1894-1895 Japan takes Taiwan and southern Manchuria from China in Sino-Japanese War.
1905 Japan wins first Asian victory over European power in Russo-Japanese War.
1910 Japan takes Korea from China.
1911 (Feb.) China's Qing Dynasty collapses and Chinese Republic is formed under Sun Yat-sen.
1928 Japan seizes China's Shandong Province.
1932 Japan installs former Chinese emperor Pu Yi as president of its puppet state in
Manchuria.
1937 (July) Japan begins conquest of China.
1941 (Dec. 7) Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor brings United States into World
War II.
1945 (July 4) Philippine Republic is declared.
1945 (Aug.) End of World War II in Asia permits Chinese civil war between nationalists and communists to begin in earnest.
1946 Indonesia and Vietnam declare their independence of colonial rule.
1946 (Dec. 16) Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh forces start fighting against the French in Indochina.
1947 (Mar. 25) Netherlands recognize Indonesian independence.
1947 (Aug. 15) Britain grants India and Pakistan independence.
1947 (Sept. 24) Britain grants Burma independence.
1948 (Feb.) Britain grants Ceylon dominion status.
1948 (Feb. 1) Federation of Malaya is formed.
1948 (May 1) North Korea officially becomes communist state.
1948 (July 20) South Korea names Syngman Rhee president under new constitution.
1949 (Mar. 8) French recognize Vietnamese independence within French Union.
Pied. However, ownership of the islands would support claims to the surrounding waters and seabeds, which often contain mineral deposits or oil.
For example, China's claim of ownership of the Spratly Islands brings it into conflict with all the other nations that border the South China Sea. Every country on the South China Sea has claims on the islands: China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. All have partial claim on a group of virtually barren islands that happen to sit on top of a seabed that may be rich in natural resources.
1949 (Oct. 1) Mao Zedong declares China a people's republic.
1950 (June 25) North Korean troops invade South Korea, beginning Korean War.
1950 (Nov. 26) Chinese troops enter Korean War.
1951 (May 23) Tibet acknowledges Chinese suzerainty.
1953 (July 27) Cease-fire ends Korean War.
1954 (July) Vietnamese communists defeat French at Dien Bien Phu.
1959 (June 30) Singapore declares itself a self-governing city-state.
1961-1973 United States becomes directly involved in Vietnam War.
1962 (Oct. 20) China invades India in border dispute on Tibet border.
1965 Indonesian president Sukarno is removed and later replaced by Suharto.
1966 China's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution begins.
1968 (Nov. 11) Maldive Islands become a republic.
1970 (Mar. 18) Cambodia's Lon Nol overthrows Prince Sihanouk.
1971 East Pakistan (Bangladesh) declares its independence from Pakistan, with support from India.
1971 (Dec. 6) India recognizes independence of Bangladesh.
1972 (May) U. S. president Richard Nixon's visit to China begins normalization of U. S.-Chinese relations.
1972 (May 22) Ceylon is renamed Sri Lanka.
1973 (Jan. 27) Vietnam peace agreement begins withdrawal of U. S. troops from Vietnam.
1973 (Oct. 14) Student revolt topples military government in Thailand.
1974 (Feb. 22) Pakistan recognizes independence of Bangladesh.
1975 (Apr. 30) Vietnam is reunified when South Vietnam is occupied by North Vietnamese forces.
1975 (Sept. 16) Papua New Guinea is declared independent.
1975 (Dec. 7) Indonesia invades East Timor.
The slowness with which ancient Asian empires have become nation-states has meant further difficulties in defining all these boundaries. This has also meant that ethnic, cultural, and religious groups have been more important than nation-states.
Beyond geography, the wide range of cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups in large Asian nations have created their own conflicts. Among these, religion has been one of the most powerful and volatile forces in Asian history. Asia was the birthplace of many important philosophies and religions: Confucian-
Asia Time Line (continued)
1976 (Sept. 9) Chinese leader Mao Zedong dies; members of "Gang of Four” are
Arrested.
1978 Deng Xiaoping emerges as China's top leader.
1979 (Jan. 6) Vietnam invades Cambodia.
1979 (Feb. 17) China invades Vietnam but withdraws a month later.
1979 (Sept.) Soviet Union invades Afghanistan.
1981 (Mar. 24) Military takes power in Bangladesh.
1984 (Jan. 3) Brunei gains independence.
1984 (Sept. 26) Britain and China agree to terms for Britain's return of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
1985 (Jan. 14) Vietnamese-supported Hun Sen becomes Cambodian president.
1986 (Feb. 7) Victory in Philippine presidential election is claimed by both Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino, but public drives Marcos into exile.
1986 (Oct. 15) Soviets begin withdrawal from Afghanistan.
1986 (Nov. 27) Philippine communists sign cease-fire with new Philippine government.
1987 (Apr. 13) Portugal agrees to return Macao to China in 1999.
1988 Vietnam claims to have sunk three Chinese ships transporting troops to Spratly Islands.
1988 (May 26) Vietnam agrees to withdraw from Cambodia.
1988 (Sept.) Bangladesh flooding leaves a quarter of its population homeless.
1989 (Feb. 15) Soviet Union completes its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
1989 (May 13) Students in Tiananmen Square begin hunger strike that embarrasses
Chinese government on eve of Soviet Union president Gorbachev's visit.
1989 (June 4) Chinese army takes control of central Beijing; ensuing crackdown leads
To Zhao Ziyang's ouster and widespread arrests.
Ism, Shintoism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Islam arrived in Asia early and has had an influence on many areas of the continent. While some forms of Christianity arrived early, Christianity has had its greatest impact in far more recent times.
World History
