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Message no. 1
From: Fade <runefo@***.UIO.NO>
Subject: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 04:59:00 +0000
I'm not sure how many of you have heard of that particular
corporation - PLA Macrotechnology, that is. I'd like to call your
attention to it.

It is a 'corporation' consisting of China's military companies, which
is under military direction. Its purpose is to provide weapon
platforms and weapons for domestic use, as well as export. It has
quite extensive finances, and I would expect that company in
particular to be of interest in the SR world. It is also fairly
diversified into other areas of warfare than weapons - uniforms,
medicine, boots, foods, etcetera... and then further diversification,
still under 100% military ownership.

In the book Dragon Strike, this corporation used inside knowledge to
make a few billions on advance knowledge about a surprise attack in
the south china sea. That book is more a theoretical 'what if'' than
a thriller - no main characters, and quotes a lot of speeches,
leaflets and so on to support its hypothesis.

... just in case you need an A/A+ (but not AAA) megacorporation
based on current corporations, which might have a few 'ulterior
motives' with what they do.


--
Fade

And the Prince of Lies said:
"To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven."
-John Milton, Paradise Lost
Message no. 2
From: Herbert Wolverson <hfw373s@***.SMSU.EDU>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 22:53:59 -0500
Hello!

> I'm not sure how many of you have heard of that particular
> corporation - PLA Macrotechnology, that is. I'd like to call your
> attention to it.

:-) I knew that sooner or later one of my research topics would
come up in a message! I've written papers on the link between
US companies and the PLA front companies. (Defense and Strategic
Studies is a neat subject!)

> It is a 'corporation' consisting of China's military companies, which
> is under military direction. Its purpose is to provide weapon
> platforms and weapons for domestic use, as well as export. It has
> quite extensive finances, and I would expect that company in
> particular to be of interest in the SR world. It is also fairly
> diversified into other areas of warfare than weapons - uniforms,
> medicine, boots, foods, etcetera... and then further diversification,
> still under 100% military ownership.

Its really amazingly intricate, just how far its web spreads. They
have lobby groups in Washington on their payroll. They have recently
diversified into such things as warehouse space in the US, often
trying to buy former bases after Cohen's base closure plans go
through. For the Shadowrun world, I've always assumed that would
make them a VERY potent corporate entity in terms of logistics,
and also in terms of shipping potential (ie. smuggling).

They have moved heavilly into the nanotech/biotech industry
of late.

> ... just in case you need an A/A+ (but not AAA) megacorporation
> based on current corporations, which might have a few 'ulterior
> motives' with what they do.

Don't give too much away, I have a game planned around these
guys for the summer. :-)

As an aside, what is the status of China in 205X? I find it
hard to believe they are still PRC, but I don't think they
would be democratic either.

Take care,
Bracket.

---------------------------------------------------
Herbert "Bracket" Wolverson
http://home.mci2000.com/~bracket@*******.com/
---------------------------------------------------
" I hang my head, and I advertise
A Soul for Sale or Rent"
- Queen, "Save Me".
Message no. 3
From: Robert Watkins <robert.watkins@******.COM>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 14:47:52 +1000
Herbet Wolverson writes:
>As an aside, what is the status of China in 205X? I find it
>hard to believe they are still PRC, but I don't think they
>would be democratic either.


China has dissolved into a series of feudal provinces, ruled by warlords.
It's no longer a dominant world power, and I suspect that anything like this
PLA-Macrotechnology would have collapsed during the breakup of China (or
bought out by another group... maybe Ares Macrotechnology? :)

--
.sig deleted to conserve electrons. robert.watkins@******.com
Message no. 4
From: Danyel N Woods <9604801@********.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 16:55:58 +1200
Quoth Fade (1659 15-4-98):

>I'm not sure how many of you have heard of that particular
>corporation - PLA Macrotechnology, that is. I'd like to call your
>attention to it.
>
>It is a 'corporation' consisting of China's military companies, which
>is under military direction. Its purpose is to provide weapon
>platforms and weapons for domestic use, as well as export. It has
>quite extensive finances, and I would expect that company in
>particular to be of interest in the SR world. It is also fairly
>diversified into other areas of warfare than weapons - uniforms,
>medicine, boots, foods, etcetera... and then further diversification,
>still under 100% military ownership.
>
>In the book Dragon Strike, this corporation used inside knowledge to
>make a few billions on advance knowledge about a surprise attack in
>the south china sea. That book is more a theoretical 'what if'' than
>a thriller - no main characters, and quotes a lot of speeches,
>leaflets and so on to support its hypothesis.
>
>... just in case you need an A/A+ (but not AAA) megacorporation
>based on current corporations, which might have a few 'ulterior
>motives' with what they do.

<spontaneous corp creation mode>
Please bear in mind that this has about twenty second's thought behind
it.

*People's Liberation Army Macrotechnology Incorporated*

An amalgam of all those formerly state-owned armaments companies which
survived the '29 Crash and the various other disasters of our modern
age, PLA Macrotech has the distinction of being the only Chinese corp =
to
even approach the size and power of the Big Eight.

Part of the reason for PLA Macrotech's survival to current times is the
fact that China, in the wake of the collapse of the central Communist
government during the first VITAS plague, was for the most part still a
technologically backward nation. While the virus devastated more
sophisticated systems, the Chinese computer network was insufficiently
developed to be as vulnerable as others.

PLA Macrotech's main areas of interest are armaments, military =
aerospace
technology, ground vehicles of many varieties (including military
vehicles such as LAVs) (put it just behind Ares?), and the various
support industries (textiles, oil and fuel, et cetera). To the fortune
of many other corporations, PLA Macrotech still lags far behind in the
fields of Matrixware, cyberware and bioware, being considered some
seven-to-fifteen years behind the current State-Of-The-Art {as at =
2050}.
(e.g. hydraulic rams (see the Plastic Warriors supplements) instead of
microtronic myomers for cyberlimb 'muscles', wired reflexes etcetera
still experimental).
(Suggest +20% Essence cost, x 2 monetary cost for PLA Macrotech-made
cyberware, and treat as 'second-hand' for chances of failure/breakage.
Artificially-grown organs are 'Type G' at best. PLA Macrotech-made
Matrixware (cyberdecks etc) are still the size of a (1995) personal
computer, and their programs are either unlicensed copies of
'mainstream' Matrixware or rather clumsy (PLA decks and programs are
effectively cyberterminals - 'tortoises'.)
</spontaneous corp creation mode>

I *was* going to do a long spiel about PLA Macrotech's survival against
the odds (the VITAS plagues, the Awakening, the Crash, a series of
Secession Wars when provinces tried to get away from the Beijing
government, a border war with the Russians during the EuroWars, etc).
Unfortunately, I haven't found any detailed material about this region,
canon or otherwise. Has anyone drawn up some stuff about China and =
Asia
that might help form the basis of such a back-story?

<Pause to read Bracket's post>

I don't know about China's central government circa 205X, but you can
bet your hide that some of the provinces tried to secede during the
chaos of the Awakening, VITAS, UGE/Goblinisation, the Crash, et cetera.
I can also easily see a border war with the Russians during the
EuroWars, and a resolution of the 'Taiwan independence' issue one way =
or
the other. At a guess, I'd say that Mainland China is a military
dictatorship (what, like it isn't already?) or maybe it's reverted to =
an
Imperial Monarchy. Give it a couple of days (the LAN here closes for
the weekend in about three minutes), and if the topic's still running =
on
Monday morning when I log on, I might post what I, personally, have =
come
up with for PLA Macrotech and the *former* People's Republic of China.

Danyel Woods
9604801@********.ac.nz
'Are you deliberately trying to drive me insane?'
'The universe is already mad. Anything else would be
redundant.'
Message no. 5
From: Robert Watkins <robert.watkins@******.COM>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 15:11:29 +1000
Daynel N Woods writes:
>support industries (textiles, oil and fuel, et cetera). To the fortune
>of many other corporations, PLA Macrotech still lags far behind in the
>fields of Matrixware, cyberware and bioware, being considered some
>seven-to-fifteen years behind the current State-Of-The-Art {as at 2050}.
>(e.g. hydraulic rams (see the Plastic Warriors supplements) instead of
>microtronic myomers for cyberlimb 'muscles', wired reflexes etcetera
>still experimental).
>(Suggest +20% Essence cost, x 2 monetary cost for PLA Macrotech-made
>cyberware, and treat as 'second-hand' for chances of failure/breakage.
>Artificially-grown organs are 'Type G' at best. PLA Macrotech-made
>Matrixware (cyberdecks etc) are still the size of a (1995) personal
>computer, and their programs are either unlicensed copies of
>'mainstream' Matrixware or rather clumsy (PLA decks and programs are
>effectively cyberterminals - 'tortoises'.)


Unless they have access to a protected market (such as is possible in a
Communist country), a corp would give up on areas they are that far behind
(you're saying about 15 years behind for decks). Either that, or they'd
acquire the expertise from somewhere.

Even in a protected market, they'd probably find it more cost-effective to
resell technology from other corporations.

--
.sig deleted to conserve electrons. robert.watkins@******.com
Message no. 6
From: Danyel N Woods <9604801@********.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 17:34:48 +1200
Quoth Robert Watkins (1711 15-5-98):

>>support industries (textiles, oil and fuel, et cetera). To the
fortune
>>of many other corporations, PLA Macrotech still lags far behind in the
>>fields of Matrixware, cyberware and bioware, being considered some
>>seven-to-fifteen years behind the current State-Of-The-Art {as at
2050}.
>>(e.g. hydraulic rams (see the Plastic Warriors supplements) instead of
>>microtronic myomers for cyberlimb 'muscles', wired reflexes etcetera
>>still experimental).
>>(Suggest +20% Essence cost, x 2 monetary cost for PLA Macrotech-made
>>cyberware, and treat as 'second-hand' for chances of failure/breakage.
>>Artificially-grown organs are 'Type G' at best. PLA Macrotech-made
>>Matrixware (cyberdecks etc) are still the size of a (1995) personal
>>computer, and their programs are either unlicensed copies of
>>'mainstream' Matrixware or rather clumsy (PLA decks and programs are
>>effectively cyberterminals - 'tortoises'.)
>
>
>Unless they have access to a protected market (such as is possible in a
>Communist country), a corp would give up on areas they are that far
behind
>(you're saying about 15 years behind for decks). Either that, or they'd
>acquire the expertise from somewhere.
>
>Even in a protected market, they'd probably find it more cost-effective
to
>resell technology from other corporations.

Yeah, true. I was referring to cyber and other stuff purchased inside
China (a protected market; the 'open' market PLA-Macro just gave up on,
but since 95% of Chinese can't get anything better, the domestic market
is booming...) And what happens when outsiders want to buy cyberware or
Matrixware in China? Guess who is the only corp allowed to perform that
sort of surgery in China? <egmg> I believe that the current Chinese
regime only believes in fair competition when it has none, so why should
their successors start being open-handed now?

See you Monday!

Danyel Woods
9604801@********.ac.nz
'Are you deliberately trying to drive me insane?'
'The universe is already mad. Anything else would be
redundant.'
Message no. 7
From: Robert Watkins <robert.watkins@******.COM>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 15:52:49 +1000
Danyel N Woods writes:
>Even in a protected market, they'd probably find it more cost-effective
>to
>>resell technology from other corporations.
>
>Yeah, true. I was referring to cyber and other stuff purchased inside
>China (a protected market; the 'open' market PLA-Macro just gave up on,
>but since 95% of Chinese can't get anything better, the domestic market
>is booming...) And what happens when outsiders want to buy cyberware or
>Matrixware in China? Guess who is the only corp allowed to perform that
>sort of surgery in China? <egmg> I believe that the current Chinese
>regime only believes in fair competition when it has none, so why should
>their successors start being open-handed now?


Because, as I pointed out in an earlier post, China has dissolved into
feudal states, ruled by warlords. It's highly likely that the corps would
force at least the lucatrive markets (the cities) open, especially seeing as
how they stole Hong Kong and set it up as a corporate-control free city.

--
.sig deleted to conserve electrons. robert.watkins@******.com
Message no. 8
From: Airwasp <Airwasp@***.COM>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 03:31:46 EDT
In a message dated 5/15/98 4:13:36 AM !!!First Boot!!!, hfw373s@***.SMSU.EDU
writes:

> As an aside, what is the status of China in 205X? I find it
> hard to believe they are still PRC, but I don't think they
> would be democratic either.

As per some of the sourcebooks, China has splintered into all sorts of nation-
states headed by mandarins and warlords. The PRC no longer exists. The
Awakening was the death knell of the PRC, or at least a major contributor.

Mike
Message no. 9
From: Airwasp <Airwasp@***.COM>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 03:40:20 EDT
In a message dated 5/15/98 4:52:54 AM !!!First Boot!!!,
robert.watkins@******.COM writes:

> >As an aside, what is the status of China in 205X? I find it
> >hard to believe they are still PRC, but I don't think they
> >would be democratic either.
>
>
> China has dissolved into a series of feudal provinces, ruled by warlords.
> It's no longer a dominant world power, and I suspect that anything like
this
> PLA-Macrotechnology would have collapsed during the breakup of China (or
> bought out by another group... maybe Ares Macrotechnology? :)

Either they were bought out by somebody or they are a shell corp. Though I
could see them becoming one of the many "warlords" that have taken some of the
territory of what was once the PRC and China.

Mike
Message no. 10
From: Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 13:34:24 -0400
At 04:59 AM 5/15/98 +0000, you wrote:
>I'm not sure how many of you have heard of that particular
>corporation - PLA Macrotechnology, that is. I'd like to call your
>attention to it.

<snipped>

Ooooh, terribly cool. I was unaware of this company, it looks like both
myself and my contacts are getting rusty.

I'm not sure this company, being governmentally controlled, would have
survived the collapse of the PRC. It's highly likely that they would have
been gobbled up by the Japanacorps, like Mitsuhama and Fuchi, both of which
are supposed to have decent military design/manufacturing wings.

But this is an excellent candidate if you wished to have a Chinese
corporation around, one based on the mainland and not Hong Kong (like
Wuxing). Their tech, especially stuff like cybernetics and Matrix tech, is
probably well behind the cutting edge. Their guns probably are too, but
they could easily be the world's number one manufacturer of cheap
knock-offs. I would think that many of the "M-23s" and "Ingram
Supermachs"
and "Colt Warriors" in the hands of gangers and gutter riff-raff (which
might include your 'runners) would be actually cheap knock-offs made in
China by PLA Macrotech. This would probably be their biggest source of
income *and* headache (I doubt Ares would think too kindly of someone
making money off "their" guns). Much of their weaponry, armor and cheap
cyber or vehicles is also probably sold to the different competing warlords
in mainland China, creating a vicious cycle in which only PLA Macrotech
profits.

They'd probably also be based in Bejing. In my game world, the old PRC
still has a hold on that small area. The PLA could still be controlled by
them, but regardless, I doubt they would really be anywhere else except
maybe Shanghai.

Erik J.


"Oh, the silent helicopters and the men in black fatigues? They're just my
car pool to work."
Message no. 11
From: Steven McCormick <stardust@***.NET>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 22:23:31 -0500
At 02:47 PM 5/15/98 +1000, Robert Watkins wrote:
>
>China has dissolved into a series of feudal provinces, ruled by warlords.
>It's no longer a dominant world power, and I suspect that anything like this
>PLA-Macrotechnology would have collapsed during the breakup of China (or
>bought out by another group... maybe Ares Macrotechnology? :)
>
Or is controlled by the Triads, perhaps?

BlueMule


*****************************
* Steven McCormick *
* *
* a.k.a Drake Starduster *
* Philosopher extrodinaire *
* Galactic hero *
* Genius *
* All around nice guy *
*****************************
Message no. 12
From: Airwasp <Airwasp@***.COM>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 18:12:37 EDT
In a message dated 5/16/98 8:13:29 PM !!!First Boot!!!, stardust@***.NET
writes:

> >China has dissolved into a series of feudal provinces, ruled by warlords.
> >It's no longer a dominant world power, and I suspect that anything like
> this
> >PLA-Macrotechnology would have collapsed during the breakup of China (or
> >bought out by another group... maybe Ares Macrotechnology? :)
> >
> Or is controlled by the Triads, perhaps?

It is possible, though I believe LLung is in control of the Triads.

-Mike
Message no. 13
From: Steven McCormick <stardust@***.NET>
Subject: Re: China - PLA Macrotechnology
Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 01:38:09 -0500
At 06:12 PM 5/16/98 EDT, Airwasp wrote:
>> >China has dissolved into a series of feudal provinces, ruled by warlords.
>> >It's no longer a dominant world power, and I suspect that anything like
>> this
>> >PLA-Macrotechnology would have collapsed during the breakup of China (or
>> >bought out by another group... maybe Ares Macrotechnology? :)
>> >
>> Or is controlled by the Triads, perhaps?
>
>It is possible, though I believe LLung is in control of the Triads.
>
>-Mike

Exactly Mike. I would think that if a company like PLA-Macrotechnology
didn't collapse during the breakup of China, a great dragon like Lung
wouldn't hesitate to sink its greedy little (or not so little) claws into
said company. Lung would probably also take a very dim view of a megacorp
like Ares nosing in on *his* area of influence. Hmm, a situation like this
could make for a pretty interesting campaign :)

BlueMule

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about China - PLA Macrotechnology, you may also be interested in:

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Thwap!