Red Star in China

History of China

China was ruled by the Ming dynasty till 1664. In 1644, the tribals from North China, called Manchus, crossed the Great Wall of China, invaded the Ming dynasty and removed it from power, and established the rule of Manchus or the Qing dynasty. 

The rulers of the Qing dynasty followed Buddhism and disclaim the local Harn Chinese. 

British Rule

By the 1800s, when the British established rule in India, they began to seek trade ties with China and Tibet. The rulers of the Qing dynasty perceived that the British have no trade motive and they are here to spread Christianity. 

The rulers of the Qing dynasty adopted a closed foreign policy and decided to shun engagement with the British. The British decided to carry out illegal trade with Tibet and also adopted the policy of corrupting the Chinese youth through the drug trade. This led the Chinese and the British to fight Opium wars. After the Second Opium War (1860), where the British defeated the Chinese, they got trade concessions and access to strategic Chinese ports like Hong Kong. 

Outmaneuver of Qing dynasty

In Hong Kong, the British tried to outmaneuver the Qing dynasty, by legalizing Christianity and also supported the Han Chinese (who was discriminated by the rulers in China). This led to constant interference by the British into the affairs of China and eventually led to the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911. The collapse was rejoiced by the Chinese people, who now, inspired by nationalistic urges, established a nationalist party called Kuomintang party (KMT) under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek. 

Civil War and China

The Russian Revolution of 1917 inspired Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who in 1920 established the Communist Party of China (CPC), under the leadership of Mao Zedong. After the end of the First World War, as noted previously, Japan became aggressive in China and began to occupy areas in China. 

The KMT and CPC, despite divergent ideologies, often united together against Japan. However, the KMT and CPC had serious differences regarding China, as CPC wanted to focus on rural areas first and then capture urban areas; while the KMT only focused on urban areas, neglecting the rural areas completely.

Due to these growing differences, in 1927, China descended into a civil war. Japan took the opportunity of the civil war and attacked Manchuria in 1935 and again attacked China in 1937. The CPC and KMT did unite against Japan but both were crushed by Japan. From 1937 onwards, they again began their civil war, which however remained suspended from 1939 to 1945, owing to the Second World War. 

Establishment of the Republic of China (ROC)

After the surrender of Japan in 1945, the US tried to negotiate peace between CPC (supported by the USSR by now) and KMT (supported by the US this time but failed. The CPC was able to mobilize Chinese people by branding the KMT as anti-nationalists for they were seeking the support of the US. The public sympathy increased with the CPC and by 1949, the CPC was able to oust KMT and established the People's Republic of China (PRC), thereby China emerged as a communist state. 

The KMT fled away to Taiwan and established the Republic of China (ROC) and remains there until today with ideological differences with PRC. To keep a check upon a communist China, in 1951, the US and Japan entered into an alliance through the Treaty of San Francisco.
 

Treaty of San Francisco