At this time, Japan became convinced that they needed China.
In 1915, they forced Yuan into a treaty giving Japan special
rights, which they were forced to give up by the Washington
Naval Conference. Sun’s Guomindang, along with the fledgling
Chinese Communists, took Shanghai and forced Yuan out of power.
Sun, and later Chiang Kai-shek took over the country in an
attempt to realize their nationalist government. At this time,
Mao Zedong organized peasant revolts that caused his rift
with Chiang. While trying to destroy the Communists, Chiang
was stabbed in the back by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria
in 1931, allowing the formation of Mao’s Red Army. While,
Chiang made a brief peace with the Communists during WWII,
confrontation was coming. Talks broke down in 1946 and led
to a civil war that exiled the Nationalist government to Taiwan
and the creation of the People’s Republic of China (Communist)
on October 1, 1949.
Initially, Mao took his cue from Stalin’s Soviet Union. They
supported the Communist cause in Korea. Later, Mao was disenchanted
by the Soviet Union’s level of communication with the west.
Mao ostracized from the world as he attempted such failed
reforms as the “Great Leap Forward.” Mao even supported a
nuclear weapons program over the objections of Krushchev.
Eventually, the world got in. Using the fabled “Ping-Pong
diplomacy,” China was recognized by Nixon and joined the United
Nations in 1971. Over time, pro-western sentiment and entrepreneurship
began to take hold. The massive demonstrations in Tiannamen
Square show the rising discontent among the younger generations
to this day when China is more of a player in the world economy.
