menghe is a developing country which experienced unequal treatment at the hands of imperialist powers and is familiar with the hardship faced by victims of imperialism.
  2. Menghe is staunchly opposed to imperialism in all its forms, including systems of apartheid and colonial minority rule. Menghe is committed to working peacefully toward a world where all peoples can enjoy their cultural rights without fear of oppression.
  3. Menghe does not seek to promote socialism or single-party rule abroad. The Menghean model is a unique national development rooted in Menghean culture and historical experience, and may not be appropriate for other countries. Menghe is committed to working with democratic, capitalist, and socialist states alike.
  4. Menghe's relations with other states are based on the principle of mutual agreement and mutual benefit. Menghe will not force any country to adopt exploitative policies which harm its own well-being to the benefit of Menghe, but will only promote policies which allow both countries to benefit.
  5. Menghe's economic policy toward the rest of the developing world is based on foreign direct investment, which allows recipient countries to stand on their own feet, rather than foreign aid, which creates dependency when extended into the long run. Menghe climbed up out of poverty through investment and economic development, and considers this a more sustainable path for long-term well-being.
  6. Menghe firmly opposes the deliberate targeting of civilians in military conflict, whether by state or non-state actors, and is committed to reducing worldwide chemical weapon stockpiles and regulating the use of land mines in asymmetric warfare. Menghe is committed to keeping Meridia a nuclear-weapons-free-zone.
  7. Menghe supports the peaceful resolution of conflicts, whether they be between states or between a state and its people. It will only use force overseas as a last resort, and it will never use force unilaterally except in situations where there is no other option which would safeguard the interests of the local civilian population.

International organizations

Menghe is a member state of the Septentrion League, having joined in 1951 as the Republic of Menghe. While the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe often found itself a target of SL sanctions, today Menghe is an active and constructive participant in SL debates and policy efforts. Menghe has contributed observers to several SL peacekeeping missions, and is one of the region's largest donors of food and other aid supplies.

Menghe is also widely recognized as the core member of the Namhae Front, an alliance of Menghe-aligned states roughly surrounding the South Menghe Sea (known in Menghe as the Southern Sea, or Namhae). The Namhae Front was established on June 18th, 2015, not long after Menghe declared "victory in the unconventional war" in Innominada. Its stated mission is to help member states resist the military influence of imperialist aggression, allegedly as a response to Sylva's unilateral annexation of Isla Diamante to establish a viable military base in the South Menghe Sea. Most of its initial members already had bilateral defense agreements with Menghe.

In the economic realm, Menghe was one of the core founders of the Association of Coordinated Market Economies, or ACME. ACME is an international policy advising institution oriented to the needs of mixed economies and coordinated market economies, as opposed to fully privatized and lightly regulated liberal market economies. ACME does not hold any power to set member states' tariffs or coordinate international trade, and mainly exists to fund research on the constraints and benefits of state intervention in the economy, providing a counterweight to more laissez-faire institutions based in the Organized States and New Tyran. Today, it is one of the few institutions where representatives of Menghe and the FSR regularly cooperate in the international realm.

Bilateral relations by continent and country

Hemithea

Dzhungestan

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The Trans-Hemithea High-Speed Railway project played a major role in improving economic cooperation between Menghe and its North Hemithean neighbors.

Dzhungestan and Menghe currently enjoy close economic and political relations, with 78% of Dzhungestan's total exports sold to Menghe in 2016. Menghean companies have invested heavily in Dzhungestani mining and railway infrastructure, including the Trans-Hemithea High-Speed Railway through Dzhungestani territory, strengthening economic ties to the point that some regard Dzhungestan as a Menghean satellite state. Nevertheless, Dzhungestan has at times proven itself to be a reluctant member of the Namhae Front, lagging behind others in denouncing Innominadan foreign policy moves and expressing distaste over the Menghean Army's decision to forward-deploy the 11th and 12th Armies on Dzhungestani soil.

Innominada

Between 2004 and 2014, Menghe and Innominada were divided by particularly tense relations as a result of Innominada's actions in the Ummayan Civil War and the shootdown of an Innominadan bomber flight by Menghean pilots, with the death of all crew. In the years that followed, Menghean intelligence services accused Innominada of funding and supporting organized criminal organizations, especially arms trafficking and drug trafficking, on Menghean soil, though actual evidence is ambiguous. Other sources of the dispute were rooted in Innominadan leaders' Sylvan-creole ethnic nationalism and their outspoken support for syndicalist socialism, an economic model which clashed with Menghe's semi-private economy.

Following Innominada's descent into civil war and Sylva's occupation of the island of Isla Diamante, Menghean forces invaded Innominada in 2014, provoking a Maverican invasion soon afterward. The Menghean government has not formally recognized the Maverican-backed People's Republic of Innominada, and does not have an embassy in that country. Instead, it treats the Menghean-backed Republic of Innominada as the sole legitimate government of the Innominadan peninsula. The Republic enjoyed some autonomy in domestic policymaking until 2018, when Menghean soldiers intervened to permit Argentstani secession and replace the Innominadan government. Scholars of international relations regard this intervention as downgrading the Republic of Innominada from a satellite state to a puppet state.

Maverica

Menghe's main rival on land is Maverica and its former ally Innominada, which border Menghe to the southwest. The immediate cause of the breakdown in relations was the Ummayan Civil War, in which Maverica and Innominada conducted a unilateral bombing campaign against civilian targets while Menghean soldiers and aircraft were actively supporting Taleyan rebels. There were also a number of long-term tensions behind Menghe-Maverican tensions, including economic rivalry, differing interpretations of socialism, Menghean nationalists' perception of Maverica as a creole-dominated post-colonial state, and suspected Innominadan support for organized crime and terrorist groups in southwestern Menghe.

One of the core tenets of the 2007 addendum to the GA-Menghe Treaty of Mutual Friendship was a GA arms embargo on Maverica. In response, Maverican leaders aligned themselves more closely with the Federation of Socialist Republics, which became Maverica's main arms supplier in the presence of the GA embargo.

Nukkumaa

Menghe and Nukkumaa enjoy peaceful relations, though they are not as close as some other Hemithean states. In recent years, Nukkumaa has become an important supplier of oil and mined ores to Menghe, though it is not as dependent on Menghean import demand as Polvokia and Dzhungestan, and still counts the Organized States of Columbia as its main trading partner.

Polvokia

Menghe and Polvokia established close trading ties during the Pan-Septentrion War, and resumed these ties after the Menghean War of Liberation. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Polvokia has represented a strategic source of oil, natural gas, lumber, and mineral ores, especially after the Menghean economic miracle drove up demand for raw materials. In 2015, Menghe purchased 72% of Polvokia's exports and supplied 61% of its imports, and Menghean Jachi-hoesa enterprises have engaged in foreign direct investment to increase Polvokia's mining, drilling, and transportation capacity.

While Polvokia was a sometimes tense ally of the FSR during the 20th century, it has drifted closer to Menghe from 2000 onward, in part due to regime change at the end of the Polvokian Civil War and in part due to the pull of Menghean economic demand. Polvokia and Menghe signed a bilateral defense agreement in 2009, and in 2014 Polvokia contributed troops to Menghe's invasion of Innominada.

Themiclesia

After the Decembrist Revolution, Themiclesia was one of the first countries to respond to Menghe's calls for famine relief, sending a "friendship train" loaded with food and medical supplies. The Themiclesian government was also among the first to normalize trade relations with Menghe, and in 1992 it gifted a personal train set to Choe Sŭng-min. In 2015, the two countries took part in the Trans-Hemithea High-Speed Railway project, which runs from Nukkumaa to Dayashina.

Themiclesia and Menghe share a special cultural bond, as much of Themiclesia's current population is descended from South Menghean settlers who fled northwest during the rise of the Jin dynasty. Throughout much of history, this connection was a source of tension, as Themiclesian scholars regarded themselves as the rightful heirs of the Meng Dynasty's cultural heritage, while Menghean rulers regarded Themiclesia as a breakaway state that should be reintegrated into Menghe as a protectorate or tributary state. Today, the Menghe Socialist Party firmly disavows any intention to place Themiclesia under Menghean control and has instead invested heavily in cultural and educational exchanges which explore the shared history and heritage of the two countries.

Organized States of Columbia

Meridia

Maracaibo

The Allied Nations of Maracaibo had relatively stable relations with Menghe during the 1990s, but after negotiations over the return of Altagracia broke down, Sylva began stationing nuclear-capable warships and bombers in Maracaiban bases, leading Menghe to regard Maracaibo as a potentially hostile state. In addition to labeling Maracaibo a neo-imperialist lackey state, much to the local government's annoyance, Menghean press sources have derided its regime as a "populist pseudo-democracy" and contrasted it with Menghe's stable governance.

Ummayah

The Menghean oil tanker Gug'wŏn taking on crude oil off the Ummayan coast, 2013.

During the Ummayan Civil War, Menghe actively supported the Taleyan People's Front, one of the leading rebel factions opposing the Muttalib regime. After the war reached a ceasefire, Menghe continued to supply Ummayah with economic and military aid, including state-of-the-art weapon systems. In return, Ummayah has become a major supplier of oil to Menghe, which has not placed any special restrictions on Ummayan imports. Ummayah joined the Namhae Front in 2015, and as such Menghe is compelled to support it in the event that it is attacked by a foreign power.

This "special relationship" has become strained in recent years due to Ummayah's geopolitical isolation. Many other countries, including most GA states, classify Ummayah as a state sponsor of terror, noting that it has direct ties with nationalist and Shahidic fundamentalist terrorist groups in Naseristan and other Meridian countries. Menghean diplomats have grown increasingly assertive in pressuring Ummayah to cut off its support for Shahidic fundamentalism, but remains cautious in its criticism, in part due to a concern that Ummayan clerics might attempt to mobilize Menghe's Shahidic minority.

Verpletterant

Menghe regards Verpletterant as a distasteful apartheid-based regime, and has actively condemned its policies toward Meridia's indigenous peoples, including the Anchin. After Menghe recognized the state of Free Anchin in 2011, Verpletterant closed its embassy in Donggyŏng in protest, and Menghe retaliated by doing the same. Menghe imposed steep tariffs on Verpletterant-made goods in 2013, and has threatened a general embargo; consequently, Menghean economic influence in Verpletterant is relatively minor, in comparison to its major investment in most other Meridian economies. The International United Front for Opposing Imperialism regularly condemns Verpletterant's domestic policy, and regularly invites representatives of Free Anchin and other opposition groups to conferences and special events in Menghe.

Casaterra

New Tyran

Menghe and New Tyran have historically enjoyed poor relations. The latter country was the leading contributor of troops to the Republic of Menghe faction in the Menghean War of Liberation, and a Tyrannian military squad was behind the raid that killed the young Choe Sŭng-min's parents. The two countries attempted to repair relations in the 1990s and early 2000s, making good progress until the Ummayan Civil War, when Tyrannian and Menghean warships exchanged fire off the West Meridian coast. Since then, public outrage over the deaths of hundreds of sailors has hampered state efforts at repairing ties, even after New Tyran became a GA observer state.

Rajamaan Yhdysvallat

Rajamaan Yhdysvallat normalized relations with Menghe during the 1990s, and was one of the architects of the original GA-Menghe Treaty of Mutual Friendship. Menghean and Rajian engineers collaborated on the design of the GH-36 Jamjari helicopter, and in the 2000s the Menghean Navy proposed an agreement to license-produce Rajian radars and electronics, though the deal ultimately stalled out in negotiations. Irritated that Menghe preferred to license-produce, or even outright copy, foreign equipment, Rajian arms companies have aggressively lobbied the Rajian government to break off the Nine-Point Agreement and resume arms sales to Maverica, and in the wake of the Innominadan Crisis Rajamaan Yhdysvallat emerged as one of the leading critics of Menghean foreign policy in southwest Hemithea.

Sylva

Menghean relations with Sylva rapidly deteriorated after the breakdown of negotiations on the return of Altagracia. Menghe has periodically issued vague threats to retake Altagracia in a brief offensive war, and maintains a favorable ratio of weapons and personnel on the north side of the peninsula's border, but Menghean diplomats have also made efforts to defuse the situation in the hopes of eventually resuming reunification negotiations. The situation showed signs of improving in the early 2010s, but the Innominadan Crisis set off a renewed backslide in Sylva-Menghean relations.

Vinya

Federation of Socialist Republics

The Democratic People's Republic of Menghe and the Federation of Socialist Republics were allies during the mid-to-late 20th century, though sometimes reluctant ones. Menghe was more closely aligned with the Polvokian model of Socialism, which stressed state ownership of industry and was at best indifferent to pre-socialist cultural traditions. The FSR also distanced itself from Menghe under Ryŏ Ho-jun, notably refusing to block international efforts to impose an embargo after Menghe's illegal nuclear tests.

After the Decembrist Revolution, the FSR and Menghe repaired relations, but Menghe did not rejoin the Turov Pact or the CNCS. Throughout the 1990s, the FSR was the main supplier of military equipment to Menghe, and many Menghean weapons are still derived from Soviet ones. Menghe and the FSR also jointly established the Association of Coordinated Market Economies (ACME) in 1997, to support research and policy advising on the benefits of a mixed economy.

Menghe-FSR relations began to chill in the 2000s, due to a combination of factors. Soviet leaders distrusted Menghe due to its increasing cooperation with the GA, and Menghean diplomats publicly denounced the FSR's assertive foreign policy around its neighbors. The high-profile arrest and trial of the Orthodox bishop Nikodim Mordvinov in 2001 led the FSR to withdraw 56 diplomats from Menghe in a show of protest over its treatment of Christians. From 2006 onward, the FSR also supplied arms and supplies, including a state-of-the-art active protection system, to Maverica and Innominada, provoking outrage from Menghean military officials. Much FSR-Menghean tension is waged by proxy, however, as both are primarily regional powers with a limited ability or willingness to project power into the other's sphere of influence.

Tol Galen

Among the GA member states, Tol Galen enjoys the closest ties with Menghe. Tol Galen provided optics and fire-control upgrades for Menghean military vehicles after Menghe's 2005 military reforms, and Menghean and Galenic scientists are currently collaborating on a manned mission to Venus. Apparently under pressure from the Ministry of Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs, the International United Front for Opposing Imperialism gradually lifted its critique of Galenic island territories in the Meridian Ocean during the 2000s, though it retains contact with some indigenous rights groups there.

Vyzha

Vyzha was one of the few states to retain good relations with Menghe under Ryŏ Ho-jun, though this relationship faded after Choe Sŭng-min came to power. From 1995 onward, Menghe has supported all major Septentrion League resolutions condemning Vyzha's human rights abuses and WMD programs. Owing to the distances involved, Menghe does not consider Vyzha a major threat, and does not possess the capability to use military force against it.

Disputes

Altagracia

Menghe claims the entirety of Altagracia as its sovereign territory, causing a major deterioration of relations with Sylva, which rules Altagracia as a commonwealth protectorate. The dispute over Altagracia dates to the Menghean Opium War of 1852-53, which resulted in an unequal treaty in which Menghe leased the Goŭn peninsula to Sylvan traders for a period of 99 years. In 1951, as the lease period was about to expire, Sylva concluded a special agreement with the Occupation authority to take control of the peninsula indefinitely. The Democratic People's Republic of Menghe and today's Socialist Republic of Menghe do not consider the 1951 agreement to be legitimate, as it was signed not by a sovereign Menghean government but by foreign military commanders overseeing Menghe's occupation. Menghean soldiers attacked Altagracia in 1964 at the end of the Menghean War of Liberation, but were driven back by naval artillery support, and an uneasy ceasefire has lingered over the peninsula's northern border ever since.

During the 1990s, the Menghean government initiated probing talks over the return of Altagracia, but staunch resistance from Sylvan nationalist hardliners and Altagracian democratic activists brought the negotiations to a halt. In 1998 Choe Sŭng-min threatened that the Menghean Army could cross into Altagracia in the morning and control the city by the afternoon, but he did not take military action, in part due to more immediate economic problems. Instead, he stationed the First Kimsŏng Mechanized Division is stationed north of the peninsula, giving Menghe a 3:1 advantage in manpower and a further advantage in equipment over the Altagracian garrison.

Under Sylvan oversight, Altagracia has become a favored refuge for high-profile Menghean dissidents, adding to the tension. The Menghean Government in Exile , a congress of democratic activist groups, is headquartered in the city, and it regularly organizes public demonstrations and conferences abroad in opposition to the Menghean regime.

Renkaku islands

Until 2001, Menghe formally laid claim to the Renkaku Islands, an archipelago off the southwest coast of Dayashina. The claim was based on the presence of Menghean settlements on these islands from 1348 through the early 16th century. These were a particularly contentious issue for the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe, and one of many thorns in the side of Imperial Dayashina's relations with the Greater Menghean Empire.

Menghe formally ceded its claim to the Renkaku Islands on March 12th, 2001, in exchange for debt forgiveness in the wake of the 1999 Menghean financial crisis. In addition to improving Menghe-Dayashina relations, this move sent a powerful signal to other states in Septentrion that the new Menghean regime was willing to put economic development first, and was instrumental in the country's Pivot West policy.

See also