Korea, Tibet, Vietnam, India, Taiwan and Hong Kong

What was PRC relationship with her neighbours?

The PRC's relationship with its regional neighbours has been very mixed. Since 1949, China has engaged in a mixture of economic and political cooperation as well as several short-lived conflicts.

What was the PRC's relationship with Korea like?

There were 5 events and reasons why the PRC and Korea had an important relationship between 1949 and 1990.

• ❖ Communist North Korea aided the CCP during the civil war by donating aid and providing thousands of Korean volunteers for the Red Army. North Korea was also a safe place in which the Red Army could hide.
• ❖ The North Korean dictator, Kim Il-sung, and Mao Zedong were allies. Up to 70,000 battle-hardened Koreans from the Red Army were allowed to return to North Korea and were instrumental in making the invasion of South Korea a success.
• ❖ The Korean War took place from 25th June, 1950 - 27th July, 1953. Mao had promised to defend North Korea, and when the UN invaded in September 1950 he quickly sent the People's Volunteer Army to help.
• ❖ The PRC spent over 40% of its annual budget fighting and sent most of the People's Liberation Army to fight in the war at a time when it was economically weak. It illustrated Mao's commitment to defending communism and challenging the USA.
• ❖ In 1961, the two countries signed the Sino-North Korean Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance. In this agreement, China promised to intervene against any attack on North Korea.

What was the PRC's relationship with Tibet like?

There were 10 events and reasons why the PRC and Tibet had a troubled relationship between 1949 and 1990.

• ❖ Between 1949 and 1950, the PLA began to occupy Tibet. The PRC claimed Tibet as part of the ancient Kingdom of China and said it was doing so to modernise a backward region.
• ❖ After a short war lasting a few months, the PRC annexed Tibet and called it the 'peaceful liberation of Tibet.'.
• ❖ In 1951, the PRC forced the Tibetan government to sign the Seventeen Point Agreement recognising Tibet as part of the PRC.
• ❖ Between 1956 and 1962 a guerrilla war was fought between Tibetan rebels and the PLA.
• ❖ In 1959 there was an uprising in Tibet, in which thousands died and the Dalai Lama fled to set up a government in exile in India.
• ❖ The occupation of Tibet became part of the Cold War. The CIA trained and then parachuted Tibetans into Tibet between 1957 and 1972 in order to organise rebellions against the PLA. This met with little success.
• ❖ Between 1959 and 1962 severe repression followed, with the CCP attacking the Tibetan language, culture and beliefs. The Dalai Lama was replaced by a Chinese puppet leader, the Panchen Lama.
• ❖ During the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guard destroyed thousands of monasteries, forced monks out of their positions and tortured and murdered thousands in Tibet.
• ❖ The destruction of Tibetan culture has been called a 'cultural genocide' by the Dalai Lama. Han Chinese settlers have flooded into Tibet to further pacify the region.
• ❖ The PRC's actions in Tibet brought international condemnation throughout 1949 to 1990.

What was the PRC's relationship with Vietnam like?

There were 11 events and reasons why the PRC and Vietnam have had a tense relationship between 1949 and 1990.

• ❖ From 1950 until 1975, the PRC was an important ally of Ho Chi Minh's communist North Vietnam.
• ❖ Mao Zedong sent aid, arms and advisors into Vietnam to help fight the French and Americans in the wars against them. Up to 300,000 Chinese troops served in North Vietnam.
• ❖ After the defeat of the French in 1954, Mao was concerned Ho Chi Minh's victory would provoke an American invasion. China could not afford another Korean War.
• ❖ When the Gulf of Tonkin incident brought American involvement in Vietnam, Mao wanted Ho Chi Minh to follow his orders and not accept help from the Soviet Union. Ho Chi Minh was not willing to do this.
• ❖ In 1974 there was a brief clash between communist Vietnam and the PRC over oil wells in the Gulf of Tonkin. China occupied them.
• ❖ In December 1978 the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia and routed the murderous regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot was an ally of Mao Zedong.
• ❖ Vietnam became closer to the Soviet Union and signed a Treaty of Mutual Peace with it in 1978.
• ❖ By 1978 the Sino-Vietnamese split had taken place. The PRC wanted to teach Vietnam a lesson.
• ❖ Between 17th February and 16th March, 1979, the PRC launched an invasion into northern Vietnam, occupying several cities.
• ❖ The war was a warning and some fighting on the Sino-Vietnamese border continued into the 1980s.
• ❖ The conflict only ended in 1989 after the Vietnamese agreed to withdraw from Cambodia. It took until 1991 to restore friendly relations between the two communist powers.

What was the PRC's relationship with India like?

There were 10 events and reasons why the PRC and India had a constructive but tense relationship between 1949 and 1990.

• ❖ On 1st April, 1950, India became the first non-communist nation in Asia to formally recognise the PRC. This was a positive step as both nations shared an anti-imperialist outlook.
• ❖ In April 1954, India and the PRC signed an eight-year agreement on Tibet called the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. India promised to support the PRC's occupation of Tibet as long as Tibetan culture was untouched.
• ❖ The early relationship between the countries was described as Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai, which means, in Hindi, 'Indians and Chinese are brothers'.
• ❖ Between 1954 and 1959, tensions rose when India claimed territorial rights over a part of the Tibetan region China had occupied.
• ❖ In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India and was allowed to set up a government in exile which worked to undermine the occupation of Tibet.
• ❖ In 1962, the Sino-Indian war broke out over control of the Aksayquin area. The Indians were defeated and the PRC still holds the territory today.
• ❖ In 1965, India and Pakistan went to war and the PRC backed Pakistan.
• ❖ In August 1971, India and the Soviet Union became allied through a Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation which enraged the PRC.
• ❖ In 1979, both powers re-established diplomatic relations.
• ❖ Since 1988, the PRC has worked to improve relations with India. Both countries have made efforts to reduce tensions along their frontier as well as develop trade and cultural ties. However, small scale fighting continues on the border.

What was the PRC's relationship with Taiwan like?

There were 11 events and reasons why the PRC and Taiwan had an extremely tense relationship between 1949 and 1990.

• ❖ In December 1949, Chiang Kai-shek and nearly 2 million GMD soldiers, officials and their families evacuated to the island of Taiwan, making Taipei the new capital of the Republic of China (ROC).
• ❖ President Truman sent the US 7th Fleet to defend Taiwan from invasion after the start of the Korean War in June 1950. The US defence of Taiwan became part of the Cold War strategy of containment.
• ❖ Some GMD forces remained trapped in China. One force retreated to Burma (Myanmar) and for many years into the 1950s and 1960s continued to launch guerrilla raids into southern China. They were supplied by the CIA and by Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan.
• ❖ From 1950 until 1958, there was a GMD Islamic insurgency in north west China. The CIA and GMD aircraft from Taiwan continued to support them with supplies.
• ❖ There were two Taiwan Straits crises in 1954 and 1958, leading to small-scale fighting between PRC and ROC forces over the control of some small islands. There was a risk this could escalate into a full scale war.
• ❖ In December 1954, the United States and the ROC signed the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty. This signalled to the PRC not to attempt an invasion of Taiwan.
• ❖ Until 1971, communist countries only recognised the PRC as the legitimate government of China, and the West only recognised the ROC. However, this changed when the USA recognised the PRC as the legitimate government and it was allowed to join the UN.
• ❖ In 1979, the ROC refused to have any contact with the PRC. The 'Three Noes' policy was summed up as, 'no contact, no negotiation and no compromise'.
• ❖ There was never a peace deal signed at the end of the civil war and the PRC and ROC remained officially in a state of war until 1979.
• ❖ During the 1980s, after public pressure in Taiwan to allow families to reunite with loved ones in China, the PRC and ROC governments began the process of opening up trade and allowing visas for visits between the countries.
• ❖ The PRC still considers Taiwan part of China but developed a 'one country, two systems' policy. It promised Taiwan would be given autonomy if it accepted reunification. Taiwan never has, but in 1991 it officially ended the war with the PRC.

What was the PRC's relationship with Hong Kong like?

There were 8 events and reasons why the PRC and Hong Kong had a constructive relationship between 1949 and 1990:

• ❖ One of the greatest crimes against China from the perspective of both Mao Zedong and many Chinese people, were the unequal treaties that had opened China up to the Western powers, and Japan in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These insults were not forgotten in 1949.
• ❖ When Mao Zedong came to power in 1949, he wanted foreigners and their settlements in cities like Shanghai, gone. The PRC's long-term foreign policy aim was to gain back any such territory from hostile foreign powers.
• ❖ The CCP and Mao Zedong used the term 'century of humiliation' to refer to the period 1839 to 1949. It began with the Opium War and ended with victory in the civil war. It was used to great propaganda effect.
• ❖ Until 1997, Britain still ruled Hong Kong, making China's relationshp with Britain important. It was Britain that had forced the first of the unequal treaties on China.
• ❖ Hong Kong was a major embarrassment to the PRC as it was a reminder of their humiliation. From 1945, people fleeing the civil war, communist China, the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution all crossed over into Hong Kong.
• ❖ In 1967, during the Cultural Revolution, there were riots, strikes and demonstrations by left-wing and communist groups against the British occupation.
• ❖ The lease on Hong Kong was due to expire in 1997. Britain and the PRC signed a joint declaration in December 1984 that paved the way for the handing back of Hong Kong to the PRC under the 'one country, two systems' policy.
• ❖ There was no need for China to invade Hong Kong as it gave the PRC access to international trade. In 1951, $431 million worth of goods were imported from Hong Kong.