Tag: China

• Podcast

1st January 1942: Declaration by the United Nations agreed and signed by the four major Allied nations during the Second World War

• 1st January 2023
• Tagged as: America, Britain, China, Churchill, Litvinov, Roosevelt, Russia, Second World War, T. V. Soong, UN, United Nations, United States, USA, USSR, WW2

The original signatories – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the USSR’s Ambassador to the US Maxim Litvinov, and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs T. V. Soong – were joined the next day by a further 24 nations.

• Podcast

20th October 1935: The 6,000 mile Long March by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China ends when the troops led by Mao Zedong arrive in Shaanxi

• 20th October 2022
• Tagged as: Chiang Kai-Shek, China, Chinese Communist Party, Communism, Long March, Mao, Red Army, Shaanxi

It was during the Long March that Mao Zedong emerged as the best person to lead the Chinese Communist Party, and his survival alongside less than 10% of the original troops mythologised him and reinforced his authority.

• Podcast

1st October 1949: Mao Zedong declares the establishment of the People’s Republic of China

• 1st October 2022
• Tagged as: China, Chinese Civil War, Communism, Mao, USA, USSR

The Chinese Communists in the People’s Liberation Army had been fighting the second stage of a long and costly civil war against the Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek, known as the Kuomintang, since shortly after the end of the Second World War.

• Podcast

29th August 1842: The First Opium War ends when Britain and China sign the Treaty of Nanking

• 29th August 2022
• Tagged as: Britain, China, Nanking, Opium, Opium War, Treaty of Nanking, United Kingdom

The First Opium War formally ended when Britain and China signed the Treaty of Nanking, the first of the ‘unequal treaties’.

• Podcast

16th May 1966: Start of the Cultural Revolution in China when Mao releases the ‘May 16th Notification’

• 16th May 2022
• Tagged as: China, Cultural Revolution, Mao, Red Guards

By the time the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976 an estimated minimum of 400,000 people had died through torture, execution, or suicide.

• Podcast

5th May 1260: Kublai Khan was declared Emperor of the Mongolian Empire

• 5th May 2022
• Tagged as: China, Empire, Kublai Khan

The area governed by Kublai Khan was enormous and swept from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Black Sea in the west, and from Afghanistan in the south to Siberia in the north.

• Podcast

10th April 1971: US table tennis team ushers in ping pong diplomacy

• 10th April 2022
• Tagged as: America, China, Cold War, Communism, Diplomacy, International Relations, Mao, Nixon, Ping Pong, Sino-American Relations, Sport, Table Tennis, United States, USA

The United States table tennis team heralded the era of ‘ping pong diplomacy’ by becoming the first official American delegation to visit China in 20 years.

• Podcast

23rd January 1556: The deadliest earthquake ever recorded hit the Chinese province of Shaanxi and surrounding areas

• 23rd January 2022
• Tagged as: China, Earthquake, Natural Disaster, Shaanxi

Scientists have since judged that the earthquake had a magnitude of around 8.0 on the Richter scale, and have had no reason to question the traditional estimates of around 830,000 deaths.

• Podcast

18th September 1931: The Manchurian Crisis begins after Japanese forces bomb the South Manchuria Railway

• 18th September 2021
• Tagged as: China, Japan, Manchukuo, Manchuria, Second World War

The Chinese government appealed to the League of Nations for assistance, and the League promptly passed a resolution calling for the withdrawal of Japanese troops.

• Podcast

4th August 221: The death of Lady Zhen of the Three Kingdoms

• 4th August 2021
• Tagged as: Cao Pi, China, Lady Zhen, Three Kingdoms

On 4 August 221 Lady Zhen, the wife of Cao Pi of Wei of the Three Kingdoms, died.