UCLA Center for East
Asian Studies
Today in Asian History
April 4
1879
Japan incorporated the Ryukyu Islands as Okinawa prefecture. 1885
Japanese chief minister Itô Hirobumi began negotiations with China's Li
Hongzhang over Korea. Korea remained a flash point between the East Asian
powers and nine years later Japan and China went to war, in part over which
would dominate the peninsula. Japan defeated China and in addition to
receiving an indemnity also took control of Taiwan. 1975
A U.S. plane carrying 155 Vietnamese orphans to America crashed as it
attempted to take off from Saigon. 1979
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (b. 1928), the ousted prime minister of Pakistan, was
hanged by the new military regime for having murdered a political opponent.
Bhutto took power in 1971 after Pakistan was effectively cut in half by its
defeat by India in the war that brought Bangladesh into being. He placed his
predecessor, a general, under house arrest. He dominated the Pakistani
government for the next six years, initiating a process of Islamization. He
was president 1971-73 and, after that position was made ceremonial, became
prime minister. In 1977 he was removed from power by a group headed by
military chief of staff Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq. The murder in question was the
assassination of one of Bhutto's political opponents in 1974. Bhutto was
sentenced to death in March 1978 and was hanged after exhausting his
appeals. Bhutto's
daughter, Benazir, took over as leader of his political party (Pakistan
People's Party, the PPP) and when Zia died in 1988, the PPP lead the new
ruling coalition. Benazir served as prime minister from 1988-90 and
1993-96. 2001 Joseph Estrada,
ousted by popular pressure as president of the Philippines on January 20,
was indicted for corruption and plunder. Prosecutors allege that the former
film star received $82 million in bribes and kick-backs during his two and
one-half years in office. Estrada never formally resigned, but had asked the
Philippines Supreme Court to designate the Vice President, Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo, the acting president. On April 3, the Philippines Supreme Court
ruled that, when Estrada left the presidential mansion, he effectively
resigned his office. As such, he was no longer entitled to presidential
immunity. 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>. Copyright © 1998-2001 by the UCLA Asia Institute.
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