History of China
The early 1970's were the start of the end of Mao's reign. During the cultural revolution, relationships between China and outside countries were destroyed, so Zhou Enlai worked to repair them. In 1972, the president of the United States, Richard Nixon, made a meeting with Mao in China, which would eventually start a period of improvement in relations between the two countries'. This was the first time a U.S. president had made a visit to the PRC, and this meeting ended a 25 year division between the two countries. At this meeting the two leaders discussed substantive topics that repaired relations between the two countries.
Major Events and Key People |
1976- Mao Zedong passed away which caused China to be in a state of chaos and confusion. Hua Guofeng was his successor. Jiang Qing, his widow, and three other officials, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, and Yao Wenyuan gained power along with his successor. These peopler were known as the "Gang of Four" and the country was not very fond of them. This "Gang of Four" announced how they were opposed to Hua, and they were soon arrested. This was widely supported by the country because the approved of the leadership of Hua Guofeng.
1977- Deng Xiaoping rose to power and started a modernization program where policies were moderated. He was a previous member of the communist party. He was in charge of updating a decrepit as well as to responding to peoples' pleas for freedom. People were not satisfied, particularly students, who begged for the establishment of a more democratic government 1989-Students from Beijing University stood in Tiananmen Square for weeks, demonstrating the type of government they want. The protesters were threatened when the The People's Liberation Army, opened fire on them. The June 4th Massacre drew international attention and caused the U.S. to respond by creating trade sanctions. 1997- Deng Xiaoping died, which sparked the end of the government that was founded by the ideas of communism. The mayor of Shanghai then became president Midnight of July 1st, 1997- Hong Kong and the new territories was returned by the British. The agreement that Hong Kong would have financial and judicial systems run by the British did not go over well. This handover was not supposed to occur until 2047, but considering how many people fled the country (an estimated half million) because they thought there would be a takeover caused the release to occur earlier. Therefore, Hong Kong was reverted back to Chinese control. 1998- Major flooding in the rivers, including the Yaghatze, which caused devastation and large death tolls May 7th, 1999- The Chinese Embassy was bombed in Belgrade, Yugoslavia by the NATO 1999- The Chinese developed the Neutron Bomb. From 2000-2003 China started the Three Gorges Dam project which allowed the resettlement of 1.3 million people. In the following two years 70,000 people were resettled and moved out of this area. 2000- There was a bombing that killed about 60 people in Urumqi, Xinjiang 2001- The leaders of 4 central Asia states along with China and Russia set off the Shanghair Cooperation Organization and agreed to promote trade while fighting ethnic and religous battles. This group emerged as the Shanghai Five - which consisted of China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikstan. In 2001, China was awarded the 2008 Beijing Olympics and they had positive attitudes toward this huge victory. By the mid 2000's China' s population was noted as the largest in the world, at approximately 1.3 billion. The law that was created in the 1980's, the one-child policy- which was put into effect in order to keep population growth from harming the economy and allowed urban families to only have a single child- was revised in the coming years and more freedoms have allowed families to now have two children. Growing trade and travel caused the spread of AIDS across China to occur rapidly. |