Wars that People's Republic of China fought

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Wars that People's Republic of China fought

Mao Zedong declared the formation of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Since then PRC has fought a number of wars, notable amongst them are the wars with Korea, USSR, Vietnam and India.

1950 - The Korean War

The Korean War started on June 25, 1950 between North and South Korea. The Korean peninsula was divided politically as a legacy of defeating the Japanese empire in 1945. Despite talks, continued combat on the border and the frustration of a failed all-Korea election in 1948, escalated to full-fledged warfare.

The United States and the United Nations came to South Korea's help. After a rapid UN counterattack that repelled the North Koreans past the border, almost to the Yalu River, China started assisting the North. With China entering the clash, fighting eventually stopped with a settlement on July 27, 1953 restoring the original border between the two Koreas and created a 2.5 mile wide buffer zone between the two called the Korean Demilitarised Zone.

1950 - Invasion of Tibet

Though Tibet has tried to maintain a national identity distinct from that of China throughout its history, China launched an armed invasion of Tibet the year following the formation of People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

The Chinese army entered eastern Tibet on October 7, 1950. Close to 5,000 Tibetan soldiers were killed and the small Tibetan army surrendered. The army, after confiscating their weapons, gave the prisoners lectures on socialism and then allowed them to return home. This attack marked the beginning of Beijing's campaign to integrate Tibet into the People's Republic of China.

1954 - The First Taiwan straits crisis

After the formation of the PRC, the deposed president Chiang Kai-shek led his followers into Taiwan. He took control of Matsu, Quemoy, Little Quemoy and 12 islets in Xiamen Bay. During the first Taiwan straits crisis the Chinese army launched heavy artillery attacks on Quemoy.

During this period between 1954-55, the USSR had been quite vague in its support for China to 'liberate' Taiwan, while the US indicated it was willing to use nuclear power to defend Taiwan. When it became clear that the Soviets would not be drawn into war with the US, China decided to call off the military operations.

1962 - Indo-China War
In the 1950s, China had two major claims on territory that India claimed its own—Aksai Chin in the Ladakh district in Jammu & Kashmir and the state of Arunachal Pradesh. The Chinese attacked India on October 20, 1962 because of the border disputes and also because India granted asylum to Dalai Lama after the 1959 Tibetan uprising. The war ended when China declared a ceasefire on November 20, 1962.

1969 - Sino-Soviet Border Clashes

China and USSR have had border disputes since the 17th century when Tsarist forces had occupied Nerchinsk and Yakasa in the Amur region. In the following century, there were Russian incursions in the Lake Balkhash area, near Northwest Xinjiang. The exceptionally close relations between the two countries during the period after the formation of PRC was a pause in the historically hostile relationship.

1963 - Occupation of disputed areas by the USSR

In 1963, the Chinese started to challenge the occupation of disputed areas by the USSR. After China's first nuclear weapons test on October 16, 1964, the military build-up on both sides began. Severe border clashes happened in 1969, almost a decade after the relations had begun to sour.

1979 - Chinese Invasion of Vietnam

After Vietnam joined the Soviet-dominated Council for Mutual Economic Cooperation and signed the treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union in 1978, China called Vietnam the "Cuba of the East". China's relations with Vietnam began to deteriorate seriously in the mid-1970s. Incidents along the Sino-Vietnamese border increased in frequency.

In December 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia, quickly ousted the pro-Beijing Pol Pot regime, and overran the country. China's twenty-nine-day incursion into Vietnam in February 1979 was a response to what China considered to be a collection of provocative actions on Hanoi's part. These included Vietnamese intimacy with the Soviet Union and mistreatment of ethnic Chinese living in Vietnam.

Wars that People's Republic of China fought - Page 2 - Economic Times
 

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