7 Days in Diplomacy; this Week in Chinese History

This day, 25 January, in 1957, Premier Zhou Enlai visited Nepal, met with King Mahendra and held talks with Prime Minister Acharya. The two sides issued a joint communique stating that Asian unity is of great significance to maintaining...

This day, 24 January, in 1960, Myanmar became the first nation to sign a Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Non-Aggression with Beijing, the result of a visit to China by Myanmar Prime Minister General Ne Win and talks with...

This day, 23 January, 754, the eminent monk Jian Zhen arrived in Japan after five unsuccessful attempts. As a great achiever in architecture, sculpture, medicine and calligraphy, he carried with him a large number of Buddhist scriptures, becoming an...

This day, 22 January, in 1956, Abdul Samad, Afghanistan’s first ambassador to China, submitted his credentials to Chairman Mao Zedong. The exchange of ambassadors between the two countries improved the diplomatic environment on China’s western frontier and was of...

This day, 6 January, in 1876, Guo Songtao, the first Chinese minister based abroad and the first minister of the Qing Dynasty to the United Kingdom, landed at the Port of Southampton. During his time in the UK, Guo...

This day, 20 January, in 1861, the Qing Dynasty established the Prime Minister’s Office for Foreign Affairs. Dispatching envoys and international students to foreign countries, and managing affairs such as trade, customs, coastal defense and the ordering of weapons,...

This day, 19 January, in 2016, President Xi Jinping met with Iyad bin Amin Madani, Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh. It was the first time that a Chinese president had met with an OIC...