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a-okNow Playing: Lakebridge Community
Topic: Cold Front Passing Hokkai
CHINA(People’s Republic) – TAIWAN (National Republic)
Conflict Chronology1915 – Sun Yat-sen leads revolution to overthrow 300-year-old Ming dynasty and establish Western-style Democracy in China1925 – Chiang Kai-shek (Nationalist) and Mao Tse-tung (Communist) form uneasy alliance to govern China following death of Dr. Sun. 1927 – Chiang betrays Mao, orders massacre of thousands of Mao followers.1934-35 – Mao leads 100,000 troops over a Long March of 3,700 miles and 370 days fromJiangxi province near the coast to Yunnan province in the mountainous northwest, harassed all the way by Chiang’s Nationalists. Only 7,000 troops survive the march.1939 – Japan invades China, Chiang and Mao stop fighting each other to concentrate on fighting the invaders.1941 – December 7 – Japan executes sneak attack on U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.U.S. declares war on Japan. 1945 – June 26 – Nations of the free world meet in San Francisco to establish the Charter of the United Nations, pledged to eliminate war from the world. Along with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union, China is awarded a place on the UN Security Council with veto power over proposals passed by the UN General Assembly.Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek signs for China. July 16 – United States scientists explode the first Atomic Bomb at Alamagordo, New Mexico test site. August 6 – United States Air Force personnel explode the second atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, obliterating the city and killing over 100,000 civilians. August 9 – United States Air Force personnel explode third atomic bomb over Nagasaki, Japan with equally devastating results. Japan surrenders, ending World War II. August 9 – World War II ends, Chinese Civil War resumes.1949 – October. Mao’s Communists defeat Chiang’s Nationalists, People’s Republic of China established. Chiang escapes the mainland with 1 million followers to the Island of Formosa (now called Taiwan), 150 miles across the Formosa Strait. Chiang fortified the 8-mile offshore islands of Quemoy and Matsu with the avowed intention of reconquering China. October – The Soviet Union explodes an atomic bomb. The Cold War begins.1950 – January – U.S. President Harry Truman announces that the United States will no longer support Chiang Kai-shek, and will not be involved in the Formosa Strait dispute. June 25 – North Korea invades South Korea, Truman sends U.S. 7th Fleet to the Formosa Strait to prevent either Chiang or Mao from launching an attack. In the absence of a Soviet veto (Ambassador Malik was boycotting the Council in protest of the UN refusal to admit the People’s Republic of China), the Security Council passed a resolution condemning the North Korean aggression. Truman orders General MacArthur in Tokyo to send U.S. troops to Korea. November – Several hundred thousand Chinese Communists troops strike viciously and unexpectedly across the Yalu river against United Nations (mostly U.S.) forces in northern Korea.1953 – March 5 – Joseph Stalin dies. July 27 – Armistice signed at Panmunjon, North Korea – remains in place today, November 2008.1954 – 11 August – 01 May 1955 – First Taiwan Strait Crisis. Chiang moves 58,000 troops to China off shore island Quemoy, and 15,000 to Matsu. September – Communists begin artillery bombardment of Quemoy. U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff recommend using nuclear weapons against China. This is the background for Max Blue’s novel COLD FRONT PASSING HOKKAID0
1958 – The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. 29 August -01 January 1959, Following the first crisis, U.S. President Eisenhower provided the Nationalists with air- to-air missiles and 8-inch howitzers capable of firing tactical nuclear shells. Next, the Koumintang was given surface-to-surface missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads up to 600 miles. Soviet Premier Khrushchev was advising Mao Tse-tung at this time that nobody could win a nuclear war, but Mao claimed that at least half the Chinese population would survive such a war and resumed a massive artillery bombardment of Quemoy and Matsu. Here was Cold War sabre rattling at its most alarming: Mao declared his intention to “liberate” Taiwan, Eisenhower sent in the U.S. 7th fleet with orders to defend Taiwan, and Khrushchev, in a letter to Eisenhower, wrote that an attack on China would be viewed as an attack on the USSR. Then everybody took a deep breath and the crisis abated. One consequence of the episode was the resourcefulness of the embattled Quemoy citizens: they recycled the steel from the near half-million shells fired at them into kitchen knives. It was possible to produce 60 Quemoy Cleavers from one bomb shell. Swords into plowshares.1964 – 16 October. PRC becomes the world’s fifth nation to possess atomic weapons with the explosion of a fission bomb. 1969-1972 – U.S. President Richard Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger pursue rapprochement with the PRC.1971 – After 10 years of attempts by UN General Assembly nations friendly to the PRC to transfer China’s seat at the UN from the ROC to the PRC, a resolution is passed to bring this about. The resolution withdrew recognition of the ROC as the legitimate govern-ment of China. Because the resolution was on an issue of credentials rather than membership, it was possible to bypass the Security Council where the ROC could have used its veto. 1975 – 05 April – Chiang Kai-shek dies 09 September – Mao Tse-tung dies1979 – Under President Jimmy Carter, the U.S. establishes diplomatic relations with the PRC and severs diplomatic relations with the Nationalist Chinese government in Taiwan. The U.S. agrees to accept Taiwan as a province of The People’s Republic of China and the PRC agrees not to stage a military invasion of Taiwan. In reality not much has changed since the U.S. and Taiwan maintain semi-diplomatic relations.1987 – July – Taiwan, the National Republic of China, lifts Martial Law after 38 years. October – Taiwan Minister of Interior announces that travel permits to Communist China are now available. 1989 – June 3-4, The Chinese Government, under orders from Premier Dung Shao-ping, uses lethal force to retake Beijing’s Tienanmen Square from student protestors, 1,500 deaths result. December 2 – Taiwan, enjoying an economic miracle, holds first true, multiparty, competitive, democratic elections to fill seats in national legislative, provincial, county, and city offices.1990 – March 24, First trade association of Taiwan businessmen is established in Beijing.1995 – The Third Taiwan Strait Crisis. Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui accepts an invitation from his alma mater, Cornell University to speak on “Taiwan’s Democritization Experience”. President Lee thinks he has a mandate from the Taiwan electorate to continue pushing for an independent Taiwan, but a substantial minority in the country think otherwise. The Democratic Progressive Party features a staunch unification Presidential candidate named Lin Yang- kang. U. S, President Bill Clinton sends mixed signals – in response to the PRC using the area around Taiwan for missile target practice, Clinton sends two Carrier Battle Groups to Taiwan, while refusing a visa to President Lee to pacify the PRC. The U.S. Congress overrules their President on this and sees to it that Lee gets to speak at Cornell.1997 – June 30, Hong Kong is officially returned to China. Chinese Premier Dung Shao-ping declares that Hong Kong will maintain its prosperity and rule of law under what he calls a “one country, two systems” arrangement. Taiwan President Lee says that this arrangement can not apply to Taiwan. 1998 – On the Taiwan issue, President Clinton embraces the three no’s – 1. No two Chinas, 2. No Taiwan Independence, 3. No UN membership for Taiwan. 2000 – March 18 – Taiwan holds its second free presidential elections. Fifty years of Kuomintang rule of Taiwan is ended with the election Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Shui-bian. International arms sales continue: Russia to PRC; PRC to North Korea, Libya, Iran, and Pakistan; U.S. to Taiwan. Nuclear, chemical, biological weapons, and ballistic missile technology all in the stew. June 20 – Taiwan President Chen invites PRC President Jiang Zemin to a peace summit. The issue of Taiwan independence is muted and Ziang accepts the invitation.2001 – April 24 – U.S. President George W. Bush states that the United States of America will do whatever it takes to help Taiwan defend itself against China. Bush approves the largest package of arms sales in ten years to Taiwan. July 10 – President Chen rejects a Beijing offer to reunify under a Hong Kong-style, one country, two systems formula. Taiwan now has a two-party system – the Kuomintang (KMT) which supports eventual reunification with China, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which supports Independence. National elections give the DPP an 87 to 68 seat majority in the legislature.2003 – At the same time saber-rattling and arms sales continue, Taiwan lawmakers consider legislation to permit Chinese currency to be used in Taiwan. 2008 – March – Taiwan elects Ma Ying-jeou President on his promise to ease tensions with China and forge closer trade ties. He also promised not to begin unification negotiations during his four-year term. November – Chen Yunlin, the highest ranking Chinese official ever to visit Taiwan, signs an agreement allowing planes and ships to travel directly across the Taiwan Strait instead of first detouring to Hong Kong or Okinawa. The unification issue is avoided, but is not forgotten as the U.S, continues to provide Apache Helicopters and Patriot Missiles to Taiwan now that they can afford to pay for them.
Posted by maxblue3
at 1:37 PM EST
