7 Days in Diplomacy; this Week in Chinese History

This day, 27 April, in 2014, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark visited the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders during her state visit to China. There, she to commemorated the Massacre victims and those...

This day, 26 April, in 1954, Premier Zhou Enlai led a Chinese government delegation to attend the Geneva Conference on the issues of Korea and Indochina. Ultimately, China’s participation therein helped achieve an armistice in Indochina, ending France’s many...

This day, 25 April, in 1644, Emperor Chongzhen, also known as Ming Sizong, hanged himself, bringing about the fall of the Ming Dynasty. On the one hand, he had worked hard to govern, was thrifty, self disciplined and devoid...

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...