Paul Chen

Paul Zou-Nianzu Chen
Born	(1956-09-19) September 19, 1956 Lendiao, Valley Township, Colorado
Occupation	Academic

Paul Chen is a Slokaisan author and academic. His 2018 novel The Case for a New Federation is widely cited as one of the most influential recent works of Slokaisian political theory. In addition, Chen is also a well-regarded expert in Slokasian history and linguistics with consulting work on several documentaries as well as publishing dozens of academic papers and historical books.

Early life and education

Paul Zou-Nianzu Chen was born on the 19th of September 1956 in Lendiao, Valley Township, Colorado Province to a family of rice farmers. The family had their land confiscated several years prior, and thus the Chen Family lived in relative poverty on a small, densely farmed plot, paying rent to a single private landowner. Recounted in his 2003 book "Our Land: A History of Slokais Through the Context of Land Ownership, "He was just as poor, yet because he had the land he believed he had power". Chen was unable to start attending school until 1964 as his family could only then afford the school fees. He described education as a dream despite its strict control by the National Reformist School Board.

Chen would go on to Colorado Provincial University, where he would graduate with a degree in Slokasian, intending to be a teacher and support the growth of the newly created language. Yet he describes having moments of personal and political revelations in the 1980s which led him to quit his job as a Slokasian Language Instructor and attend San Fernando University. During his time there, he pursued a master's degree in history. Additionally he published several academic papers related to linguistic development and language superiority. Additionally, Chen would end up earning an additional master's degree from the University of Pindai in 2015 in Comparative Policy Studies.

Career

Chen initially worked for the SIBC as a historical consultant and appeared in several documentaries on Pre-colonial and Colonial history. With these funds, Chen also travelled to every province in Slokais, giving various seminars and what he called "consultative meals." In these meals he would eat a local staple and talk to each person in the room about the personal memories associated with each dish as a means of discovering more about each province he visited. This became a popular method of discussion although Chen himself claims it is inspired by traditional dinner parties of the Three Empires Age. His revelations were published in a 1999 book titled Meal Time: The Lost Art of Family, Connection and Truth. The book focuses largely on how cultural context shapes individual lives and the uniqueness of the various provinces of Slokais as a whole.

In 2003, Chen published "Our Land: A History of Slokais Through the Context of Land Ownership" which is considered a transition work into Chen's scholarship on Colonial and Neo-Colonialism. In the book, Chen focuses on how geography and a finite amount of land allowed the various power structures of Slokais to remain and that land ownership is the most powerful resource one can have. This led to Chen being largely accepted into leftist political circles although Chen himself claims to have no political affiliation. Our Land would end winning the 2004 Slokasian Blue Pen Award for Best Novel and would lead to several media appearances and a book tour. Chen however stated he would not publish any more works for commercial purposes and over the next two decades would focus on the anthropological study within the discipline of Pan-Slokasian Studies.

Chen would also begin teaching full-time at the University of Pindai in the Department of Anthropology, teaching several high-regarded and sought-after classes on history, anthropology and political science. Chen would eventually publish The Case for a New Federation in 2018 which became a nationwide best-seller and was praised by various thinkers and political leaders across the spectrum and from various disciplines. Additionally, Chen would also gain several critics who believed it was too critical and even anti-Slokasian.

The Case for a New Federation

The Case for a New Federation

Author	Paul Chen
Country	Slokais Islands
Language	English (Translations in Slokasian, Costenian, Pindai Mandarin, Arabic)
Subject	Politics, Pan-Slokasian Studies
Published	December 12th, 2018
Publisher	The Pindai Printing Cooperation
Media type	Print
Pages	195

The Case for a New Federation is a 2018 is a non-fiction novel by Paul Chen. Chen argues that contemporary problems can be best solved via a return to the pre-Republic state of Slokais as multiple independent states with control over their own affairs. Chen supports this argument with historical evidence of the modern-day Slokaisan state only coming into existence in the 1890s and being a direct continuation of the colonial state. Chen argues that as a whole, Slokais should have never existed as one state, as it never had for the previous thousands of years.

Proposal

Once Chen makes his initial argument, he proposes that several independent states should be formed due to cultural, religious, and ethnic differences. Chen argues these states should remain in a combined association known as The New Federation. The New Federation would have a joint common Parliament as well as a President directly elected by said Parliament. He argues that the powers of the new parliament should be "common defense, transportation and human rights policy". Beyond those, he believes the new member states should have full authority and power over their own affairs.

Renewed Nations

Chen proposes that, at the very least, 3 states should be formed, each corresponding to a former state that existed at some point before. These are Kaijan, Ambonar, and Pindai. Kaijan had been an independent republic in the 1800s as well as a long-standing empire from the 14th century onward. Chen argues that issues of misrepresentation and perceived outside influence could be solved. Additionally, he proposes that Kaijan could secure regional development with majority-Muslim states in Neria such as Iskiram and could re-establish pre-Colonial trade networks. Ambonar was the latest to join Slokais and had "been the most self-sufficient and culturally distinct state since coming under the boot of New Liverpool." Chen argues that due to its overwhelming Revivalist population and relative demographic cohesions it should become a parliamentary monarchy in full. Additionally, Chen argues that a transition would be simplest for Ambonar as it already had the most autonomy and economic market separate from the rest of the country. In the case of Pindai, a simple city-state would return to what it was prior to the 1830s. Areas of the Minjian belt would also be allowed to join the new Pindai state, although Chen believed it would be primarily a "prosperous, harmonious, modern city-state".