1936 - 1997 TIMELINE Flashcards
v detailed - DON'T NEED TO KNOW ALL (517 cards)
1
Q
Dec 25 1936
A
CKS is released from house arrest on his acknowledgment of the need for resistance to Japan + returns to Nanjing w/ Zhang Xueliang, whom he subsequently court-martialled + imprisoned
2
Q
1937
A
GMD + CCP form a United Front to fight the Japanese Invasion
CCP membership at 40k, Red Army at 22k
3
Q
July 7 1937
A
Marco Polo Bridge incident - Japanese forces attack a town south of Luguo Bridge – start of the Second Sino-Japanese War
4
Q
Dec 12 1636
A
Xi’an Incident – CKS placed under house arrest by Zhang Xueliang, demanding he fight the Japanese instead of the CCP. Zhou Enlai flies to Xi’an to participate in negotiations for CKS’s release. Stalin cables an order for Chiang’s release
5
Q
Dec (mid-late) 1936
A
CCP moves its headquarters to Yan’an
6
Q
July (end) 1937
A
The Japanese seize both Beijing and nearby Tianjin
7
Q
Aug 1937
A
The Japanese begin a second front, attacking towards Shanghai in the south (CKS mistakenly bombs the French concession)
8
Q
Sept 1937
A
Japanese planes begin bombing Nanjing, forcing CKS to abandon the city
9
Q
Nov 8 1937
A
China surrenders Shanghai
10
Q
Dec 13 1937
A
Japanese forces move into Nanjing – Nanjing massacre
11
Q
Jan 1938
A
Japanese forces take Nanjing
12
Q
Mar (late) 1938
A
The Battle of Taierzhuang begins in southern Shandong
13
Q
Apr 7 1938
A
Chinese claim victory at the Battle of Taierzhuang – ‘first happy occasion since the war of resistance started’
14
Q
May 1938
A
Taierzhuang falls to Japanese – General Li Zhongren forced to retreat
15
Q
June 1938
A
CKS breaks the Yellow river dam – used to move GMD capital to Chongqing – population: 300,000 – 1mill
16
Q
June 11 - Oct 27 1938 (3)
A
Wuhan falls to Japan
Wang Ming represents CCP in Wuhan committee (people political council) – doesn’t allow Mao to be named leader
GMD flee Wuhan in August
17
Q
Dec 22 1938
A
Konoe Fumimaro (PM of Japan) announces his intention to destroy the GMD and establish a new one friendly to Japan, denounced by CKS
18
Q
May 1939
A
6-8,000 people die from bombing raids (in Chongqing)
19
Q
Mar 1940
A
Wang Jingwei establishes himself as the formal head of the Japanese-sponsored Nationalist Gov of the Republic of China in Nanjing
20
Q
Aug 20 - Dec 5 1940
A
100 regiments offensive – CCP loses 22,000, Japan: 3-4,000
21
Q
1941 (4)
A
Food prices have increased by 1400% (Chongqing is v secluded + uneasily accessible for transport)
Most divisions of the Chinese army have lost a third of people – CKS attempts conscription
Japan have 34/50 army divisions in China
GMD in weakened position relative to both the CCP + Japanese
22
Q
Jan 1941
A
The Southern Anhui Incident/New Fourth Army Incident – break down of united front – GMD kills 7,000 CCP soldiers
23
Q
Sept 1941
A
Mao becomes the de facto leader of the CCP in Politburo conf.
24
Q
Dec 3 1941
A
Japan’s ‘3 alls’ campaign is formally authorised, targeting communists
25
Dec 7 1941
USA enters war after attack on Pearl Harbour + allies with GMD
26
1942
Start of Yan’an rectification campaign (setting up MZT)
27
Feb 1942
Mao’s ‘Dog-shit’ speech
28
Dec 1943
Cairo Declaration is issued, stating that the Japanese-occupied Manchuria would revert to China after victory – conf. puts China on world stage
29
Spring 1943
End of severe drought and famine in Henan province – leads to peasant revolts against Chinese troops
30
July 22 1944
Dixie mission starts – US attempts to rectify united front + test if CCP are reliable, impressed by their support for the people
31
Apr 19 - Dec 31 1944
Operation Ichigo – major Japanese offensive – takes Changsha w/o resistance
32
Apr 23 - June 11 1945
7th National Congress of the CCP – announces population of 95.5 million in its liberated areas
33
Aug 14 1945 (2)
Japanese surrender + Civil war fighting almost immediately begins; Soviet troops occupy Manchuria (whilst CCP forces enter)
Treaty of Friendship and Allaince w/ USSR is signed
34
Aug 28 1945
US Ambassador Patrick Hurley personally escorts Mao + Enlai to Chongqing for negotiations over a coalition gov – fighting between them resumes shortly after
35
Oct 1945
Mao agrees principles of peace agreement with Jiang Jieshi (CKS) – fighting intensifies immediately after
36
Nov 1945
Hurley resignes as US ambassador due to the failure of US-China policy – Truman sends George C. Marshall as special envoy + replacement as ambassador
37
1945
CCP membership at 1.2 million, Red army at 880k
38
Jan 1946
Marshall, Zhang Qun + Enlai sign a ceasefire + agree to convene a Political Consultative Conf. – agrees to constitution of coalition (unilaterally changed by GMD back to autocratic gov) + nationalise the army in principle
39
Mar 1946
Soviet troops begin withdrawing from Manchuria (delayed by Stalin to help CCP forces in)
40
May 1946
Chiang’s capital moved back to Nanjing
41
June 1946
Marshal returns, ceasefire for 15 days
42
Middle 1946
Ceasefire collapses + full-scale civil war erupts
43
Oct 1946
CCP holds no city outside Manchuria, Lin Biao + 8th Route Army trap 500k of best GMD troops in Manchuria
44
End of 1946 (2)
CKS has captured 165 towns + 174,000 square km
Approx. 200k people in Nanjing are unemployed
45
1947
Marshall mission ends, having failed to mediate peace
46
Mar 19 1947
GMD takes CCP capital Yan’an
47
May 1947
PLA turns tide against GMD, launching full scale successful assaults
48
Jan - Nov 1948
GMD General Wei Li-Huang follows tactic of retreating forces to cities - in Manchuria, allowing them to be sieged by CCP forces
49
Apr 1948
Luoyang captured by CCP
50
May 1948
Wuhan captured by CCP
51
May 30 1948
Changchun city (Manchuria) starved to death by Lin Biao – ‘city of death’ – 500-170k killed in 5 months
52
June 1948
Kaifeng + Xi’an captured by CCP
53
Middle 1948
GMD troops fallen to 2.2 million, CCP troops risen to 1.5 million
54
Sept 1948
Jinan captured (isolated in Spring)
55
Sept 20 1948
Wholesale price index for Nanjing is measured at 8,740,600 compared to 1,335,303 in June ’48 + 5,485 in Aug ’46 – rapid inflation
56
Nov 2 1948
Fall of Shenyang/Mukden meaning CCP forces have captured + control Manchuria (Wei telegrams Mao w/ happiness at the PRC)
57
Jan 1949
CKS resigns as President of China (still head of GMD)
58
Jan 10 1949
The 65-day Huaihai campaign ends in victory for the PLA – capturing Xuzhou, ending ‘Chiang’s final stand’
59
Jan 31 1949
PLA peacefully take Beijing (northern China secured – Yan’an secured ‘48)
60
Mar 15 1949
People’s Daily formally moves to Beijing
61
Mar 24 - Apr 3 1949
First National Woman’s Congress takes place in Beijing
62
Apr 23 1949
Nanjing falls to the PLA
63
May 27 1949
Shanghai falls to the PLA
64
July 1 1949
Mao declares China will ‘lean to one side’, that of the USSR in On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship
65
Aug 5 1949
US publishes its China White Paper – United States Relations with China
66
Sept 21-30 1949 (2)
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing (declared capital in this on the 27th)
Mao elected as Chairman of the Central People’s Government (CPG)
67
Oct 1949 (3)
Lin Biao takes Guangzhou, fierce fighting in Xiamen to stop GMD moving to Taiwan
President Li Zhongren flees to US – CKS ‘leader’ again
CCP membership = 4,448,000, population at 500 million
68
Oct 1 1949
The PRC is formally established
69
Dec 1949
Remaining resistance in Guizhou and Chongqing crushed
70
Dec 10 1949
CKS arrives in Taiwan after fleeing China the day prior
71
Dec 16 1949
Mao meets Stalin in Moscow (1st trip outside China)
72
Jan 1 1950
The English-language fortnightly People’s China begins publication in Beijing
73
Feb 14 1950
Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship (Alliance + Mutual Assistance) signed in Moscow
74
Mar 22 1950
Bank of China brought under control of the People’s Bank
75
May 1 1950
Marriage Law established
76
June 25 1950
Korean war breaks out
77
Jun 28 1950
Mao denounces the US for aggression in Korea
78
Jun 30 1950
Agrarian Reform Law of the PRC promulgated
79
Oct 19 1950
PLA takes Changdu in Xikang, as they advance towards Tibet
80
Oct 25 1950
The Chinese People’s volunteers publicly enter Korea in support of the DPRK
81
Oct 30 1950
China states ‘Tibet is an integral part of Chinese territory’ + the Tibetan problem is a ‘domestic problem’ in a note to India
82
Dec 1950
CCP membership = 5,821,604
83
Jan 4 1951
DPRK take Seoul w/ the Chinese People’s volunteers
84
Feb 1 1951
UN condemns China as an aggressor in Korea
85
Feb 28 1951
Peng Zhen made Mayor of Beijing
86
May 1951
Mao Zedong’s son Mao Anying is killed in the Korean War
87
May 23 1951
Tibet recognised as part of the PRC but Tibetans given right to regional autonomy
88
Sept 1951
Thought Reform campaign launched
89
Oct 12 1951
Vol 1 of The Selected Works of Mao Zedong published in Beijing
90
Oct 24 1951
Dalai Lama cables Mao, signifying his support for the May 23 Agreement
91
Jan 1 1952
Three-Antis Movement launched
92
Feb 1 1952
Five-Antis Movement launched
93
Mar 8 1952
Enlai denounces UN for intrusions in China’s airspace
94
Oct 10 1952
Gao Gang appointed chairman of the State Planning Commission
95
July 5 1952
The New China News Agency announces the virtual completion of land reform
96
Jan 1 1953
A People’s Daily editorial announces the beginning of the First Five-Year Plan
97
July 27 1953
The Korean armistice signed
98
Dec 16 1953
The CPPCC adopts a resolution in favour of developing APC’s
99
Jun 28 1954
Enlai and India agree to the five principles of peaceful coexistence in a joint announcement
100
Mar 31 1954
Gao Gang and Rao Shushi expelled from the CCP and dismissed from all posts
101
Spring 1954
Gao Gang kills himself
102
Aug 4 1954
Extremely severe flooding recorded - NCNA report the level Yangzi River is even higher than in 1931 (when 3.7 million people were killed)
103
Sept 27 1954
The First National People’s Congress elects Mao as chairman of the PRC, Liu Shaoqi as chairman of the congress’ standing committee + approves Mao’s rec of Enlai as premier of the State Council
104
Mar 1 1955
The People’s Bank begins issuing a new people’s currency at the rate of 10,000 old to 1 new yuan (transition completed Jun 10)
105
May 25 1955
Writer and Poet Hu Feng expelled from all posts in literature + art circles for bourgeois and idealist thinking
106
Jun 30 1955
The National Political Congress adopts the 1st Five-Year Plan (1953-57)
107
Aug 1 1955
Sino-American talks at ambassadorial level begin in Geneva
108
Mar 17 1956
Mao orders the Model Regulations for the APC’s to be promulgated
109
Apr 25 1956
Mao makes his speech ‘On the Ten Major Relationships’
110
May 2 1956
Launch of the Hundred Flowers Campaign - Mao calls for greater academic freedom with the slogan ‘let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend’
111
Sept 28 1956
Eighth CPPCC elects Liu Shaoqi, Enlai, Zhu De + Chen Yun as vice chairmen of the CPPCC + Deng Xiaoping as secretary-general
112
Nov 6 1956
Enlai congratulates Janos Kadar, leader of the newly Soviet Hungary
113
May 1 - Jun 7 1957
Open criticism of the CCP in 100 flowers reach their height
114
Jun 8 1957
End of 100 flowers, start of Anti-Rightist Campaign - People’s Daily editorial states rightists are trying to overthrow the CCP
115
July 15 - Aug 2 1957
Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association established – recognises Pope’s authority over religious matters alone
116
Oct 15 1957 (2)
Sino-Soviet Agreement on New Technology for National Defence
Beijing-Guangzhou railway created – road-railway bridge over the Yangzi at Wuhan opened
117
Nov 17 1957
Mao declares ‘the east wind is prevailing over the west wind’ in Moscow
118
Jan 1 1958
The Second Five-Year Plan (1958-62) moves into operation (overtaken + superseded by the GLF)
119
Mar 9 1955
Dalai Lama appointed chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibetan Autonomous Region
120
Feb 11 1958
Mao appoints replaces Zhou Enlai as minister of Foreign Affairs with Chen Yi
121
Apr 29 1958
The Sputnick Federated Cooperative, China’s first people’s commune, is established in Henan Province
122
May 5 - 23 1958
The Second session of the Eighth Congress of the CCP endorses the Great Leap Forward
123
June 29 1958
Pope Pius XII condemns the Church of the Catholic Patriotic Association + declares its bishops invalid
124
July 31 - Aug 3 1958
Khrushchev (leader of the USSR from ’53) visits China. 3 Aug – He + Mao issue an announcement expressing unanimity on all matters (not mentioning Taiwan)
125
Aug 29 1958
The Beidaihe Conference (Politburo+) decides in favour of establishing people’s communes in rural China – in less than 2 months all rural China has been organised into 26,000 communes
126
Nov 28 - Dec 10 1958
6th Plenum of the Eighth CPPCC reverses some of the most radical policies of the GLF
127
Feb 9 - 12 1959
Ho Chi Minh (president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam) visits Beijing
128
March 1959
10 – armed rebellion begins against the Chinese gov in Lhasa, Tibet
23 – revolt suppressed
28 – Panchen Lama appointed chair of the Preparatory committee of Tibet
31 – Dalai Lama flees Tibet + enters India
129
Apr 27 1959
Second National Party Congress appoints Liu Shaoqi as president of the PRC – replacing Mao
130
Apr 28 1959
Second National Party Congress directs democratic reforms be carried out in Tibet
131
Jun 5 1959
The International Commission of Jurists states ‘deliberate violation of fundamental human rights’ has taken place in Tibet
132
July - Aug 1959
Extreme serious drought reaches peak in vast areas of China (affecting 30% of China’s land under cultivation)
133
Aug 16 1959
The Lushan Plenum dismisses Peng Dehuai
134
Sept 17 1959
President Liu Shaoqi proclaims the appointment of Lin Biao as minister of National Defence (replacing Peng Dehaui)
135
Oct 21 1959
Armed clash between Chinese + India border guards in Ladakh
136
Nov 1 1959
The Luoyang Tractor Plant is completed (first in China)
137
Mar 17 1960
Catholic Bishop of Shanghai, Gong Pinmei, is sentence to life imprisonment
138
Apr 16 1960
Written attacks between China and the USSR start with an article in Red Flag warning against changing Lenin’s notion of the nature of imperialism
139
Apr 25 1960
Enlai and Indian Prime Minister Nehru sign a joint agreement that both govs should study problems on their mutual border
140
May 31 1960
Sino-Mongolian Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance signed
141
July 16 1960
The Soviet Union notifies China of its decision to withdraw all its experts from China within a month
142
Oct 1 1960
Sino-Burmese Boundary Treaty signed
143
Dec 29 1960
NCNA claims 1960 natural disasters (drought, floods, typhoons, insect pests) worst of the century – over ½ China’s total farmland has been affected, widespread + serious famine
144
Jan 9 1961
The original version of Wu Han’s play Hai Rui’s Dismissal is published in the periodical Beijing Literature and Art
145
Mar 6 1961
Central Meteorological Bureau claims 1959-60 drought was worst since 1877, drought persists in 5 provinces, floods in 4 – continuing the famine
146
July 11 1961
Enlai and Kim II Sung sign the Sino-Korean Treaty of Friendship
147
Oct 19 1961
Enlai defends Albania, publicly censured by Khrushchev two days earlier, at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Moscow
148
Dec 15 1961
UN General Assembly adopts a resolution that the PRC’s admission should be regarded as an ‘important question’ requiring a two-thirds majority – China denounces the resolution on Dec 21
149
Jan 11 - Feb 7 1962
7 Cadres Conference – Mao’s ‘self-criticism’ for the GLF
150
July 7 1962
Deng Xiaoping makes his “It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice” speech to the Communist Youth League
151
Summer 1962
20% of agriculture is reverted to the ‘personal responsibility system’
152
Sept 24 1962
Start of the Socialist Education Movement - Mao makes a speech at Eighth CPPCC’s Tenth Plenum, calling for greater emphasis on class struggle
153
Oct 11 1962
Serious clash at Tseng on the Sino-Indian border
154
Oct 20 1962
Chinese troops launch major offensives on the Sino-Indian border
155
Nov 20 1962
China declares a unilateral ceasefire in the Sino-Indian war + announces that its troops will withdraw behind the ‘line of actual control’ as of Nov 1959
156
Apr 3 - 26 1963
Jiang Qing’s on Suspending Performance of Ghost Plays is distributed at a meeting of the heads of the CCP Cultural Bureaux, calling for the banning of traditional drama
157
May 16 1963
In Hanoi Liu Shaoqi + Ho Chi Minh sign a joint statement which calls for struggle against ‘imperialism headed by the United States’ (+ attacks revisionism)
158
May 20 1963
Mao’s ‘First Ten Points’ issued (Stressing class struggle) – designed to give impetus to the Rural Socialist Education Movement in the countryside
159
July 5 1963
Sino-Soviet talks open in Moscow in an unsuccessful attempt to resolve bilateral differences (DXP + Peng Zhen lead the Chinese delegation)
160
July 25 1963
Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed
161
July 31 1963
The Chinese gov issue statement supporting total destruction of nuclear weapons + denounce the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
162
Sept 1963
CCPCC issues the Later Ten Points on the Socialist Education Movement in the countryside (Drafted by Peng Zhen)
163
Nov 22 1963
Sino-Afghan Boundary Treaty signed in Beijing
164
Aug 6 1964
Chinese gov states aggression against Vietnam is equivalent to aggression against China + protests the US’ bombing of northern Vietnam the day before + denounces the US for fabricating the Tongking Gulf incidents (Aug 2 + 4)
165
Sept 10 1964
The ‘Revised Later Ten Points’ are issued, start of a new phase in the Rural Socialist Education movement
166
Oct 16 1964
First Chinese nuclear test – gov declares China will never be the first to use nuclear weapons
167
Jan 14 1965
The Politburo adopts ‘The Twenty-three Articles on the Socialist Education Movement’
168
Feb 11 1965
Soviet PM Kosygin meets Mao + Liu Shaoqi in a visit to Beijing (on the way back from Hanoi)
169
Mar 12 1965
The Chinese gov denounces the arrival of American marries in Vietnam on Mar 8 + 9
170
June 1 1965
The PLA’s ranks are abolished
171
June 26 1965
Mao issues an instruction to put stress on medical and health work in rural areas
172
Sept 9 1965
The Tibetan Autonomous Region is formally established
173
Nov 10 1965
Yao Wenyuan denounces Wu Han’s Hai Rui’s Dismissal as anti-Party poisonous weed, Madame Mao’s article of criticism of the play + its parallels w/ the fall of Peng Dehuai is published (Nov) – seeds of Cultural Revolution planted
174
Jan 1 1966
People’s Daily declares China to be completely free of foreign debt
175
Feb 1966
The Shanghai radicals claim China is under a “dictatorship of a sinister anti-party + anti-socialist line”, Peng Zhen purged from his position as Major of Beijing
176
Mar 22 1966
Philosopher Ai Siqi dies
177
May 7 1966
Mao writes to Lin Biao calling on the PLA to be ‘a great school’: the May 7 directive
178
May 9 1966
China carries out a nuclear test, its first containing thermonuclear material
179
May 16 1966
Cultural Revolution Group set up + the Politburo calls for attacks on ‘all bourgeoisie who have infiltrated the Party, government, army and cultural world’ + condemns "a bunch of counter-revolutionary revisionists"
180
May 18 1966
Writer Deng Tuo dies
181
May - end 1966
Term “Red Guards” is coined
182
June 1966
Student begin carrying the Little Red Book (1st published in ’64) + wearing red armbands – cult of personality built
183
July 10 1966
NCNA reveals that Chen Boda is the head of the Cultural Revolution Group
184
July 16 1966
Mao takes a swim in the Yangzi River at Wuhan
185
Aug 1966
Liu Shaoqi is forced to make a self-criticism for installing work teams in universities to restrain the Cultural Revolution - Mao accuses him of attempting to create a dictatorship – he’s demoted to 8th place in succession (Deng demoted from 2nd position – Lin Biao takes his place as successor)
186
Aug 8 1966
11th Plenum of the 8th CPPCC adopts its Sixteen Points a decision in favour of the Cultural Revolution
187
Aug 18 1966
Tiananmen Square rally Mao, Lin Biao + Enlai in support of the CR – reveals the extent of the Red Guards – over 1 mill attend
188
Aug 20 1966
Red Guards in Beijing begin destroying ‘bourgeois and feudal remnants’
189
Aug 22 1966
Red Guards begin closure of Beijing’s churches and other religious establishments
190
Aug 31 1966
NCNA reveals that Jiang Qing is Chen Boda’s first deputy in the Cultural Revolution Group
191
Sept 1966
Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong (The Little Red Book) is published in Shanghai
192
Oct 1966 (2)
Other CCP leaders encourage “conservative mass organisations” to form Red Guard units, leading to splits within the Red Guard movement
20 members of the Beijing District Communist Party are forced to attend denunciation meetings
193
Nov 1966 (3)
Militant factory + office workers form their own units. The "Workers Revolutionary General Headquarters" (WRGH) is set up in Shanghai with the blessing of the CRG.
The CCP in Shanghai tries to prevent the formation of worker groups but is forced to make self-criticisms. Mao declares workers have the right to form their own groups.
The Shanghai party supports a "conservative mass organization," leading to bitter and violent factional rivalry.
194
Dec 1966 (2)
Deng Xiaoping + Liu Shaoqi disappear from public view (forever for Liu)
Schools and colleges are closed for the revolution. Free travel is provided on railroads for Red Guards – approx. 12 million journey to Beijing to see Mao
195
Jan 1967
"The January Storm" begins with a full-scale rebellion against the party by "revolutionary rebels."
196
Jan 3 1967
Revolutionary rebels seize newspapers, leading to the collapse of CCP authority. Mao sends allies Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan to topple the Shanghai Party Committee.
197
Jan 5 1967
The WRGH announces the overthrow of the Shanghai Party Committee, stating the city will be governed by revolutionary rebels and the PLA. Zhang Chunqiao begins creating a freely elected Shanghai people's commune w/o consulting Mao.
198
Jan 23 1967 (2)
Following violence reaching civil war proportions (Shanghai is paralyzed by a strike, food supplies are low, + rival factional RG fighting) - CPPCC, Cultural Revolution Group etc. issue an urgent notice for the PLA to intervene in the CR on the side of the ‘broad left-wing masses’ - Mao makes a strategic U-turn, stating "there must be a party somehow."
The Shanghai people's commune is abandoned in favour of the "Shanghai Revolutionary Committee," a "three-in-one combination" of PLA representatives, Red Guards, and CCP officials.
199
Jan 31 1967
Heilongjiang Provincial Revolutionary Committee is set up – alliance of rebels, the PLA + CCP cadres, becomes a model for the Cultural Revolution’s administrative system
200
Feb 1967
February crackdown - The Politburo launches the "February Adverse Current," a backlash against the excesses of the CRG - Politburo leaders state the Red Guards have overstepped the Sixteen Points, w/ Mao's support, a directive is issued limiting Red Guard use of force + ordering them to return home + withdraw from Party and government departments.
201
Early 1967
Mao views the moves of the February Adverse Current as a challenge to his authority, + the Politburo virtually ceases to function - PLA officers enforcing the February Crackdown are denounced as "ultra-rightists.", PLA is ordered to stop using force against Red Guards. Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi are held responsible and placed under house arrest.
202
June 17 1967
China explodes its first hydrogen bomb
203
July 1967
600 people are killed in Wuhan in a battle between "conservative" and "radical" workers' groups.
204
Aug 11 1967
Mao issues a statement calling the policy of dragging out PLA capitalist roaders "unstrategic."
205
Aug 22 1967
Red Guards take over the foreign ministry for two weeks and burn down the British diplomatic compound in Beijing. Attacks occur on the Indian, Burmese, and Indonesian legations in Beijing.
206
Summer 1967
Red Guards seize arms shipments intended for North Vietnam.
207
Sept 1967
Mao appears to believe that anarchy has gone too far + approves an order forbidding Red Guards from seizing weapons, the PLA is ordered to open fire on radical groups - remaining figures of authority seem to unite in the face of potential societal breakdown.
Mao orders the merging of workers' factions into "grand alliances," achieved quickly in Beijing + Shanghai, but factional violence continues elsewhere. By July 1968, revolutionary committees are only established in 18 provinces.
208
End 1967 (2)
Approx. 700 million copies of the Little Red Book printed
Purging of the Red Guards begins. Under the pretext of the May 16th group (tiny + used as a scapegoat for early radical chaos + violence), 10 million people fall under suspicion, with 3 million detained for questioning. 2000 officials from the PRC's foreign ministry are purged.
209
Spring 1968 (2)
“cleansing of the ranks” purges 1.8 million
It becomes a state offense to criticize Mao or Lin Biao.
210
Summer 1968 (2)
The PLA takes steps to restore order in Shaanxi + Guanxi provinces where civil war was raging - In Guanxi, this provokes a wave of indiscriminate slaughter, w/ some instances of cannibalism.
7 million cadres and intellectuals are sent to May 7th schools for manual labor and ideological reform.
211
July 1968
The final group of Red Guards at Qinhua University in Beijing are brought under control by the PLA. Mao sends a team of 30,000 workers + PLA troops to disarm the student Red Guards.
212
July 28 1968
Mao + others meet the Red Guard leaders + criticise their indulging in armed struggle (end of CR’s most radical phase)
213
Sept 1968
The last of the 29 provincial committees is established, + the CRG proclaims the "entire country is red."
214
Oct 1968 (2)
A full Central Committee meeting is held, where more than two-thirds of the 1966 members have been purged. Only 40 members have full voting rights. Mao illegally adds 10 new members + packs the meeting with 80 supporters.
The Cultural Revolution is declared "a great decisive victory," and the "February Adverse Current" is denounced (though its supporters are not purged).
215
Oct 31 1968
It’s announced Liu Shaoqi has been expelled from the CCP once and for all and dismissed form all posts both inside + outside the Party
216
Dec 10 1968
Playwright Tian Han dies
217
Dec 22 1968
Start of the Move to the Countryside campaign - Mao directive urging that ‘educated young people’ be sent to the countryside for ‘re-educated by the poor and lower middle peasants’ is broadcast – between 1968-1970: 3 million bureaucrats and party cadres spend time in the countryside being re-educated.
218
End 1968
98% of members of county-level revolutionary committees are PLA members. China is under effective military rule.
219
Mar 2 1969
Zhenbao Island armed clash between Chinese and Soviet forces
220
Mar 15 1969
2nd major clash at Zhenbao Island
221
Apr 14 1969
9th CCP Congress adopts a new CCP Constitution which reaffirms Marxism-Leninism-Mao-Zedong thought as the theoretical basis of the Party – seen as the end of the most violent phase of the CR - shows the militarization of Chinese society, w/ 45% from the PLA.
222
Apr 28 1969
9th CCP Congress elects Mao as chairman, Lin Biao – vice-chairman of the Politburo, Chen Boda, Enlai + Kang Sheng on the standing committee
223
Apr 1969
Lin Biao is officially named as Mao's successor. Mao begins to change tack, criticizing the PLA + purging party cadres.
224
June 10 1969
Major Sino-Soviet clash at Xinjiang border
225
Sept 11 1969
Enlai and Kosygin meet at Beijing airport + discuss lots – including the Sino-Soviet border
226
Sept 23 1969
China carries out its first successful underground nuclear test
227
Nov 12 1969
Liu Shaoqi dies in Kaifeng in prison of pneumonia
228
Dec 22 1969
Partial lifting of the United States trade embargo against China takes effect (allows American tourists to make unlimited private purchases of Chinese goods)
229
Apr 24 1970
The first Chinese space satellite is successfully launched into orbit
230
May 4 1969
The Chinese gov denounces the US troop movements into Cambodia, announced by Nixon as a ‘provocation to the Chinese people’
231
Apr 23 - 25 1970
At the 9th CPPCC, several supporters of Lin Biao oppose Mao’s decision to not formally adopt the position of State president, causing doubts over Lin’s loyalty (their arg would solidify his position as successor)
232
Dec 13 1970
The news reports Hua Guofeng was elected 1st secretary of the Hunan Provincial CCP Committee
233
Jan 10 1971
Zhang Chunqiao is elected first secretary of the Shanghai Municipal CCP Committee
234
Apr 10 - 17 1971
An American table tennis team visits China
235
July 9 - 11 1971
Nixon’s Assistant for National Security Affairs, Dr Henry Kissinger visits Beijing secretly, holding talks with Enlai
236
Sept 12 1971 (2)
Lin Biao’s alleged assassination attempt against Mao fails
CCP vice-chairman Lin Biao dies in plane crash (while allegedly trying to escape after plotting a military coup against Mao)
237
Oct 25 1971
PRC is admitted to the UN
238
Feb 21 - 28 1972
Nixon visits China. On the last day, a Shanghai announcement declares the US doesn’t challenge the position held by all Chinese ‘on either side of the Taiwan Strait’ that ‘there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China’
239
Early 1973
The anti-Confucius campaign is launched by the Gang of Four
240
Feb 22 1973
The US + China announce their intension to establish a liason office in each other’s capitals
241
Apr 12 1973
Deng Xiaoping (DXP) is mentioned as a vice-premier
242
Jan 1 1974
Launch of the Campaign to Criticise Lin Biao and Confucius - editorials in major newspapers declares the criticism of Confucius to be part of the criticism of Lin Biao
243
Apr 20 1974
DXP addresses the UN General Assembly declaring the US and USSR are seeking world hegemony (opposed by China)
244
Nov 29 1974
Peng Dehuai dies
245
Jan 8 - 10 1974
10th CPPCC elects DXP as vice-chairman
246
Apr 5 1975
CKS dies
247
Apr 30 1975
Mao congratulates the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North), Provisional Revolutionary Gov of South Vietnam and others on the liberation of Saigon + end of the Vietnam war
248
May 3 1975
At a Politburo meeting, Mao warns Jiang Qing, Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan against ‘functioning as a gang of four’
249
Dec 16 1975
Kang Sheng dies
250
Jan 8 1976
Zhou Enlai dies of cancer in Beijing
251
Feb 3 1976
Hua Gaofeng is appointed acting premier of the State Council, in succession to Zhou Enlai
252
Feb 10 1976
Poster campaign commences at Beijing Uni against ‘a capitalist roader’, clearing DXP (gathers momentum over the next months)
253
Apr 5 1976
Demonstrators in mourning for Zhou Enlai in Tiananmen Sq clash w/ police (the Tiananmen Incident)
254
Apr 7 1976 (2)
Hua Gaofeng is appointed 1st vice-chairman of the CPPCC + premier of the State Council, DXP is dismissed from all posts inside and outside the party
NCNA condemns the Tiananmen Incident as a ‘counter-revolutionary political incident’
255
Sept 9 1976
Mao Zedong dies in Beijing at 12.10 am
256
Oct 6 1976
The fall of the Gang of Four – Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen are secretly arrested and imprisoned
257
Oct 7 1976
CPPCC appoints Hua Gaofeng as its Chairman and Chairman of its Military Affairs Committee in succession to Mao
258
Oct 24 1976
Gigantic Tiananmen Sq demonstration in support of Hua Guofeng’s appointment as CCP chairman and against the gang of four
259
Dec 10 - 27 1976
2nd National Conference on Learning from Dazhai in Agriculture is held in Beijing
25 – Hua G makes a speech claiming that major civil war would have broken out if the gang of four hadn’t been suppressed
260
Feb 7 1977
Hua Gaofeng’s ‘Two Whatevers’ statement is published in the press
261
Apr 15 1977
The People’s Press publishes Vol 5 of The Selected Works of Mao Zedong
262
May 24 1977
The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall is completed in Tiananmen Sq ordered by Hua Gaofeng to show ‘The Chairman is always with us’
263
July 21 1977
10th CPPCC restores DXP to vice-chairmanship of the CPPCC and other posts (Vice Chairman of MAC + Vice Premiership of State Bureaucracy) and expels the Gang of Four from the Party, dismissing them from all posts
264
Aug 18 1977
11th National Congress of the CCP (held August 12 – 18) adopts the Party Constitution, under which Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong thought remains the ‘guiding ideological and theoretical basis’ of the CCP
265
Dec 31 1977
The Kampuchean Ambassador in Beijing issues a statement charging Vietnam with launching systematic aggression against Pol Pot’s Kampuchea since September 1977
266
Feb 16 1978
China + Japan sign a long-term trade agreement – exports over 1978-85 will total US $10,000 million
267
May 24 1978
State Council accuses Vietnam of persecuting Chinese residents in Vietnam – public split between Vietnam + China
268
July 3 1978
China ceases all economic + technical aid to Vietnam + recalls its experts from Vietnam
269
Aug 12 1978
China + Japan sign their Treaty of Peace and Friendship in Beijing
270
Aug 25 1978
Sino-Vietnamese armed clash at Friendship Pass on their mutual border
271
Nov 2 1978
Press reports a nationwide drought in 1978, more severe ‘in length of time, breadth of scope and seriousness of extent’ than the great droughts of 1959 and 1966
272
Nov 8 1978
DXP declares that the Soviet-Vietnamese Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, signed Nov 3, is a threat to China + peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region (at a press conf. in Bangkok)
273
Nov 19 1978
Start of ‘democracy wall’ in Beijing, displaying character wall posters accusing Mao of supporting and buttressing the Gang of Four and criticising his dismissal of Deng in 1976
274
Dec 13 1978
Coca-Cola Co reaches an agreement with China to sell Coca-Cola there and to open a bottling plant in Shanghai
275
Dec 16 1978
China + USA announce their decision to establish diplomatic relations as from Jan 1 1979
276
Dec 18 - 22 1978 (2)
The Third Plenum of the 11th CPPCC shifts Party focus– ‘we renounce class struggle as the central focus, and instead take up economic development as our central focus’ + reassess the Apr 1976 Tiananmen Sq incident as ‘completely revolutionary’ (clearing DXP)
The Third Plenum takes the first steps towards restoring the use of market mechanisms in rural China (DXP’s initative)
277
Dec 22 1978
Announced Chen Yun has been elected as vice-chairman of the CCP (key supporter of DXP)
278
Jan 1979
Severe crackdown on the democracy movement – on Deng’s orders
279
Jan 7 1979
The Chinese gov denounces Vietnam for aggression against Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia). (Vietnam had invaded Kampuchea on Dec 25 1978 + took Phnom Penh on Jan 7 1979)
280
Jan 28 - Feb 5 1979
DXP makes a visit to the US, the 1st by a senior PRC leader
281
Feb 17 1979
Chinese troops launch attacks into Vietnamese territory. (China issues a statement claiming they only want a peaceful + stable border + will withdraw after counterattacking the Vietnamese aggressors. Vietnam denounces the Chinese authorities for starting a war of aggression)
282
Mar 5 1979
Chinese troops complete the seizure of Langson in Vietnam + China states its troops will begin to withdraw
283
Mar 16 1979
Chinese Foreign Minister Huang Hua announces that Chinese troops have completed their withdrawal from Vietnam
284
Mar 30 1979
DXP proposes his ‘four cardinal principles’
285
Dec 6 1979
End of the 1978-79 pro-democracy movement – the Beijing Municipal Revolutionary Committee bans big-character posters in public place (except in one part of one park)
286
Dec 30 1979
China denounces the USSR for its invasion of Afghanistan (which began on Dec 27)
287
Jan 25 1980
Last session of special court trying Gang of Four – Jiang Qing + Zhang Chunqiao condemned to death, Wang Hongwen to life imprisonment
288
Feb 29 1980 (2)
The CPPCC rehabilitates Liu Shaoqi posthumously
The 5th Plenum of the 11th CPPCC announces the election of Hu Yaobang as secretary-general of the CCP + member of the Politburo alongside Zhao Ziyang (key supporters of DXP) Wang Dongzxing and Wu De resign from the Central Committee (Supporters of Hua Gaofeng)
289
Apr 17 1980
The International Monetary Fund admits China as a member
290
May 15 1980
The World Bank admits China to representation in the World Bank Group
291
Sept 10 1980 (3)
The National People’s Counsel approves the Income Tax Concerning Joint Ventures with Chinese and Foreign Investment of the PRC
Zhao Ziyang replaces Hua Gaofeng as premier of the State Council, Chen Yonggui is dismissed as vice-premier (DXP consolidated further)
NPC approves the revised Marriage Law of the PRC – raises the marriage age of men to 22 + women, 20
292
June 29 1981 (2)
6th Plenum of the 11th CPPCC attacks the CR as a total disaster + criticizes Mao for initiating and leading it, as well as many of the other initivatives he took in his later years (70/30 ruling)
Hu Yaobang replaces Hua Guofeng as chairman of the CPPCC, DXP is made chairman of its Military Commission (Zhao Ziyang + Hua Gaofeng as vice-chairman of the Central Committee)
293
July 9-14 1981
Torrential rain in Sichuan causes serious flooding, killing over 700 people + rendering 150,000 homeless
294
Oct 29 1981
In Washington, Foreign Minister Huang Hau criticizes the US’ policy of selling advanced armaments to Taiwan
295
Dec 16 1981
A conference of Chinese + Japanese officials concludes with an announcement of US$1.37 billion of Japanese financial aid to Chinese industry, including the 1st stage of the Baoshan steel mill
296
Jan 11 1982
DXP sums up notion of ‘one country, two systems’ – argues it should apply to Taiwan + Hong Kong
297
Feb 15 1982
China National Offshore Oil Corporation is officially set up – exploits offshore petroleum resources in cooperation with foreign enterprises
298
Mar 2 1982
Zhao Ziyang gives a report on restructuring the gov including reducing the current no of vice-premiers from 13 to 2 (On May 4, these 2 are decided as Wan Li and Yao Yilin)
299
Mar 24 1982
Soviet President Brezhnev appeals for better Sino-Soviet relations ‘on the basis of mutual respect for each other’s interests, non-interference in each other’s affairs, and mutual benefit’
300
Apr 13 1982
The US gov decides to sell military spare parts to Taiwan, the next day the Chinese Foreign Ministry issues a strong protest against ‘this act of infringing upon China’s sovereignty’
301
June 25 1982
People’s Daily expresses China’s strong support for the Coalition Gov of Democracy Kampuchea set up on June 22
302
July 1982
Floods in Sichuan result in 718 dead + over 6000 injured
303
Aug 17 1982
America promises that it will not increase their level of arms sales in Taiwan, quantity or quality and states its intention ‘gradually to reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan, leading, over a period of time, to a final resolution’
304
Sept 6 1982
12TH National Congress of the CCP adopts a new CCP Consitution – party chairman position replaced w/ secretary general, Central Advisory Commission established (DXP as chairman)
305
Sept 22-26 1982
Thatcher visits China. On Sept 24, Britain + China agree to begin discussions on the future of Hong Kong
306
Sept 26 1982
Brezhnev calls normalisation of relations w/ China a top priority
307
Sept 27 1982
Thatcher states the unequal treaties of the 19th cent. are still valid + both should abide by them – China criticises this on Sept 30 arguing they are invalid + Hong Kong is part of Chinese territory + China will recover HK when conditions are ripe
308
Nov 14 1982
Chinese Foreign Minister Huang Hua describes Brezhnev (leaving for his funeral) as ‘an outstanding statesman of the Soviet Union’
309
Jan 25 1983
Death sentence on Jiang Qing and Zhang Chunqiao commuted to life imprisonment
310
May 5 1983
Chinese premier of Miller’s Death of a Salesman
311
July 15 1983
Plans are revealed for a large-scale Pearl River Delta economic zone based on Guangzhou
312
Oct 31 1983
The 1st business in china wholly run by Japanese investment, the Sanyo Company, begins operating in Guangdong Province
313
Jan 10 1984
Zhao Ziyang visits Washington for an official US visit
314
Apr 26-May 1 1984
President Reagan pays an official visit to China
315
July 1984
Measures for the stimulation of Tibet’s economy - shifts in focus from agriculture to animal husbandry, gains interest-free loans from the People’s Bank and exemption from taxation for some enterprises
316
Sept 1 1984
China’s first nuclear reactor declared operational
317
Oct 20 1984
3rd Plenum of 12th CPPCC shifts focus of reform to urban enterprises + urges ‘a deep-going transformation of the socialist superstructure’ through ‘the serparation of the functions of gov and enterprises as well as simpler and decentralized administration’
318
Dec 19 1984
Thatcher + Zhao Ziyang sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong
319
June 4 1985
DXP announces China’s intension to reduce the size of tis army by 1 million within 2 yrs
320
Sept 16 1985
4th Plenum of the 12th CPPCC approves of the resignations of 64 members (18%) on grounds of old age (including 10 Politburo members – e.g Wang Zhen – replaced by the younger + more educated e.g. Li Peng on Sept 24)
321
Dec 10 1985
4000 students rally in Beijing in support of the open-door policy
322
Apr 7 1986
US agrees to send high-technology electronic aviation equipment worth $550 million to help China’s military modernization
323
July 28 1986
Gorbachev calls for a good-neighbourly atmosphere in Sino-Soviet relations and for the Sino-Soviet border to ‘become a line of peace + friendship in the near future’
324
Aug 3 1986
First bankruptcy case in the history of the PRC – Shenyang Explosion-Prevention Equipment Factory
325
Sept 15 1986
Shanghai Stock Market reopens
326
Dec 23 1986
In Beijing, 4000 students march for an end to authoritarianism (greater democracy)
327
Dec 26 1986
The Beijing Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee bans student demonstrations that lack police approval
328
Jan 6 1987
People’s Daily argues recent student demonstrations show the need to oppose bourgeois liberalization + uphold the ‘four cardinal principles’
329
Jan 16 1987
Hu Yaobang resigns as general secretary (effectively dismissed by DXP for supporting student demonstrations) in favour of Zhao Ziyang
330
May 20 1987
Severe flooding starts in Guangdong – c.100 killed, 158 000 hectares of farmland swamped
331
Nov 24 1987
Zhao Ziyang resigns as premier – Li Peng = acting premier (confirmed Apr 9 1988)
332
Jan 22 1988
Zhao Ziyang’s economic growth stratergy outlined – speeding up the development of urban coastal areas to become centres of export-oriented industries
333
Mar 17 1988
The Ministry of Public Security announces the seizure of 4.5Kg of heroin in Shanghai from Mar 9 - 13
334
Apr 12 1988
NPC approves changes to State Consitution, allowing the private sector to develop + permitting the sale of land and transfer of the right to use land
335
Apr 13 1988
Hainan is upgraded to a province + made a special economic zone (China’s largest atm)
336
July 29-30 1988
Zhejiang suffers its worst floods in 4 decades – over 200 killed, nearly 500 missing + enormous destruction to property
337
Aug 15-17 1988
Politburo decides to allow prices for most commodities to be regulated by the market – causes panic buying + accelerated inflation
338
Feb 25-26 1989
George Bush makes first trip to China as US President
339
Mar 20 1989
Premier Li Peng sharply criticises his own gov for allowing the economy to become overheated (at opening speech to the 2nd session of 7th NPC)
340
Apr 15 1989
Hu Yaobang dies of a heart attack in Beijing
341
Apr 22 1989
Official mourning for Hu Yaobang – 1000s students demonstrate in Tiananmen Sq + demand his rehabilitation + democratic reforms
342
Apr 25 1989
DXP criticizes the student demonstrations + declares the situation to be ‘a grave political struggle facing the whole Party + Chinese citizens of all nationalities’
343
Apr 27 1989
Over 100 000 students demonstrate in Beijing in direct defiance of a gov ban – demanding press freedom, gov accountability + a crackdown on Party corruption
344
May 13 1989
Large-scale rally for democracy and freedom in Tiananmen Sq – they declare they will remain until their demands are met, c.100 begin a hunger strike
345
May 15-18 1989
Mikhail Gorbachev makes the first visit of a Soviet Leader to China since 1959
16 - Gorbachev + DXP meet in the Great Hall of the People + DXP announces Sino-soviet relations are ‘normalised’
346
May 18 1989
Li Peng holds a televised meeting in the Great Hall w/ reps of the striking students
347
May 19 1989
Zhao Ziyang appears in T Sq to express sympathy with those hunger-striking
348
May 20 1989
The State Council declares martial law to take effect from 10 am. Protests continue in opposition, army refuses to take action against the crowds, barricades made
349
May 25 1989
The demonstration demands the resignation of Li Peng who appears on TV announcing his government is in full control of the situation and will press ahead with reform
350
May 30 1989
Students erect the statue of Goddess of Democracy modelled on the Statue of Liberty in T Sq
351
June 3-4 1989
The Beijing Massacre. The PLA + People’s Armed Police force through barricades into T Sq to clear it of demonstrators, violence starts 10pm on June 3, by midday June 4, troops have sealed off T Sq
352
June 5 1989 (2)
Bush announces suspension of all gov-to-gov sales and commercial export of weapons + visits between senior American + Chinese military officials – in response to the Beijing massacre – denounced by China on June 7 as ‘interference in China’s internal affairs’
The CPPCC + State Council claim victory against a counter-revolutionary riot of those ‘negating the leadership of the CCP, destroying the socialist system and overthrowing the People’s Republic’
353
June 6 1989
In Shanghai, 8 are killed when an express train runs into a human barricade attempting to prevent soliders from entering the city
354
June 9 1989
Many of the Politburo + other leaders appear at a televised meeting to praise the military action of June 3-4. DXP commends the troops for suppressing ‘counter-revolutionaries trying to overthrow the CCP’ + ‘the counter-revolutionary rebellion’, he also pledges to continue the reform + open-door policies adopted at the end of 1978
355
June 10 1989
Chinese official media announce that ‘martial law troops’ have arrested over 400 people in Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin and Shanghai ‘in order to protect Beijing’
356
June 24 1989
Zhao Ziyang dismissed from all leading posts in the Party, replaced as general secretary by Jiang Zemin
357
June 26 1989
The World Bank defers consideration of 7 new development loans to China (worth US$780 million)
358
July early-mid 1989
In Zhejiang 2.62 million people are affected by flooding, more than 300 villages are ruined + 10 000 houses destroyed
359
Nov 9 1989 (2)
5th Plenum expresses satisfaction over cooling the country’s economy in the past year but points to several priority targets - slow down inflation + bring the national rate of retail price rises to under 10%
5th Plenum endorses DXP’s resignation as chairman of the CPPCC’s military commission (replaced by Jiang Zemin)
360
Dec 10 1989
Brent Scowcroft, National Security Adviser to US tells DXP Bush still regards him as a friend
361
Jan 10 1990
Li Peng announces the State Council will lift martial law in Beijing from Jan 11
362
Jan 17 1990
Jiang Zemin calls for the strengthening of the teaching of patriotism, national integrity and Chinese history at a working conf of the State Education Commission
363
Jan 25 1990
US Senate votes to uphold a veto by Bush to stop the deportation of Chinese students once their American visas expire
364
Feb 2 1990
US Export-Import Bank grants $10 million loan to China’s National Offshore Oil Corporation
365
Feb 7 1990
CPPCC document made public declares the 8 democratic parties should take part in state power under the leadership of the CCP
366
Mar 20 1990
Li Peng emphasises stability and adhering to the socialist road at his opening speech at the 3rd session of the 7th NPC
367
Mar 21 1990
NPC endorses DXP’s request to resign the chairmanship of the State Military Commission, replacing him with Jiang Zemin
368
Apr 5-6 1990
‘armed counter-revolutionary rebellion’ + aimed at ‘establishing a separatist Islamic republic’ attributed to the Islamic Party of East Turkestan occur in Akto County in Xinjiang are suppressed by the People’s Armed Police – at least 22 dead incl. leader
369
Apr 7 1990
Asia’s first regional communications satellite, American-made Asiasat 1 is launched by a Chinese carrier rocket in Xichang, Sichuan
370
May 4 1990
Jiang Zemin reaffirmed intellectuals crucial role in the modernization process but warned against the influence of Western bourgeois values and ‘national nihilism’
371
July 11 1990
The Group of Seven major industrialized countries decide to maintain sanctions on China (due to Beijing massacre) but allow some World Bank loans for environmental purposes. Japan announced it will resume lending money to China.
372
Aug 2 1990
At the UN, Chinese Ambassador Li Daoyu urges Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, condemning the invasion of the same day
373
Aug 6 1990
The result of China’s first survey on sex ed are announced in the overseas edition of Liaowang (Outlook Weekly)
374
Sept 1 1990 (2)
China’s first motorway linking 375km between Shenyang and Dalian opens to traffic.
A ceremony (attended by Jiang Zemin) marks the opening of new railway connecting Xinjiang capital Urumqi with the Alataw Pass on the SU Kazakhstan border. This opened a complete Eurasian ‘rail bridge’ from Lianyuangang (on China’s east coast) to Rotterdam
375
Sept 10 1990
7 catholic nuns graduate in Beijing, representative of about 1000 students in schools _ 11 theological colleges preparing to be nuns throughout China
376
Sept 13 1990
Automatic direct-dial services begin operation in Tibet – enabling telephone calls to approx. 500 Chinese cities and 100 overseas countries without operator assistance
377
Sept 18 1990
Japan decides to go ahead with a loan package of 810 billion Yuan over 1990-95 (frozen due to Beijing massacre)
378
Oct 1 1990
Administrative Procedure Law comes into effect – gives ordinary citizens the right to sue gov officials + stops any power exercising illegal or arbitrary power
379
Oct 22 1990
The twelve-nation European Community lifts sanctions on China
380
Nov 1 1990
An international symposium takes place in Fujian Province to mark the 840th birth date of the famous Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi
381
Nov 10 1990
The State Council issues a circular urging all localities to remove market barriers between them
382
Nov 17 1990
Currency devaluation of 9.57% announced from 5.2 -> 4.7 yuan to the US dollar
383
Nov 29 1990
The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 678 by 12 to 2 – 1 ABSTENSION = CHINA – declares the UN will resolving the crisis with ‘all necessary means’ if Iraq fails to withdraw its troops from Kuwait by Jan 15
384
Dec 5 1990
Li Peng reiterates the gov’s policy in favour of religious freedom but warns against any attempt to use religion to disrupt social stability, favours religious exchanges w/ foreign countries but firmly opposes any attempt by ‘hostile foreign forces’ to use religion to carry out infiltration
385
Dec 19 1990
First securities exchange (stock market) on the Chinese mainland since 1949 in the form of The Shanghai Securities Exchange inaugurated – major financial reform
386
Jan 7 1991
Xu Tun, director of the Transportation Bureau of the Ministry of Railways, sentenced to death with 2 year reprieve for embezzlement + bribery
387
Jan 28 1991
Gombojaryn Ochirbat becomes the 1st leader of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party to visit China in over 3 decades, holding talks with Jiang Zemin
388
Feb 1 1991
1st South Korean firm, Sunkyong Ltd, to establish branch office in PRC is opened in Beijing
389
Feb 19 1991
Xu Jiatun, formally director of the HK branch of the NCNA, is dismissed for going to the US without authorization and refusing to return
390
Feb 28 1991
China welcomes the suspension of American combat operations in the Gulf against Iraq + congratulates the Emir of Kuwait on the restoration of his country’s independence and territorial sovereignty
391
Mar 2 1991
NPC Standing Committee confirms the dismissal of Qian Yongchang as minister of Comms for abusing power for personal gain and violating state discipline
392
Mar 8 1991
It’s announced China has decided to hold the 2000 Olympic Games in Beijing
393
Mar 13 1991
The State Statistical Bureau announces that, in the 7th 5 yr Plan (1986-90), China’s GNP has grown by an average of 7.8% against a target of 7.5%
394
Mar 14 1991
China advances a five-point peace plan for the Middle East – 1st point being resolution through political channels and avoidance of force
395
Mar 23 1991
The Ministry of Agriculture issues an urgent circular urging great development of the township enterprises in the countryside to prevent further redundant labourers pouring into the coastal regions
396
Mar 25 1991
Li Peng urges further reform efforts to quadruple the 1980 GNP by the end of the century + aims to expand the role of market forces + lifting price controls
397
Apr 29 1991
French foreign minister Roland Dumas arrives in Beijing for official visit – signals the normalisation of relations w/ France post T Sq
398
May 14 1991
Jiang Qing, Mao Zedong’s widow, commits suicide in prison
399
May 15-19 1991
Jiang Zemin makes official visit to the SU, the most senior Chinese leader to visit since 1957
On May 16 the Agreement on the Eastern Section of the Boundary between the PRC + the USSR is signed – of which the demarcation + surveying is declared finished on Nov 10 1997
400
May 31 1991
NCNA reports the admission of 2 441 000 CCP members over 2 years, total = 50 320 000
401
June 30 1991
The National Tourism Administration and the Civil Aviation Administration of China announce plans for a large-scale campaign to attract tourists - ‘Visit China in 1992’
402
Aug 10-13 1991
Japanese PM Toshiki Kaifu visits China- 1st head of gov of an industrialised democracy to make such a visit since T Sq
403
Aug 10 1991
China + Vietnam both issue statements announcing they intend to normalize relations, the end of a long period of hostility
404
Aug 21 1991
An official announcement states that massive floods especially in E + SE China + in June + July have inundated 20 million hectares of cropland + affected 206 million people, causing billions of dollars of damage to Chinese agriculture
405
Sept 3 1991
Li Peng and visiting PM John Major sign an agreement declaring China will support the construction of the multi-billion dollar project of a New Airport in HK (already initialled July 4), while Britain will consult w/ China on major matters relating to it
406
Sept 4 1991
China promulgates the Law on the Protection of Minors
407
Sept 15 1991
British reporter Andrew Higgins, Independent correspondent, is expelled from China for possessing confidential info abt an alleged crackdown on Inner Mongolian nationalists
408
Oct 9 1991
A grand rally marks the 80th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution – President Yang Shangkun describes Sun Yatsen as ‘an outstanding representative of China’s bourgeois revolutionaries’
409
Oct 13 1991
Li Peng emphasises the importance of economising on grain, the key link in China’s agricultural economy in a televised speech + the People’s Daily reveals that several dozen million tons of grain, approx. 15% of the nation’s output, are wasted annually
410
Oct 23 1991
China hails the signing, the same day, of the agreement on a comprehensive political settlement of the conflict in Kampuchea, marking the end of 13 years of fighting
411
Nov 5-9 1991
Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Do Muoi visiting China
412
Dec 1 1991
Minister of Public Health announces that, of 300 000 people examined in 1991, 122 were HIV positive + 3 have contracted AIDS + 8 AIDS patients had been reported since 1985, among whom the first death was in July 1991
413
Dec 11-16 1991 (2)
Li Peng visits India, the first Chinese premier to do so since Apr 1960
Dec 13 – agreement on consular matters, trade + economic relations + cooperation in space + science + technology
414
Dec 16 1991
The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) is founded in Beijing to promote contacts w/ Taiwan + eventual reunification
415
Jan 18 - Feb 12 1992
DXP visits southern China (Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shanghai etc.) – forms the basis of a reinvigorated reform process following T Sq
416
Feb 21 1992
The US announces that it is lifting the ban on high-tech exports to China
417
Feb 28 1992
Over 33 million children of school age (approx. 1 in 5) aren’t attending school
418
Mar 11 1992
China formally accedes to the Treaty on the non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
419
Apr 3 1992 (2)
The NPC votes in favour of the Three Gorges Project (1767 in favour, 177 against, 664 abstentions) – now supplies 10% of China’s power/energy
The NPC adopts the PRC Law Protecting Woman’s Rights and Interests
420
Apr 4 1992
China Tibet Development Foundation formally established – non gov-body aiming at the social, economic + cultural development of Tibet
421
Apr 14 - 17 1992
UN Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali visits Beijing
422
June 29 1992
Vice Premier Tian Jiyun states the emphasis in agriculture has changed from increasing farm output to raising output and quality as well as economic efficiency
423
July 23 1992
In response to the most serious train robbery in PRC history, 45 train robbers, all peasants from Sichuan Province are sentenced to death, given suspended death sentences or sentenced to imprisonment
424
Summer 1992
Middle + lower reaches of the Yellow River suffer serious drought, affecting 5.1 million hectares of farmland in Henan Province alone
425
Sept 25 1992
The State Council decides to deregulate grain purchase and market prices, easing the state’s fiscal burden by cutting out the high subsidies give for grain purchase
426
Sept 28 1992
President Roh Taw Woo arrives in Beijing – 1st visit of a South Korean president to China
427
Oct 10 1992
Sino-American Memorandum of Understanding marks agreement on US access to Chinese markets
428
Oct 12 1992
In the opening speech of the 14th CCP Congress, Jiang Zemin emphasises the need to establish the ‘socialist market economy’
429
Oct 23 - 29 1992
Japanese Emperor and Empress visit Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai – the 1st ever by a Japanese imperial couple – the Emperor notes ‘the great sufferings’ that his country ‘inflicted upon the people of China’ during the ’30s+’40s – adding ‘I deeply deplore this’
430
Nov 30 - Dec 4 1992
Li Peng visits Vietnam, the 1st premier to do so since 1971 – both sides agree to seek a negotiated settlement on issues such as the dispute over the Spratly Islands
431
Dec 18 1992
Joint declaration of China and USSR that they’ll regard each other as friends – Russian President Boris Yeltsin on official visit to China
432
Feb 22 1993
The China Land Development Association is established in Beijing to serve real estate business, the first of its kind in China
433
Mar 22 1993
The NPC approves the restructuring of the ministries + commissions under the State Council by cutting their number from 86 to 59 + number of employees by a fifth
434
Mar 29 1993
The constitution is amended to eliminate reference to rural people’s communes in the list of rural social formations
435
May 24 1993
Large-scale demonstrations in Lhasa on behalf of independence and much smaller ones the following day result in up to nine deaths
436
May 29 1993
Chinese Foreign Ministry condemns US President Bill Clinton’s conditions he plans to impose on the trading status of China as a most-favoured-nation (MFN)
437
June 15 1993
At the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna Liu Huaqiu argues the main criterion for human rights in a developing country should be whether it helps promotes economic + social progress
438
June 20 1993
The State Council announces the abolition of 37 fees + axes on peasants
439
July 27 1993
Chinese Olympic Committee strong condemns the American House of Representatives which adopted a resolution (the day before) urging that Beijing not be allowed to host the 2000 Summer Olympics on human rights grounds
440
Sept 1 1993 (2)
At the opening of the 7th national Congress of Chinese Women Hu Jintao gives a speech emphasising that women should play a greater role in China’s economic and social life and in the professions
According to the congress, there are 56 million female workers in China or 38% of the labour force of whom 175 000 have senior professional titles
441
Sept 2 - 12 1993
The ’93 Beijing Ancient Capital Cultural Relic Fair takes place in Beijing, the largest of its kind ever held there
442
Sept 23 1993
By a narrow vote, Sydney is voted as the site of the 2000 Summer Olympics
443
Oct 7 - 14 1993
The First Shanghai International Film Festival takes place w/ 161 films from 30 countries and regions screened
444
Oct 23 1993
The China Tibetan Buddhism Symposium opens in Beijing, the largest of its kind since ’49 attended by incarnate lamas and eminent monks from all over China
445
Nov 27 1993
5 people are executed in Beijing for embezzlement
446
Dec 1 1993
China sets up the China Venereal Disease and AIDS Prevention Association in Beijing, aimed at mobilising action to control the spread of these diseases, marking the 6th World AIDS Day
447
Dec 15 1993
The first China-Japan underwater fibre-optic cable goes into operation
448
Jan 11 1994
People’s Daily condemns the unilateral decision (Jan 6) of the US to cut textile imports from China
449
Feb 6 1994
Li Peng attends a ceremony marking the beginning of operations of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant near HK
450
Feb 28 1994
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues a lengthy attack on Britain for publishing the 1993 Sino-British negotiations over elections in HK
451
Mar 7 1994
Jiang Zemin gives a speech at a national Party school work conference in which he emphasises the still crucial importance of theoretical study
452
Mar 17 1994
China + the US sing a memorandum of agreement concerning bilateral textile trade
453
Mar 22 1994
The NPC adopts China’s first Budget Law which, among many provisions, forbids regional governments to incur a budget deficit
454
May 26 1994
President Clinton announces the extension of China’s MFN trading status; it includes expectations concerning China’s human rights but no preconditions – welcomed by China the following day
455
June 12 1994
Workers Daily claims that in 1992 approx. ½ a million teachers left their profession due to low salaries and poor social status
456
June 24 - 25 1994
Numerous drug traffickers are executed or sentenced to death in a dozen or so cities in multiple provinces, indicating a major crackdown on narcotics and drug abuse
457
July 22 1994
Chinese UN Ambassador Li Zhaoxing meets with UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and strongly opposes a move by Nicaragua and other countries to open discussion on Taiwan’s representation in the UN
458
Aug 11 1994
China Daily reports that floods killed 1019 people and cause economic loss to the value of 540 million yuan in the first ½ of 1994 (over 1.5 million hectares of farm land destroyed)
459
Sept 3 1994
Chinese + Russian foreign ministers sing the Agreement on the Western Section of the boundary Between the PRC and the Russian Federation
460
Nov 4 1994
Following 2 yrs of negotiations, China + Britain sign an agreement on financing a new airport at Chek Lap Kok in HK
461
Jan 17 1995
Workers at the Japanese-owned Panasonic Motor Factory in Zhuhai end a one-day strike after management agrees to open negotiations over wages
462
Feb 15 1995
According to official estimates, China’s population reaches 1.2 billion
463
Feb 26 1995
Letter of exchange signed by which China guarantees to protect American intellectual property rights, forestalling a major trade war between the two countries – follows 2 months of acrimonious discussion between the countries including American threats and Chinese counter-threats
464
Mar 18 1995
NPC adopts The Law on the People’s Bank of China, China’s first banking law – aims to help China stabilize its currency, strengthen banking management, improve gov economic control and ensure smooth progress in banking system reform
465
Apr 4 1995
Vice-Mayor of Beijing Wang Baosen commits suicide after coming under investigation for economic crimes and money missing from Beijing’s treasury
466
Apr 10 1995
Chen Yun dies
467
Apr 25 1995
Liberation Army Daily reports the first successful trial flight of a supersonic unmanned plane
468
May 14 1995
The Dalai Lama names 6-yr-old Tibetan boy Gehun Choekyi Nyuma as the 11th Panchen Lama, to the subsequent furry of the Chinese
469
June 8 1995
Clinton meets Chinese Ambassador Li Daoyu at the White House, reaffirming a commitment to a one-China policy
470
June 27 1995
NCNA publishes new regulations on foreign investment, which encourage moving foreign investment towards the central and western regions and show commitment to agriculture, energy, communications, and other sectors
471
Sept 4 - 15 1995
The UN Fourth World Conference on Women takes place in Beijing, adopting the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on the last day
472
Dec 17 1995
NCNA issues a white paper entitled ‘The Progress of Human Rights in China’
473
Jan 12 1996
A ceremony marks the inauguration of the China Mingsheng Banking Corporation, the first one in the PRC sponsored by non-state enterprises
474
Jan 15 1996
The Japanese newsagency Kyodo reports that Chinese CCP and gov officials have agreed to cut the size of the PLA by 500 000 to 2.5 million
475
Jan 23 1996
Jiang Zemin declares that ‘media must remain firmly in the hands of our Party’
476
Jan 26 1996
The Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is formally established in Beijing – selects Tung Chee Hwa as 1st CEO on Dec 11, to take effect with the withdrawal of the British at 24:00 on June 30 1997
477
Feb 8 1996
Tie Ying, a very senior female legislative official in Beijing is dismissed from various posts for accepting bribes
478
Mar 8 - 15 1996
China sends four M9 surface-to-surface missiles towards Taiwan
479
Mar 13 1996
In response to China’s military exercises in the Taiwan Straits planes from the USS Independence, located abt 320km off the east coast of Taiwan, carry out a show of American support for Taiwan
480
Mar 19 - 25 1996
China holds joint ground naval and air operations in the Taiwan strait, as Taiwan holds its first general election (Mar 23)
481
Mar 20 1996
American and Taiwan officials discuss the American defence of Taiwan – the US agrees to sell Stinger surface-to-air missiles + other military equipment but refuses the countries request for 6 submarines
482
Apr 1 1996
A reduction of the general level of import tariffs by 35% to 23% comes into effect; many western commentators interpret this as an attempt to advance China’s entry into the WTO
483
Apr 4 1996
Some 50 000 people gather in Huangling County Shaanxi Province in honour of the Yellow Emperor, the mythical ancestor of the Chinese people
484
Apr 16 1996
The Beijing Observatory announces the discovery of a supernova 65 million light years away from earth – the first ever discovered by Chinese scientists in the external galaxy
485
Apr 26 1996
The presidents of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan meet in Shanghai and agree military border forces undertake not to attack each other or to carry out hostile military exercises
486
May 3 - 6 1996
The Xinjiang CCP holds a work conf. to discuss issues related to the Autonomous Region’s stability
487
May 15 1996
A ban against smoking in indoor public places in Beijing comes into effect – following an official report on Feb 14 1994 that smoking had become one of the major causes of death in China (over 2 yrs later)
488
May 19 1996
In his inaugural speech as Taiwan’s president Lee Teng-hui states that he would be prepared to make a ‘journey of peace’ to the Chinese mainland to talk to the leaders there
489
June 8 1996
A Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman announces that China has carried out a nuclear test the same day – provoking strong international protest, esp form Japan
490
June 13 1996
The Chinese foreign ministry announces the country’s decided to close the China office of the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation bc of its plans to hold an international conf of groups favouring independence for Tibet
491
June 21 1996
Jiang Zemin draws attention to the changing cadre profile since ’49 + criticises some younger cadres for poor ideological style + a lack of organization + discipline at the CCP’s 75 anniversary meeting
492
June 25 1996
People’s Daily urges cadres to integrate Confucian ethics with Marxism, taking the notion of ‘self-accomplishment’ as a way of improving ethical standards
493
July 11 1996
NCNA reports the signing of an oil agreement between the China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Taiwan’s China Petroleum Corporation – hailed as major breakthrough in economic cooperation across the Straits
494
July 24 1996
The People’s Insurance Company of China is formally founded
495
July 29 1996
China announces that it has conducted an underground nuclear test on the same day but that a Chinese moratorium on all nuclear tests will go into effect the next day
496
Aug 29 1996
Jiang Zemin calls for greater economic cooperation with Taiwan, despite political differences
497
Sept 14 1996
NCNA announces that the State Council has decided to extend the powers of provinces and autonomous regions in China’s interior, with a view to attracting foreign investment and narrowing their economic gap with the regions of the eastern seaboard
498
Sept 24 1996
China signs the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in NY
499
Oct 4 1996
NCNA issues an article strong critizing the Taiwan government for trying to obstruct cross-Straits trade, in particular for the adoption of two rules (dated Aug 20+21) which cover shipping and cargo transportation serviced across the Taiwan Straits
500
Nov 6 1996
At the UN, Chinese representative Wang Xuexian denounces western countries, esp the US for practicing power politics in the mass media on the pretext of ‘freedom of information’ e.g. by establishing any ‘freedom radio’ to stir up trouble in countries like China
501
Dec 1996
The Chinese Social Sciences Press in Beijing publishes Behind the Demonization of China by Li Xiguang and others
502
Dec 26 - 28 1996
Li Peng visits Russia, the two sides agreeing, on Dec 27, to the joint construction of a nuclear power plant in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province
503
Jan 16 1997
The State Power Corporation is inaugurated, authorised to manage the nationwide power network and inter-regional power transmission
504
Jan 20 1996
Chinese astronomers at the Beijing Observatory find a minor planet orbiting close to earth: the first such close-to-earth planet discovered by China
505
Feb 25 1997
Following disturbances on Feb 5-6 w/ many Uygurs attacking + smashing Han Chinese shops + shouting Uygur independence slogans, three bombs planed in Urumqi, the Xinjiang capital explode killing at least nine people – apparently the work of Uygur separatist aiming to show disrespect at the memory of DXP on the same day as his memorial service
506
Mar 22 - 27 1997
The Dalai Lama visits Taiwan (his 1st) meeting Lee Tung-hui on Mar 27 – condemned by Chinese gov, in particular the meeting as a ‘collusion of splitists’
507
Apr 12 1997
In Shanghai, plastic surgeon Cao Yilin succeeds in replicating a human ear from the body of an animal by adopting extrinsic cell reproduction: a world first
508
Apr 22 - 26 1997
Jiang Zemin visits Boris Yeltsin in Russia – both sing a joint statement emphasising partnership between the 2 countries
509
May 1 1997
The deadline is reached for implementation of a 1995 circular on working hours which laid down a limit of 40 hrs and 5 days per week
510
June 30 1997
China’s first successful liver transplant operation
511
June 30 - July 1 1997
The end of British rule and the formal return of HK’s sovereignty to China (as a Special Administrative Region) at midnight is marked by a ceremony attended by Prince Charles, PM Tony Blair + Foreign secretary Robin Cook, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Chinese President Jiang Zemin + Premier LI Peng
512
Aug 26 1997
China becomes the second largest telephone network in the world after the US following the State Council Press Office’s announcement that all China’s cities at county level or above had entered the age of program telephone communication w/ more than 100 million program-controlled telephone lines
513
Sept 4 - 7 1997
Japanese PM Ryutaro Hashimoto visits China, Li Peng tells him on Sept 4 that China ‘can never accept any activist directly proposing or hinting obliquely at including Taiwan in the scope of Japan-US security cooperation’
514
Sept 19 1997
The Yamzho Yumco Hydropower Station, the largest in Tibet, goes into full operation
515
Oct 26 - Nov 3 1997
Jiang Zemin visits the US - on Oct 29 he and Clinton issue a joint statement declaring they are ‘determined to build toward a constructive strategic partnership between China and the United States’
516
Nov 11 - 16 1997
Premier Li Peng visits Japan + on 12th outlines five principles for guiding the bilateral relationship incl. mutual respect + non-interference in each other’s affairs but tensions persisted over the Diaoyu Islands + China’s opposition to incl. the Taiwan Strait in United States-Japan defence cooperation
517
Nov 28 1997
An emergency circular, published Dec 2, claims that during 1997 down to Nov 27, there were 12 serious accidents in key national coalmines, each killing at least ten people + 2 killing more than 50 – shows lack of safety measures (Human Rights concerns)
