Today in Asian History: March 7 China, Japan, Asia, history, Korea, Clayton Dube

UCLA Asia Institute

Today in Asian History

March 7

1942 As part of their campaign to cut China off from armaments and other supplies, Japanese forces took Rangoon, Burma (Myanmar). By the end of the year, Japan controlled all of Burma and U.S. support for the Chinese had to be flown in from India.

1969 During bloody border clashes between Soviet and Chinese troops, more than 50,000 Soviets protested at the Chinese embassy in Moscow. The two socialist nations had endured chilly relations for a decade, but it appears that the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia caused Chinese Communist leaders to worry about a possible Soviet attack while the Soviets were irritated by Chinese accusations that they were revisionists and dominated by a bourgeois bureaucracy.

1988 Honda shipped the first American-built Japanese cars to Japan. Honda opened its first American auto plant in Ohio in 1979. By 2001, Honda directly employed 18,500 people at its factories and offices. Another 120,000 people worked in Honda dealerships in the United States.

1989 Chinese police opened fire on Tibetan demonstrators in Lhasa. Officially, 12 were killed. This was three days before the thirtieth anniversary of the suppression of a Tibetan uprising and two days after the Tibetan youths set fires and destroyed Chinese property in the Tibetan capital. The Chinese government declared martial law in Tibet and ordered foreign reporters and travelers to leave Tibet.

The British newspaper The Guardian placed the struggle between Tibetan separatists and the Chinese government in a world context, noting that

"By its unprecedented declaration of martial law in Lhasa, the Chinese government has admitted an entirely new level of crisis. Young militants with face-masks dart out of the side-alleys of the pilgrims' circuit in the old Tibetan quarter to throw stones. Chinese shop-keepers, most recent immigrants, have had their stores burnt down. The army makes forays from its barracks in the new Chinese town. The uneasy stand-off between Tibetans and ethnic Chinese has been replaced by something like the spirit of Belfast or the West Bank. This is open racial conflict in a country which always prided itself since the 1949 communist victory on being 'a nation of many nationalities.'"

China's official Xinhua news agency on March 9 put out a justification for the declaration of martial law under the headline "Tibetans say Martial Law 'Necessary'". The story included the following:

"'[M]artial law is necessary,' a group of Tibetan farmers in number three village of Doilungdeqen county in the capital's west end told reporters today. 'Who wants a bunch of rioters in the town to disturb the peace by illegal actions? What do they have to gain?' one of the farmers said. A wrinkled but hardy-looking old man who said his name was Cering Toinzhub spoke up. 'I don't know what the monks and nuns who were involved in the riots thought they were doing. Monks and nuns are supposed to be peacemakers, aren't they?' he asked. 'Their temples and monasteries were restored with the support of the Communist Party's policy and they themselves live on offerings donated by people. They must have eaten too well and had too little to do to be able to stage riots. as for us, we still have to work for a living,' he snorted indignantly."

Of course, the Chinese government would soon confront another challenge to its authority in the capital. In April, students and others initiated protests against corruption and economic hardship which evolved into calls for political reform. In May, the regime declared martial law in Beijing and in June violently suppressed the protests. Many in the international community were outraged at the Chinese government's treatment of its citizens. At the end of the year, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader. The Tibetan Government in Exile maintains a website on conditions in Tibet as does the Chinese government.

1995 In New York, the yen-dollar exchange rank sank below the Ľ90 = US$1 rate for the first time. On March 8, 1990 the rate was Ľ151 = US$1. On March 8, 2000, the rate was Ľ107 = US$1. The U.S. Federal Reserve provides charts showing exchange rates since 1990.

1996 An Okinawan court sentenced three U.S. servicemen to about seven years in jail for the rape of a schoolgirl. The incident heightened tensions in Okinawa over the American military presence and the application of Japanese law to U.S. service personnel.

2000 The Japanese foreign ministry announced that it would reopen talks with North Korea on normalizing their diplomatic relationship. These talks had been on hold for eight years. As an expression of good faith, the Japanese government also announced it intended to resume providing food assistance to North Korea. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs regularly updates its website on Japanese-North Korean relations.

The AI "Today in Asian History" page was compiled by Clayton Dube. He welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send them to <cdube@isop.ucla.edu>.

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