China time zone

Gwillim Law gwillim at gmail.com
Thu Aug 18 01:33:48 UTC 2011


An Yang suggests that there were two governments, designated North China and
South China, between World War II and 1949, both recognized by the U.S. I
don't think that's correct. To be more certain, I pulled out the reference
books I have on hand from about that period. Among them were the 1946 and
1949 editions of the World Almanac, and the 1947 and 1949 editions of the
Information Please Almanac. The almanacs usually have editorial cutoff dates
late in the year preceding their date. Thus, the 1949 World Almanac covers
events up until December 1948.

The 1949 World Almanac article on China is typical. It mentions only one
capital (Nanking, now Nanjing), one government dominated by the Kuomintang
(Nationalist Party), one constitution, and one president (Chiang Kai-Shek).
As sub-headings under China, it describes Mongolia, Sin-Kiang (now
Xinjiang), Tibet (now Xizang), Manchuria, Kwantung (now Guandong), and
Formosa (now Taiwan). Here is what it says about them.

"Mongolia, although nominally of China, was somewhat shaken loose from
Chinese adherence after World War I. Outer Mongolia is a republic .... At a
plebiscite (Oct. 20, 1945) the Republic voted to sever all ties with China
.... [In] Inner Mongolia .... [a]n autonomous Republic was set up by Chinese
Communists."

"Tibet, a country of Asia ... expelled the Chinese garrisons. But since the
establishment of the National Government (1927) a great deal has been
accomplished to bring Tibet closer under the influence of the Chinese
Government .... The head of the government is the Dalai Lama ..."

"Manchuria, the Manchu state ... was proclaimed an independent nation (Feb.
18, 1932) ... was renamed Manchukuo. At the close of the Sino-Japanese war
(1945) the territory was returned to China ...."

"Formosa ... was returned to China as a province (1945) after the surrender
of Japan in World War II."

Sinkiang is described as being an integral part of China. Kwantung, the
Russian lease around Dairen (Dalian), "was restored to the U.S.S.R. by the
Yalta Agreement (Feb. 11, 1945), which agreement also internationalized
Dairen."

>From other sources, I understand that the Chinese Civil War broke out in
1947 and is deemed to have ended with the proclamation of the People's
Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949. Chiang Kai-Shek retreated to Taiwan on
Dec. 10, 1949. Mao Zedong's Communists controlled Manchuria and significant
parts of Hebei and Shandong provinces, among others, at the start. They
occupied Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai during the period July 1948 - June
1949. As far as I can tell, the U.S. never recognized two Chinas during the
period 1945-1970. It may have transferred its recognition from the
Nationalists to the Communists for about a year in 1949-1950.

If there were ever a northern and a southern country in this time frame,
they would have been Manchuria/Manchukuo and China proper. Neither Beijing
nor Shanghai is in Manchuria.

There may be more details that I haven't discovered. If so, I would like to
see supporting documentation. The prima facie evidence is that there were
not a North China and South China as described.

Gwillim Law


2011/8/17 An Yang <an.euroford at gmail.com>

> **
> Hi Arthur and Paul,
>
> I find new evidence, before 1949 Oct, there are two governments in China,
> North China and South China, just like many countries split into two
> countries after the War II,  both of them were accepted by US government.
> Beijing is the largest city in North China, and Shanghai maybe the largest
> city in South China.
>
> Regards,
> An Yang
>
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