Outstanding Facts in China
2020: January 30
Today, after the first infections occurred outside of China, the World Health Organization declares the international alert to the unstoppable expansion of the Wuhan coronavirus, despite the excellent reaction of the Chinese authorities. (1 year ago)
2008: September 27
China, after Russia (former USSR) and the US, becomes the third nation capable of spacewalking, after astronaut Zhai Zhigang, 41, and commander-in-chief of the Shenzhou VII mission, exits the capsule space and float with zero gravity in outer space, orbiting 343 kilometers from Earth, for 15 minutes. (13 years ago)
2008: August 8
With the record participation of 204 countries, and despite the lack of freedoms and respect for human rights, the XXVI Olympics of the Modern Era are inaugurated in Beijing (Peking, China). They will close on August 24. (13 years ago)
1999: December 20
Twelve years after an agreement was reached between China and Portugal, and after 450 years of Portuguese administration, Macao became a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. As in Hong Kong, the Basic Law of Macao will guarantee the maintenance of the capitalist economic system and will enjoy broad autonomy for at least 50 years, maintaining the judicial system established by Portugal and the Portuguese language as the official language alongside Chinese. (21 years ago)
1997: July 1
As both countries had agreed in 1984, the British colony of Hong Kong, in the hands of Great Britain since it took possession at the end of the First Opium War in 1841, returns to China. Hong Kong has been for all these years one of the largest commercial and capitalist centers between East and West. (24 years ago)
1989: October 5
The Dalai Lama, exiled leader of Tibet, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign of non-violence against the Chinese domination of Tibet, which was invaded in 1950. With this campaign, the Dalai Lama, has achieved since his exile in India, let the rest of the world know about the oppression that China exerts on the Tibetan people and their religion. (32 years ago)
1989: June 4
The massacre of students in Tiananmenn Square occurs when the Chinese government orders the People's Army to recover, at all costs, the square that has been taken for seven weeks by idealistic students who demand democratic reforms. When the army reaches the square, almost a million people fill the immense esplanade blocking its entrance, which increases the tension and makes the army start the repression with blood and fire with the tanks crushing everything that stands in their way . At dusk on that fateful day, the dead will be counted by the hundreds and those arrested by the thousands. (32 years ago)
1984: August 2
China and Great Britain reach an agreement for the decolonization of Hong Kong, a colossal financial center, which will take place in 1997, at the end of the 155 years of cession that they agreed to in 1842 after the Opium War. (37 years ago)
1979: February 17
Chinese troops invade Vietnam in response to the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, and their approach to the Soviet Union rather than China, but will be repulsed after nine days of bloody and fierce fighting. (42 years ago)
1977: July 22
The Chinese Communist Party committee reinstates Deng Xiaoping as Deputy Prime Minister of the State Council, Vice President of the Central Committee, Vice President of the Military Commission and Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, after being stripped of them when the Gang of Four (who led the defense of Maoism after Mao Zedong's death), blamed him for the popular uprising in Tiananmen Square in April 1976, after the death of President Zhou Enlai. Deng Xiaoping will take over the reins of China in December 1978. (44 years ago)
1976: October 11
The official end of the Cultural Revolution comes to China a few weeks after Mao's death, which occurred on the 9th of last month, when today his successor, Hua Guofeng, orders the arrest of the so-called Gang of Four, formed by Mao's widow and three of her collaborators. In 1981, the Four will be subjected to a public trial and, although the Party will admit "grave errors" by Mao while rehabilitating millions of cadres and citizens who have been purged, it will attribute almost all the responsibility of the movement to the members of the Gang, and will be charged with anti-Party activities. Jiang Qing and Zhang Chunqiao will not admit the charges and will be sentenced to the death penalty, while Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen will show their repentance, for which their sentence will be 20 years in prison. (45 years ago)
1976: July 28
China suffers a devastating earthquake that reaches 8.2 on the Richter scale. The earthquake claims 240,000 lives. (45 years ago)
1968: July 1
Although it will not enter into force until 1970, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is signed in triplicate in London, Moscow and Washington, restricting the possession of nuclear weapons. The vast majority of the world's sovereign states will eventually become parties to this Treaty. Only the five countries, which possess nuclear weapons at the time of signature, will be allowed to possess nuclear weapons: the United States (signatory in 1968), the United Kingdom (1968), France (1992), the Soviet Union ( 1968, now Russia), and the People's Republic of China (1992). But these five Nuclearly Armed States agree not to transfer nuclear weapons technology to other countries, and the Non-Nuclearly Armed States agree not to try to develop nuclear weapons. The states of India, (53 years ago)
1967: August 8
In Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, six countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, China and Thailand) found the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) whose purpose is to accelerate economic growth and promote regional peace and stability. Eventually all the nations of Southeast Asia will unite. (54 years ago)
1959: March 17
The Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso leaves Lhasa (Tibet) at night fleeing Chinese persecution. By posing as a regular soldier for a Tibetan official, with a rifle in tow, he will succeed in crossing the border into India, where he will seek and find asylum. (62 years ago)
1959: March 10
In Tibet there is a revolt against the Chinese occupation of 1951. In Lhasa, 300,000 Tibetans surround the Potala, the palace where the Dalai Lama lives to protect him from possible murder or kidnapping. The response of the Chinese military is immediate and in the following days there will be thousands of deaths in retaliation. This revolt will conclude with the Dalai Lama's flight to India. (62 years ago)
1953: September 15
Mao's communist China is refused entry into the UN. Formosa is kept on the Security Council of this body. (68 years ago)
1953: July 27
The armistice that ends the Korean War between the United States, North Korea and China is signed in Panmunjeom. South Korea only remains as an observer member by refusing to sign the armistice, leaving the 38th parallel as the dividing line between the two Koreas, the same territorial situation that existed before the war. This conflict ends after more than three years of fighting (started on June 25, 1950) and approximately four million casualties (between dead and wounded). The economic and social damage from the Korean War is staggering. It is by no means a definitive solution, but only a temporary arrangement. For decades, the 38th parallel will continue to be a place of tension. (68 years ago)
1951: May 23
Although in October 1950, the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China occupied Tibet, it is not until today, through the signing of the "Seventeen Points" agreement, that China officially annexes Tibet as an autonomous region, giving rise to a movement for Tibetan independence led by the Dalai Lama, who will win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent struggle. (70 years ago)
1949: October 1
In Beijing's Tiananmen Square, Mao Zedong proclaims the birth of the People's Republic of China. Right now the Kuomintang nationalists only control a few cities in the south. Mao is elected its first president. In a short time, a Constitution will come into force that will proclaim the Chinese Communist Party as the single party. Mao will rebuild the damaged Chinese economy on the model of Soviet communism. (72 years ago)
1946: January 12
On this date, the United Nations Security Council meets for the first time. At this time, 51 states are part of the UN and the Security Council is made up of 11 members. The permanent membership of the aforementioned Council will remain in the hands of the victorious allies of World War II: the United States, the USSR, France, the United Kingdom and China, the rest being non-permanent and rotating members. By virtue of an amendment dated December 17, 1963, which will enter into force on August 31, 1965, the General Assembly will increase the number of non-permanent members of the Security Council from 6 to 10. These non-permanent members will be elected by the General Assembly for a period of 2 years and may not be re-elected at the end of their mandate. (75 years ago)
1942: April 26
During the Japanese occupation of Chinese Manchuria, at the Benxihu coal mine (Honkeiko for the Japanese), where working and safety conditions are deplorable, 1,549 miners are killed in a gas explosion. (79 years ago)
1937: December 13
In the context of the Chinese-Japanese War, the city of Nanking (China) surrenders to the Japanese forces and the Chinese government is forced to flee the capital. The Japanese general Matsui Iwane, orders the destruction of Nanking by setting fire to the city and committing real atrocities against the civilian population. This regrettable episode will go down in history as the "rape of Nanking", one of the most heinous crimes against humanity ever recorded, killing no less than 300,000 civilians in a disgusting manner: beheading them, piercing them with bayonets, dismembering them , burning them, burying them alive, shooting them, crushing them with tanks, raping thousands of women and girls who have previously been abused and subjected to the most atrocious atrocities that the darkest misery of the human soul has ever devised. At the end of World War II, General Matsui will be found guilty of all war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and will be executed. (84 years ago)
1937: July 7
On the outskirts of Beijing (China), near the Marco Polo Bridge, Chinese and Japanese troops clash, marking the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War. (84 years ago)
1936: December 12
The so-called "Sian incident" takes place when Chang Hsueh-liang kidnaps the Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, forcing him to end the civil war against the Communists to form an alliance against the Japanese invaders. This action will make Chang a national hero. Later, Chang will surrender to then-President Chiang Kai-shek, thinking that showing repentance they would only apply a symbolic penalty, but, nevertheless, he will suffer as punishment to spend the remaining years of his life under house arrest, until 1991 when he will be placed in Liberty. He will die in 2001 in his retirement on the island of Hawaii, at the age of 101. (85 years ago)
1934: October 16
90,000 Chinese communists flee the siege to which they are subjected by Chiang Kaishek in Jiangxi province, this being the origin of the "Long March". Only 20,000 will reach Yenan, including Mao Tse Tung. They will have sown the seeds of final victory. (87 years ago)
1932: March 9
Henry Pu Yi, who was the last emperor of China during the period from 1908 to 1912, became Regent, puppet of the Japanese state Manchukuo, serving as such until his capture by Soviet troops at the end of World War II. In 1950, Pu Yi will return to China where he will be imprisoned until amnesty by the revolutionary leader Mao Zedong in 1959. After his release, he will work as a gardener and librarian in Beijing. He will pass away in 1967. (89 years ago)
1931: September 18
Under the pretext of an explosion on the railway line, Japan invades Manchuria (China), an area rich in minerals and abundant raw materials, declaring it, in February 1932, as an independent nation with the name of Manchukuo and establishing a puppet regime to make it governed according to the imperialist interests of Japan. (90 years ago)
1931: August 31
In China, the waters of the Yangtze River, the longest in Asia with an approximate length of 6,300 km, and the third longest in the world, after the Nile and the Amazon, flood most of the Kuang region, causing the direct death of 145,000 people. The tragedy does not end here, almost three million more will die in the coming months from hunger and infectious diseases such as cholera. (90 years ago)
1929: May 7
The nationalist Chiang Kai Chek becomes president of the Supreme Central Council of the ROC. (92 years ago)
1928: October 6
Chang Kaichek is proclaimed president of the Republic of China. (93 years ago)
1912: February 12
Puyi, the last emperor of China, is forced to abdicate by Yuan Shikai, promoter of the republican revolution together with Sun Yat-sen. (109 years ago)
1911: October 10
The Republican Revolution begins in China led by Sun Yat Sen, founder of the nationalist Kuomintang party, who will later be forced to cede the presidency to Yuan Shinkay, who in turn will force Emperor Puyi to abdicate on February 12, 1912, with which the Manchu dynasty definitively lost the throne of China, marking the end of imperial China and giving way to the birth of the Republic of China. (110 years ago)
1900: August 4
An expeditionary force of all powers ends with the siege of the "55 days in Beijing". The Chinese government is obliged to compensate the affected countries. The balance of the 55 days of rebellion: 231 foreigners and a good number of Chinese Christians killed. (121 years ago)
1900: June 20
Chinese nationalists (boxers, a secret society called Yi HeTuan, "Fists of Justice and Concord") rebel in Beijing against economic and political interference by European powers and surround Western embassies for 55 days. In October the rebellion will be put down. (121 years ago)
1898: June 11
After the supposed withdrawal of Empress Dowager Cixi, who has been guarding her reign, the Chinese emperor of the Qing dynasty, Guangxu, issued his first reformist decree initiating the so-called "Hundred Days of the Reformation", an imperial attempt to renew the Chinese state and the social and legislative system, with the help of the most progressive, such as Qing Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. (123 years ago)
1860: October 18
British troops occupying Beijing (China) loot and burn the "Yuanmingyuan", the fabulous summer residence built by the emperors of Manchuria during the 18th century. In 1870, the Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi began its reconstruction but in 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, the palace was burned down again by Western troops. In the 1950s, the communist government will rebuild it. (161 years ago)
1842: August 29
In China the Treaty of Nankin is signed, putting an end to the Opium War between Great Britain and China that began 3 years earlier. Among other concessions, the Chinese give up Hong Kong. (179 years ago)
1839: August 23
The United Kingdom captures Hong Kong as a military base by initiating a blockade on the Zhu Jiang River to prevent the passage of ships as it prepares for war against the Qing dynasty of China. The conflict that will conclude with the British victory in August 1842, and by means of the Nanjing treaty will collect millionaire economic sanctions and the cession of the island of Hong Kong to Queen Victoria in perpetuity, will be known as the First Opium War. (182 years ago)
1839: March 10
Lin Zexu, high imperial commissioner in Canton (China) forces foreigners to hand over to the Chinese authorities all the opium they possess. More than 20,000 boxes are seized and are immediately thrown into the sea. The British government responds with war and will send a naval expedition. The Opium War has just begun. In August 1842, with the signing of the Nankin Treaty, and the cession of Hong Kong to the British, this conflict will be considered over. (182 years ago)
1644: June 6
The Manchu forces of the Qing Dynasty led by Emperor Shunzhi, captured the city of Peking during the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. This Manchu dynasty will rule and establish the capital of its empire in this city until the abdication in 1912 of the last emperor, Pu-Yi, as a result of the Xinhai Revolution and the establishment of the Republic of China, which will be the last of the Chinese imperial dynasties that have been ruling the country for at least 4,000 years. (377 years ago)
1644: May 25
Ming General Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the Manchu invaders and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan, allowing the Manchu to pass on their march to the capital Beijing. This will play a decisive role in the fall of the Ming dynasty and the establishment this year of the Qing dynasty, which will reign until 1912 and will be the last of the imperial dynasties. (377 years ago)
1556: January 24
In the vicinity of Mount Hua, in the Shensi province of China, a terrible earthquake occurs in which, according to the chronicles, 830,000 people die. Many houses are in man-made caves that have collapsed. For a long time it will be the highest number of victims in this class of catastrophes. (465 years ago)
1279: March 19
End of the Chinese Song Dynasty when its army was defeated in the Naval Battle of Yamen (in the Pearl River Delta, China) by Mongol troops under the command of General Zhang Hongfan of the Yuan Dynasty who, despite being very inferior in number of ships and soldiers, he gains an overwhelming tactical and strategic victory. There are tens of thousands of deaths, the majority belonging to the losing side. The Mongol domination of China under this dynasty will last until 1368, when the new Chinese Ming dynasty is founded, which will expel the Mongols to the northern lands. (742 years ago)
907: May 12
The Chinese emperor Ai Di is deposed by the army of Zhu Wen, leader of the peasant insurrection, putting an end to the Tang dynasty after 289 years of rule and 21 emperors, in which China remained united becoming a political model and cultural center from East Asia. (1114 years ago)
690: October 16
In China, Empress Wu Zetian ascends the throne of the Tang dynasty and proclaims the new Zhou dynasty and assumes the name "Emperor". In this way she is the first and only woman to occupy the imperial throne in the entire history of China. It will make Buddhism the official religion. (1331 years ago)
626: September 4Li Shimin, known posthumously as Emperor Taizong, assumed the throne during China's Tang Dynasty, which he held until his death in July 649. (1,395 years ago)
621: May 28
In China, near the Hulao Pass in present-day Henan Province, the Battle of Hulao takes place, in which Li Shimin, son of the Chinese Emperor Gao Zu, defeats Dou Jiande's forces, which are doubled in number. This victory will decide the outcome of the civil war and will mark the fall of the Sui dynasty in favor of the Tang dynasty. (1400 years ago)
23: 6 October
In China, and two days after looting the capital Chang'an (now Xi'an) during the peasant rebellion, a group of rebels beheaded Wang Mang, emperor of the Xin dynasty who tries to defend his palace and who rules dictatorially since 1 BC. (1998 years ago)
Outstanding births in China
1906: February 7
In the forbidden city of Beijing, China, Puyi was born who will be the last emperor to reign over this vast country. He will do it from 1908, with only two years, until the abolition of the Chinese monarchy in 1912. In order to deceive the Society of Nations, between 1934 and 1945 he will be imposed by the Japanese invaders as Emperor of Manchukuo, being only a puppet with very limited powers. Once the People's Republic of China is established, he will earn his living as a gardener and later as a historical worker at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. (115 years ago)
1893: December 26
Born in Shaoshan (Hunan, China) Mao Zedong, who will be a Chinese statesman, chairman of the Communist Party of China, main founder of the People's Republic of China and top leader from its creation in 1949 until his death in 1976. (127 years ago)
1638: March 15
In present-day Shenyang, China, the one who will be the second emperor of the Qing dynasty, the last Chinese imperial dynasty, of Manchu origin, Shunzhi, is born. (383 years ago)
1507: September 16
In China, Jiajing was born, who will be the eleventh emperor of the Ming dynasty, between 1521 and 1567. During his reign there will be a certain political stability although he will have to face incursions from abroad by Mongols and Japanese. He will be a fervent Taoist. (514 years ago)
1048: May 25
Song Shenzong was born in China, who will be the sixth emperor of the Song dynasty and will reign from 1067 until his death in 1085. At this time, political and social reforms will be implemented aimed at solving the serious problems that his Empire has inherited and improving the conditions of life of the peasantry on low-interest loans. Upon his death, his son Song Zhezong will succeed him. (973 years ago)
551BC: September 28
This date is traditionally marked as the birth date in the village of Qufu of one of the most influential figures in Chinese history, the philosopher and creator of Confucianism Kongzi, better known in the West as Confucius. (2572 years ago)
Reported deaths in China
1997: February 19
Deng Xiaoping, a Chinese politician and leader of the People's Republic of China, who introduced major economic reforms for his country in 1978, dies in Beijing (China). (24 years ago)
1976: September 9
The chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong, dies at the age of 82. He was the beloved idol of 800 million Chinese. After his death, Deng Xiaoping will emerge as the leader of China. (45 years ago)
1975: April 5
Chiang Kai-shek, a Chinese military man and statesman who ruled Taiwan in an authoritarian way from 1949 until his death, dies in Taipei, the island of Taiwan, being succeeded by his son Chiang Ching-kuo. He never resigned himself to the fact that his exile would be permanent and he always hoped that communism would eventually fall, so that, under his leadership, the ROC would reconquer the People's Republic of China. (46 years ago)
1644: April 25
In China, during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng, fueled by famine, unemployment and corruption in the public administration, the 16th Ming Dynasty Emperor Chongzhen commits suicide by hanging himself after ordering the royal family to do the same. , except for two of his sons whom he helps to escape the Manchu invasion that from the north has been strengthened by the popular peasant uprisings. In this way, the Ming dynasty was put to an end. (377 years ago)
1294: February 18
Kublai Kan, a Mongolian by birth, who conquered most of China in 1258 and became king of the country, dies in Beijing (China). In 1260, when his brother Mongke Khan died, he was also appointed Great Khan of the Mongols. In 1271 he became the first Chinese emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. During this period he was visited by the Venetian merchant Marco Polo, who became one of his political advisers. He tried to invade Japan twice (1274 and 1281), and both times the fleet was destroyed due to bad weather conditions. During his reign, communications were greatly improved and the trade routes of Central Asia were made more secure, which facilitated the movement of goods from the West to the East. He was the grandson of Genghis Khan. (727 years ago)
1063: April 30
The emperor of the Song dynasty, Renzong, who has been in power since 1022, dies in China. This dynasty has maintained a pacifist policy in the exercise of power, something that was taken advantage of by the western Xia empire. Despite this, he used diplomacy to ally himself with them in 1043, thus ensuring the integrity and stability of his empire. During his reign he managed to keep the peace, flourished the culture and reaped a significant economic improvement. When his sons died prematurely, he named Yingzong, Taizu's great-grandson, founder of the Song Empire, as his successor. (958 years ago)
