Alternate History of Southeast Asia (1947)

An imaginary alternate history visualized and narrated by Anonymous Kabataan

We are in the year 1947, the Second World War ended with Allied victory where the Axis Powers were defeated and occupied by their opponent winners. As we observe the map, All Asian countries you see on the map declared their independence amidst the inevitable defeat of the Japanese Empire to avoid being colonized again by returning European colonial powers of Britain, France, and the Netherlands. However, the British successfully defeated the Nusantaran forces away from its pre-war colonial borders in order to re-establish the strategically important trade colony of Malaya and North Borneo along with the continuation of the communist insurgency of the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army led by Chin Peng. This return of the British to Malaya and North Borneo led to the frustration of the Nusantara people to get back Malaya and North Borneo from the British in a military manner. If not in a military manner, at least in the political pressure by the United States as its post-WW2 foreign policy was non-communist decolonization. The Netherlands also return but it was not successful to take back the western parts of the Dutch East Indies which it was under the control of the Republic of Nusantara which made the Dutch only controlled the eastern parts of their colony.

Aside from Britain, France was able to take back Southern Vietnam, Laos, and Kampuchea thanks to the American occupation of French Indochina to accept the Japanese forces presented in the area. Why did the U.S. decide to return the French Indochina to the French, not to its native people? Its because the United States does not support anti-colonialist communist movements particularly the Viet Minh. Also as you notice, the Philippines was only the Asian country to declare independence from its colonial overlord after the Second World War.

Meanwhile, in China, the Chinese Nationalist forces led by Chiang Kai-shek were losing battles against the armies of the Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong where the areas of Mainland China particularly near the cities of Guangzhou and Fuzhou remained in the hands of Kuomintang or Chinese Nationalist Party which moved its capital from Nanking to Taipei. In addition to the information, as the Japanese signed an instrument of conditional surrender, the Japanese were forced to return the island of Formosa to the Republic of China, Japanese Korea was divided into two occupations of Soviet and American that would become the new countries of Democratic Republic of Korea or North Korea and the Republic of Korea or South Korea, and Japan was occupied by the United States removing its right to sovereignty. Something missing to be mentioned, after the Second World War, Siam changed its name to Thailand which means "Land of the Free".

Back in the Philippines, Nacionalista Party presidential and vice-presidential candidates Sergio Osmeña and Eulogio Rodriguez were elected the first president of the Third Philippine Republic against the Liberal Party candidates Manuel Roxas and Elpidio Quirino, thus he became the fourth president in the Philippine history succeeding the President of the Second Philippine Republic Jose P. Laurel and his prime minister Jorge B. Vargas whom both were elected by the Philippine Congress under the KALIBAPI Party amidst the Japanese occupation of the country. Osmeña and Rodriguez would serve the Filipino people for six years until the next presidential and vice-presidential election which it would conduct in the year 1952. Yes, the Second World War ended in Asia and yet the war is still unfinished by the fact that the Sultan of Sulu nullified the 1878 Grant of Lease Treaty with Britain and wanted to get Sabah back from them. The Sultanate of Sulu sent a diplomat to deliver demands to the British Government but the British refused to return Sabah to the Sultanate of Sulu. This angered the Sulu Sultan that made him seek help from the Philippine Government to take back Sabah in a military manner where the Sultan was confident that he will get Sabah back to his domain ruled by his ancestors and that the fact that Philippine foreign policy was to be protected by its ally the United States of America. As for the military preparations, the Royal Army of Sulu prepared its soldiers to secretly invade Sabah with the help of the Philippines which will escalate into a world crisis where the United States of America would decide on how to handle the territorial crisis. This crisis would be good news for the Philippines because after the Philippines declared independence from the United States of America on the 4th of July 1946, the Philippine and American representatives signed the 1946 Philippine-American Mutual Defense Treaty which the United States and the Philippines would protect each other whenever this a foreign nation attacking their national interests.