22 January 1949

Peaceful liberation of China's Beiping

On January 22, 1949, the Kuomintang (KMT) army at the time relinquished control of Beiping (now Beijing), and the complete takeover by the Communist Party of China (CPC) meant the long-standing civil war was nearing its end.

Beiping, which had been the capital during the Ming and Qing dynasties, had been under siege for over a month before its liberation. The KMT general Fu Zuoyi (傅作義) reached an agreement with the CPC, who were striving for peaceful unification in North China.

According to the agreement, a joint committee was established to oversee the transition to the new communist-led regime. Following the agreement, the KMT troops responsible for defending the city peacefully handed over control of Beiping.

Meanwhile, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), the KMT leader who had been fighting the communists for over 20 years, also announced his "retirement" from the presidency, in a bid to end the hostilities.

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