7 Days in Diplomacy; this Week in Chinese History

This day, 24 April, in 1189, construction commenced on the Marco Polo Bridge or Lugou Bridge in today’s Beijing, that would be setting for the Incident marking the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. In “The Travels of Marco...

This day, 23 April, 1895, Tsarist Russia, together with the German and French ministers, sent a note to Japan, advising that it abandon the clause in the Treaty of Shimonoseki that ceded China’s Liaodong Peninsula to Japan, while the...

This day, 22 April, in 1958, construction of the Monument to the People’s Heroes in Tianamen Square in Beijing was completed. Having taken almost 6 years to build, the 37.94-metre tall obelisk weighs over 10,000 tonnes and is comprised...

This day, 21 April, in 1948, the then Chinese government signed a provisional application to join the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that would later become the World Trade Organiasation (WTO). However, the Taiwan authorities arbitrarily  withdrew...

This day, 20 April, in 1949, the KMT government finally refused to sign the domestic peace agreement demanded by Mao Zedong. 3 days later, the People’s Liberation Army successfully crossed the Yangtze River to enter Nanjing and defeat the...

This day, 19 April, in 1970, when Prime Minister Zhou Enlai met veteran Japanese politician Kenzo Matsumura, he said, “The Chinese people respect the Japanese people. We are willing to live in friendship with the peace-loving Japanese people from...

This day, 18 April, 1955, the Afro–Asian Conference was held in Bandung, Indonesia. With a total of 29 Asian and African countries participating, Zhou Enlai spoke of “seeking common ground while reserving differences”, expounding the basic foreign policy of...