South-East Asia Timeline

The timeline of the Cyberpunk Series has gone through many iterations, with new sourcebooks and games continually expanding on its world. This article covers the canonical timeline following events from Cyberpunk 2013 and 2020, as established by Mike Pondsmith and CD Projekt RED in Cyberpunk Red and Cyberpunk 2077. This timeline focuses on the history of South-East Asia far from Japan, China, Korea. South-East Asia consist of New Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Brunei Darussalam.

1940

 * 1940
 * Indonesia -  Japanese troops invade French Indochina and occupy Vietnam with little French resistance.
 * 1941
 * Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh and communist colleagues establish the League for the Independence of Vietnam. Known as the Viet Minh, the movement aims to resist French and Japanese occupation of Vietnam.
 * Thailand - Japanese forces land. After negotiations Thailand allows Japanese to advance towards British-controlled Malay Peninsula, Singapore and Burma.
 * Philippines - Japanese invade Philippines, and defeat Gen. Douglas MacArthur at Bataan and Corregidor; Quezon establishes government in exile.
 * 1942
 * Laos - As WWII spills over into Asia, the Japanese invade and occupy Laos with the cooperation of pro-Vichy French colonial authorities.
 * Thailand - Thailand declares war on Britain and US, but Thai ambassador in Washington refuses to deliver declaration to US government.
 * 1944
 * Philippines - Quezon dies; Vice President Sergio Osmeña takes presidency; MacArthur reinvades Philippines.
 * 1945
 * SEA - Japanese troops occupying Indochina carry out a coup against French authorities and announce an end to the colonial era, declaring Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia independent.
 * SEA - Japan is defeated by the Allies in World War II, leaving a power vacuum in Indochina. France begins to reassert its authority over Vietnam.
 * Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh declares an independent North Vietnam and models his declaration on the American Declaration of Independence of 1776 in an (unsuccessful) effort to win the support of the United States.
 * Thailand - End of World War II. Thailand compelled to return territory it had seized from Laos, Cambodia and Malaya. Exiled King Ananda returns.
 * Philippines - MacArthur liberates Manila; Osmeña establishes government.
 * 1946
 * Philippines - Philippines becomes independent nation; Manuel Roxas y Acuña elected first president.

1950

 * 1950
 * Vietnam - The People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union formally recognize the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam and both begin to supply economic and military aid to communist resistance fighters within the country.
 * Vietnam - The United States, identifying the Viet Minh as a Communist threat, steps up military assistance to France for their operations against the Viet Minh.
 * Indonesia - Military articulation of doctrines Dwifungsi and Hankamrata: a military role in sociopolitical development as well as security; a requirement that the resources of the people be at the call of the armed forces.
 * 1953
 * Laos - The Franco–Lao Treaty of Amity and Association grants full independence to Laos and a Lao delegation attends a conference in Geneva where a regroupment area is set aside for Pathet Lao Forces.
 * 1955
 * Laos - Pathet Lao leaders form the Lao People's Party (later the Lao People's Revolutionary Party) with a broad political front called the Lao Patriotic Front (LPF).
 * 1959
 * Vietnam - North Vietnam forces begin to build a supply route through Laos and Cambodia to South Vietnam in an effort to support guerrilla attacks against Diem’s government in the south. The route becomes known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail and is greatly expanded and enhanced during the Vietnam War.
 * Indonesia - Communist insurgency prompts Sukarno to declare martial law.

1960

 * 1962
 * Laos - The Geneva Agreement on Laos establishes the second coalition government that balances Pathet Lao and rightist representation with neutralist voting powers.
 * 1963
 * Vietnam - The United States backs a South Vietnam military coup against the unpopular Diem, which ends in the brutal killing of Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu. Between 1963 and 1965, 12 different governments take the lead in South Vietnam as military coups replace one government after another.
 * 1964
 * SEA - The Second Indochina War spills over into Laos. Both the North Vietnamese and US presence increases dramatically and bombing extends along the length of Laos.
 * 1965
 * Philippines - Ferdinand Marcos becomes president of The Philippines.
 * Thailand - Thailand permits US to use bases there during the Vietnam War. Thai troops fight in South Vietnam.
 * 1966
 * Indonesia - Sukarno persuaded to sign over powers to his protégé, Suharto, who takes over presidency. Until 1998, Suharto is re-elected six times in rigged elections.

1970

 * 1972
 * Vietnam - The People’s Army of Vietnam launches the large-scale, three-pronged Easter Offensive against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and U.S. forces. While North Vietnam gains control of more territory in South Vietnam, the offensive isn’t the decisive blow its military leaders had hoped for.
 * Philippines - Marcos declares martial law.
 * 1973
 * Thailand - Student riots in Bangkok bring about the fall of the military government. Free elections are held but the resulting governments lack stability.
 * 1975
 * Vietnam - In the Fall of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam is seized by communist forces and the government of South Vietnam surrenders. U.S. Marine and Air Force helicopters transport more than 1,000 American civilians and nearly 7,000 South Vietnamese refugees out of Saigon in an 18-hour mass evacuation effort.
 * Vietnam - North and South Vietnam are formally unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under hardline communist rule.
 * Laos - Communists seize power and declare the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR). This ends 650 years of the Lao monarchy.
 * Cambodia - The Khmer Rouge enter the capital Phnom Penh, beginning a reign of terror under leader Pol Pot that leaves up to two million people dead through starvation, execution and overwork.
 * 1976
 * Thailand - Military takes over again.
 * 1977
 * Vietnam - Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations.
 * Cambodia - launches bloody incursions into Vietnam.
 * 1978
 * Thailand - New constitution promulgated.
 * 1979
 * Laos - Agricultural cooperatives are abandoned and first economic reforms introduced.
 * Vietnam - Vietnam invades Cambodia.
 * Cambodia - Phnom Penh falls to the Vietnamese, who install a new regime. Civil war begins, pitting the Khmer Rouge, nationalists and royalists against each other.

1980

 * 1980
 * Philippines - Benigno Aquino goes into exile.
 * 1983
 * Philippines - Aquino returns to the Philippines but he is shot
 * 1985
 * Cambodia - Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge cadre who defected, is appointed as prime minister of Cambodia's Vietnam-installed government.
 * 1986
 * Philippines - Marcos is forced to flee and Cory Aquino replaces him.
 * Vietnam - More liberal economic policies are put into effect. These policies are called Doi Moi.
 * Laos - The 'New Economic Mechanism' opens the way for a market economy and foreign investment.
 * 1987
 * Laos - A three-month border war breaks out between Laos and Thailand, ending in a truce in February 1988.
 * 1988
 * Burma - SLORC takes power in a coup, and changes the country's name to Myanmar. Most countries around the world start a crippling boycott.
 * 1989
 * Cambodia - Vietnam says it has withdrawn from Cambodia.

1990

 * 1992
 * Vietnam - Doi Moi policies and giving up on Socialist Economics opens the door to foreign investment.
 * 1994
 * World - Stock crash sends industrialized nations scrambling for bigger markets and cheaper labor. SEA countries start to thrive.
 * 1997
 * World - Mideast Meltdown sends millions of Islamic refugees swarming to the Islamic countries of SEA, compounding population problems.
 * Thailand - Rama XX repeals the anti-drug and smuggling laws, making it a true open market.
 * 1998
 * Indonesia - President Suharto dies. Factions start infighting.

2000

 * 2002
 * World - The food crash sends rice prices skyrocketing. SEA countries make a fortune on rice, seafood, and synthetic foods.
 * 2003
 * Cambodia - Army drives the Khmer Rouge out of Cambodia, into Laos.
 * Laos - Khmer Rouge disposes the government.
 * Golden Triangle - DEA tailored virus attack wipes out the poppy farms and the local economies. The warlords decide to switch to synthetic drugs, and smuggling/Merc services.
 * Hong Kong - HK falls to the MLC, sending thousands of Chinese refugees overseas.
 * 2006
 * Vietnam - joins ASEAN.
 * 2008-10
 * South China Sea - The Second Corporate War takes place in the South China Sea. The fight is between Petrochem and SovOil. Pollution fallout destroys thousands of miles of coastline in Vietnam, Malaysia, and the New Philippines, as well as destroying millions of people's livelihoods.
 * 2009
 * Indonesia - Invades and conquers Papua New Guinea, renaming it "East Irian Jaya".
 * SEA - ASEAN disbands.

2010

 * 2011
 * New Philippines - President Ramos is killed; Pres. Aguilar is elected, promises new constitution.
 * 2012
 * New Philippines - President Aguilar is killed for cheating in election. President Lopez is killed on his way to the inauguration.
 * 2013
 * New Philippines - President Tiapan is elected and stays in power.
 * 2014
 * SEA - ASEAN reforms at the diplomatic urgings of SovOil.
 * 2019
 * Golden Triangle - Limited production opium and heroin begins again from new, virus-resistant poppy plants.

Reference
PASQUARETTE, C. Pacific Rim Sourcebook. 1st ed. Berkeley CA: R.Talsorian Games, 1994