UCLA Asia Institute
Today in Asian History
April 19
1948 The United States tested a plutonium bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific. This test was part of the "Operation Sandstone" project.
You can learn more about this project and the development of nuclear weapons at the U.S. Department of Energy's "Nuclear Age" timeline website. The High Energy Weapons Archive site includes technical details about the aims and accomplishments of "Operation Sandstone" as well as test photos. The Atomic Veterans History Project site includes information about "Operation Sandstone," the effort to clean-up Eniwetok, and other projects and sells government videos of this and other tests. The National Security Archive includes on-line documents and photos of nuclear weapons development and nuclear weapons policies.
1959 The 14th Dalai Lama, Tibetan leader, received sanctuary in India. In 1951, the Chinese People's Liberation Army moved into and occupied Tibet. In 1959, there was an uprising against Chinese rule which the Chinese moved to suppress. The Dalai Lama and many of his supporters fled into Northern India where they established a Tibetan government in exile.
This government in exile has an extensive website which includes pages outlining its view of the occupation of Tibet, the 1959 uprising, and other matters relating to Tibetan-Chinese relations. The Chinese government maintains a website, China's Tibet, which includes the text of a book, The Historical Status of China's Tibet. This volume includes chapters on "the peaceful liberation of Tibet" and "the quelling of rebellion and democratic reform." The official Chinese position on Tibet's past, present, and future was laid out in a 1992 government white paper. Among the most important current disputes between exiled Tibetans and the Chinese government is the designation of the Panchen Lama, the second-ranking lama in Tibetan Buddhism. The 10th Panchen Lama died in 1989. In 1995, the Dalai Lama and the Chinese authorities recognized different six-year-old Tibetan boys as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. Not long after being recognized by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnated Panchen Lama, Gendun Choekyi Nyima and his family were taken into custody by the Chinese authorities. Their whereabouts have still not been announced. Amnesty International's website includes reports on this matter and other human rights concerns. China Window has several pages devoted to the six-year-old selected by the Chinese government.
1960 A student uprising broke out in Seoul, South Korea. These protests against the corrupt and authoritarian government forced the American-educated President Syngman Rhee to leave office, after twelve years in power.
Yun Po-son was elected president and Chang Myon became Prime Minister. In 1961, however, a military junta led by Park Chung-hee seized control of the government. Military-dominated governments retained power until the 1993. Rhee died in Hawai'i in 1965. As part of its Cold War project, CNN offers a web biography of Rhee. Asiaweek also has a brief biography of Rhee. Click here to see a 1948 photograph of Syngman Rhee. Click here to see a copy of the Korean constitution.
1966 Australian forces joined U.S. forces in support of the government of South Vietnam.
Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies had pledged Australian support in April 1965. 508 of the 59,000 Australians who served in Vietnam died there. Ern Marshall in Mildura, Australia maintains a site devoted to Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. August 18 has become Vietnam Veteran's Day in Australia. The government's Department of Veteran's Affairs website includes speeches and media releases regarding the Australian experience in Vietnam. Click here to see the Australian government's view of Australian-Vietnam affairs.
1998 Meeting in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japanese Prime Minister Hashimoto and Russian President Boris Yeltsin agreed to resolve the Russo-Japanese dispute over the Kuril Islands. In November 1998, Yeltsin and Hashimoto's successor OBUCHI Keizuo asserted they would have a peace treaty which would include settling which nation would have sovereignty over the Kurils.
This territorial issue remains a hindrance to improved Russian-Japanese ties. The Kurils, four islands north of Hokkaido, were occupied by the Soviet army during the last days of World War II. This occupation prevented the two nations from ever signing formal peace treaty. The islands are important fishing bases and provide Russia with an extension into the Pacific. As a consequence, the issue remained unresolved in 2002 -- despite continued pledges to try to resolve the issue by Yeltsin's successor Vladimir Putin and OBUCHI's successors MORI Yoshiro and KOIZUMI Junichiro.
The Japanese and Russians signed a friendship treaty in 1855 which acknowledged Japanese sovereignty over the Kurils. In recent years, Japanese have held rallies in February to commemorate the treaty and to press for the return of Kurils to Japanese control. In 2002, Prime Minister Koizumi angered Russian officials by speaking at the rally:
"There is no change in our policy that Russia should make it clear that the four islands belong to Japan," said he said at an annual rally.... We should not become impatient. We must negotiate with Russia with tenacity. We should not give up our hope" (quoted by the BBC).
- Sakhalin and the Kurils (Russian page, includes information on geography -- the Kurils have about 40 active volcanoes)
- International Kuril Island Project (US, Russian, and Japanese scientific collaboration)
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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