Zeng

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Zeng
Nation: The Resurgent Dream
Capital: Kenron
Leader: Chief of State:Prince Ma-huan; Chief of Government: First Minister Ba Gah-fat

The Principality of Zeng is the largest Member in the Confederated Peoples although its lead over the second largest Member, Farinor is small one. Like Farinor, Zeng has 58 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and three seats in the Confederal Senate. This makes Zeng one of the most politically important Members in the Confederated Peoples.

Elections in Zeng are contested by all the major Confederal political parties although Democratic Concordance, the Conservative Democratic Party, the Progressive Democratic Party and the Labour Party dominate. The Communist Party is also influential locally and is represented in the legislature. The current government is a coalition between the Progressive Democrats and Labour.

Zeng is of great economic significance to the nation. The economy is rapidly growing and this growth is especially strong in the high-tech sector. However, Zeng also maintains a strong manufacturing base. It is a leading consumer of steel, concrete and oil and a leading producer of manufactured goods, information technology and agricultural products.

History

In 1982, the Danaan High Kingdom officially claimed a large island located to the south of Dana and outside the Islands of Mists. Aboriginal Danaan navigators had referred to the island as Zeng for reasons which are not now known and this was the name the Danaans used. The island was discovered to be hospitable for settlement and early settlements were established.

The first settlements were fairly representative of the Danaan population but settlement soon came to be dominated by people of Chinese extraction and Confucians both from the Danaan High Kingdom and from elsewhere. This was likely because the land reminded them of their ancestral lands and because they, like many other human groups, felt alientated during the period of the Fae.

In 1990, I Ma-huan, a Danaan nobleman, was created Prince of Zeng and the Principality was admitted the the Danaan High Kingdom as a principality in its own right and not just a claimed territory. That year, Zeng created its own constitution providing for a system of constitutional monarchy. With some amendment, that constitution still governs Zeng today.

Politics

Although the political executive in Zeng is led by the First Minister and is accountable to the legislature, a great deal of importance is attached to the roles of the Prince and of the High King. The system of constitutional monarchy is extremely popular and the role of the monarchy is revered and taken seriously by the people. It is unclear to what extent politicians familiar with the inner workings of the system share this view, but all must at least affirm it in their public statements.

Zeng has a parliamentary system. It has a unicameral Principality Popular Congress. The leader of the party or coalition commanding a majority in the Congress receive a mandate from the Prince to form a Government. If the government receives the confidence of Congress, the leader is formally appointed First Minister and the government ministers are admitted to the Council of State. The Council of State is formally chaired by the Prince who has the right to be consulted, the right to encourage and the right to warn. These rights, in Zeng, include the right to chair the meetings of the Council of State in person if and when he feels is necessary. However, this right is rarely exercised and the First Minister is normally the acting chair. The Council of State is collectively accountable to the Congress which can withdraw its confidence from the entire Council or from any individual minister. If the government receives a vote of no confidence, it is customary for the First Minister to sitting Congress to have some time to attempt to work out the issue of government and either for the First Minister to be able to form a new government capable of receiving the confidence of the Congress or for a new leader capable of doing so to emerge through the renegotiation of coalitions. If this does not happen, Congress is dissolved and new elections are scheduled. Regardless of political circumstances, elections are held at least once every eight years. Members of Congress are elected through a system of proportional representation.

Family planning policy

Family planning receives extensive state support in Zeng with tax dollars going to make contraceptives widely available and fund ads about sexual responsibility. The public schools have an extensive and well-funded sex education program that focuses on teaching safe and responsible sexual behaviors. Abortion laws are generally liberal although sex-selective abortion is strictly illegal and, when it can be proven, is subject to harsh penalties.

The government's policies are very controversial with many social conservatives arguing that they promote abortion, promiscuity, adolescent sexuality and homosexuality, all of which social conservatives consider undesirable and immoral. Others argue that it is patriotic to have families as large as possible to as to expand the nation and the community and that large, traditional families are the building blocks of any civilized society. Other, more liberal, critics argue that the policies attempt to pressure people to live their lives a certain way in a manner not befitting a liberal democratic government. Instead, they say schools should provice a balanced perspective on different family choices and government should neither sponsor nor forbid contraceptives, sexual responsibility campaigns and abortions of all kinds.

Human rights

Zeng has been criticized for being one of the Confederal Members which still retain the death penalty for particularly heinous crimes such as aggravated murder in the first degree and aggravated rape of a minor. The number of executions is relatively low. For example, only three people were executed in all of 2006, two for aggravated first degree murder and one for aggravated rape of a minor. However, many consider this to be a human rights violation.

The abolition of the death penalty at the Confederal level led some activists to hope for the Confederal Supreme Court to declare it unconstitutional. As a result, Mah Ai-de, a man sentenced to death for the first degree murder of a police officer, is appealing his sentence on the grounds that it violates the Confederal Constitution. The case is still pending. Many anti-capital punishment activists have been actively supporting Mah's appeal through demonstrations and petitiions to various officials. The primary petition to overturn the death sentence has been signed by a number of prominent actors, musicians and other celebrities.

Political divisions

Zeng is made up of 34 parishes. Each parish has its own elected local government. The exact organization of the local government varies from parish to parish but most local government elections are non-partisan. Identity in Zeng tends to be layered with most people identifying strongly not only with Zeng, the Danaan High Kingdom and the Confederated Peoples but also with their local parish.

Geography and climate

Zeng is an island and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on all sides. It is geographically diverse and contains alluvial plains, mountains, grasslands, hill country and river deltas. The principality is densely populated and there are relatively few places where the landscape can be viewed in any sort of pristine condition.

One major problem where recent progress has been made is in the area of desertification. From settlement until fairly recently, poor agricultural practices caused the steady expansion of the Agitrean Desert. However, improved agricultural practices and the planting of lengthy barrier tree lines has substantially reduced this problem and contained the Agitrean Desert at its current size.

The most troublesome current environmental problem is that of water pollution. While some regulations exist, they are widely ignored and enforcement is poor. Some companies also get around regulations by dilluting pollutants in water from the very rivers they intend to empty them into until the mix is no longer legally classified as a pollutant and then emptying it back into the river. This, in effect, is the same as dumping the pollutants directly but it effectively takes advantage of a provision of Zeng's environmental laws which uses concentration as a primary factor in defining illegal dumping.

Economy

Zeng is a leading producer of manufactured goods such as toys, apparel, textiles and footwear. Many important Confederal steel plants are also located in Zeng and a few ironworks have even been constructed following the Shattering and the end of Fae mandated laws banning the industry. Zeng also produces coal, machinery, armaments, petroleum, cement, chemicals, processed foods, automobiles, consumer electronics and telecommunications as well as containing strong local branches of the three dominant Confederal industries of book-publishing, information technology and beef-based agriculture.

Zeng has a strongly regulated mixed economy with a large public sector. The coastal areas of the principality tend to be much more prosperous than the central areas and thus the largest social program now underway in Zeng is the Central Zeng Development Strategy, undertaken in cooperation with the Confederal Department of Infrastructure. The Strategy includes the development of better infrastructure, promotion of education, retention of talent and enticement of private investment. So far it has had moderate sucess.

Science and technology

Zeng plays an important role in Confederal research and development. A number of important Confederal research grants have been given to labs based in Zeng and the Principality gives a number of important research grants of its own. These include grants to stem-cell and gene therapy research which remain controversial in the Confederated Peoples. However, Zeng's research grants focus on research into renewable and cleaner energy sources. In addition to wind, solar and hydro-electric power, Zeng has been experimenting with pebble bed nuclear reactors which are supposed to run cooler and safer than standard reactors but which, like everything nuclear, remain controversial.

Zeng also encourages research through financial and tax policies which favor cutting-edge industries, through educational programs aimed at likely future researchers and innovators and through creating public awareness of the need for further research, especially in medicine and energy, in order to improve the Confederal standard of living now and in future generations.

Transportation

Zeng is linked by two interlocking systems of expressways, the Zeng Expressway System and the Confederal Expressway System. Zeng is currently the site of major construction on the Confederal Expressway System as the Confederal Department of Infrastructure works to make car and bus travel in the Principality more convenient and to tie the large population more closely together.

Private car ownership is increasing but remains expensive because of toll roads and taxation. Bicycles are common for short-distance travel and most of the larger cities have extensive light rail, subway and bus systems. Rail and bus remain the primary methods of long distance travel although air travel even though air travel is becoming increasingly common. Almost all travel between Zeng and other Members is by air with sea travel generally being used only in the case of luxury cruises and not for practical travel.

Demographics

Zeng has a high urbanization rate with 41% of all residents living in urban areas. In addition to these, about 15% of residents work in an urban area but commute to and from a suburban or rural home. 86% of people live within easy reach of an urban area. The population in Zeng is also relatively young with 21% of the population being under 14 years of age and only 5% of the population being over 65 years of age. There is also a notable but shrinking gender imbalance in the population with 62% of residents being male. This includes 70% of people over 65 but only 54% of people under 14.

While Zeng is predomonantly East Asian ethnically, it also contains large and vibrant communities of Arabs, Africans, Europeans, South Asians, Latinos, Vasconian Indians and Polynesians. Residents of Zeng belong to at least 202 different identifiable heritage groups and at least 301 different religious bodies. These include not only a diverse array of native-born Confederals but also resident aliens and naturalized immigrants from most nations with which the Confederated Peoples has strong people-to-people contacts.

Largest cities

Zeng is the home of a number of large cities including some of the largest cities in the Confederated Peoples. The following cities in Zeng, listed in order of population, have more than one million long-term residents within the official city limits.

Public health

Zeng has followed a policy of public health and preventative medicine, actively encouraging a healthy lifestyle and good public sanitation. This program involves maintaining good waste disposal facilities and polluted urban areas. It also involves things like picking up litter, recycling and enforcing health regulations on restaurants and food producers. There is also an extensive program encouraging good diet, exercise and healthy sleep habits.

The health system combines public and private elements with most hospitals and some clinics being publically owned. Even private medicine is heavily subsidized to make it more accessible for patients but fees are usually required for both public and private medical care. Most people have insurance through their employer or a private or public service. People living at or below the poverty line have all their fees paid by Zeng and Confederal social programs. It is illegal for any health provider to refuse treatment in a medical emergency because of the inability of the patient to establish the ability to pay fees.

Culture

Literacy is highly valued in Zeng and most people have more respect for arts such a calligraphy and literature of all types than for dancing, drama and other performing arts. There is also a great emphasis on examinations and on a culture of merit. The Zeng Civil Service Test and Zeng Bar Exam, for example, are both writing intensive and those who pass them are highly respected. The educational system also uses a system of annual written principality-wide exams to measure performance in education.

Other notable aspects of Zeng culture include the moral stress normally placed upon being dutiful and loyal and the immense importance given to the extended family. Traditional Chinese culture is often mixed with elements of modern culture and of other traditional cultures found in the Confederated Peoples to create original work in art, literature and music. Zeng has only a small independent film industry but many people from Zeng are active in Caer Gawen.

Religion

Most people in Zeng, 52%, identify themselves as secular. These include atheists, agnostics and people who identify with a religion but nonetheless have a secular approach to life. 33% follow what are referred to as traditional beliefs, a syncretistist combination of traditional rites and rituals, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and family and community traditions. Although Confucian ideals have a status similar to that of an established religion, it is not organized into a body comparable to a church.

The largest organized, distinct religion is Buddhism with 2% of the population professing Mahāyāna Buddhism and smaller faith communities also practicing Theravada and Zen Buddhism. Other religious communities include Christianity, Judaism and Islam, all of which have thriving, if small, religious communities in Zeng.

Sports and recreation

Zeng has an active sporting culture. Figure skating and surfing, the most popular sports in the Confederated Peoples, certainly have their local following. Soccer, martial arts, table tennis, badminton, swimming, basketball, golf, rugby, dragon boat racing, wrestling (both Mongolian and Greco-Roman), horse racing, polo, rodeo and archery are also popular sports. Basketball's Yan Man is a local sports hero. Zeng has an excellent reputation throughout the Confederated Peoples for producing women's gymnastics stars, even though the sport does not enjoy much popularity locally.

There are also a number of board games which are organized in a manner similar to sporting events, such as Go, Xiangqi, Chess and Fychell. A few traditional card games are also organized this way and collectible card game tournaments are growing even though they are often not taken seriously by outsiders. Competitive gaming is also increasingly common among computer and video gamers. Although computer and video games are popular among users, it is only a very small, if very devoted, core of fans who follow competitive gaming.

Physical fitness is taken very seriously in Zeng. Physical education is required every year in primary and secondary public schools. This is different from most Members where physical education is only required for one year of secondary school and is treated as an elective in every subsequent year. Morning and afternoon exercises are also organized in public parks and plazas and free gyms and swimming pools are provided by the government.