China
joins the nuclear club exploding its first nuclear weapon in
1964. It is the fourth nation after the Americans, Russians
and British to build nuclear bombs.
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, more commonly just
called the "Cultural Revolution", had its roots in
a power struggle within the Communist Party leadership. The
Chinese leader, Chairman Mao Zedong and his wife Jiang Qing
used the chaos that resulted during the Cultural Revolution
to eliminate enemies within the Communist party. The movement
began with student protests in Beijing, but spread throughout
China with riots and fighting in some places. The students were
supported by Mao and their targets were powerful people in the
Chinese government. Many people were arrested and unknown numbers
were killed. Only after two years, in 1968, did the situation
return to normal with Mao firmly in control. But even in 1970,
many schools had not yet re-opened. Mao's battle against his
opponents had been costly. Years of work and progress were sacrificed:
A whole generation of youth went without education; factories
and farms lay idle.
With the death of Mao in September 1976, China slowly began
to open its borders to trade with the rest of the world again.
It had largely been isolated from the outside world since the
Cultural Revolution. Canada was one of the first countries to
establish diplomatic relations with China. Most dramatically,
contacts were begun with the United States, leading to full
diplomatic recognition on January 1, 1979.
In the early 1960s, "Made in Japan" meant something
of poor quality, junk. But the Japanese economic recovery after
the Second World War was rapid. The United States quickly realized
it needed a strong ally in Asia to balance the two communist
powers, China and Russia, and Japanese growth was supported
by the Americans. Starting with the export of poor quality,
cheap products, by 1968 Japan was the third largest industrial
nation in the world. The second phase of Japanese economic growth
was based on the export of high quality machines, especially
automobiles, successfully challenging American domination in
this field. By 1970, "Made in Japan" was a guarantee
of a high quality product.
The need to rebuild Japan after World War II proved a great
stimulus to Japanese architects, and contemporary Japanese buildings
rank with the finest in the world in terms of technology and
design. The best-known Japanese architect is Kenzo Tange, whose
National Gymnasiums (1964) for the Tokyo Olympics emphasizing
the contrast and blending of pillars and walls, and with sweeping
roofs reminiscent of the tomo-e (an ancient Japanese symbol)
are dramatic statements of form and movement.
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