Aoyama Special Administrative Zone

Not to be confused with the planet Aoyama.The Aoyama Special Administrative Zone (青山特別行政区, MSAZ), also referred to as Aoyama, or the Galactic People's Republic is a space region in Yamatai located in the western part of Imperial Space. It consists of four inhabited and 52 charted uninhabited systems, and its regional capital is the city of Rakuyō on the planet Aoyama.

The MSAZ consists of the territory originally controlled by the now largely defunct Galactic People's Republic, which was defeated in 2333 following the War of Expansion. Home to the last true remnants of the Zhonghuan language and culture, the Empire maintains the MSAZ to preserve and protect this valuable culture and identity, a symbol of humanity's diversity, while still guiding them with the Imperial Truth and ensuring humanity's unity. To this end, the MSAZ has numerous Special Cultural Regions that preserve Zhonghuan culture in its purest form, with little Imperial intervention inside these areas.

With a population of more than 300 billion, the MSAZ consists of the planets Aoyama, Netsui, Suisei and Tōshō. It is represented in the Teikoku Gikai's Council of Regions by Regional Representative Daoming Zhang. The MSAZ is protected on the ground by a special local Yamatai Imperial Army force, the Aoyama Sectorial Army. The provinces in the MSAZ are not allowed to maintain provincial armies and the Sectorial Army handles all local security issues itself. This usually involves fighting rebel movements on the more volatile planets Netsui and Tōshō.

Netsui
Reqing (Netsui) is fiercely independent and is the host of a Vietnam War type situation. Essentially the hardliners retreated to Reqing and fortified themselves with so many anti-space weapons the Empire cannot go in. An orbital bombardment is also out of the question as it's a very rare verdant garden world. The People's Republic carries on there.

Tōshō
Dongchuang (Tōshō) is also fiercely independent but the people there are not loyal to the People's Republic, rather themselves. It's where the Helghast shit goes down.

Tōshō is barely even under the control of the Empire. Some minor Imperial settlements exist at the equatorial belt where the temperature is not as cold, and the Imperial Army maintains bases. However, much of the planet and its underground inhabitants are anti-Imperial. They have their own planet-spanning nation, the Dongchuang Autocracy, under Autarch Gang Guanjun, who is considered a terrorist by the Yamatai Empire.