the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 made Jiang s intention mainland to invade a real threat to the newly established government on China The PLA quickly established control of Guangdong province in October 1949 and by early 1950 the provinces of Guizhou Guangxi and Hainan Island and Yunnan were under Communist control There was considerably more GMD resistance in Xianjiang province until March 1950 by which time all organised GMD military actions were ended on mainland China Finally there was the question of Tibet which had been part of the Chinese empire since 1720 After 1911 Tibet s religious and political ruler the Dalai Lama had taken advantage of the turmoil of revolution to unilaterally declare independence from China In 1949 most Chinese nationalists whether communist or non communist wanted to restore Chinese control Using a combination of negotiation compromises and military force the PLA restored Chinese control during 1950 51 DISCUSSION POINT Since the mid 20th century Tibet has been a matter of international controversy Do you think the case of Tibetan nationalists for independence is overwhelming or do you think Chinese nationalist arguments have any significant validity Do some extra reading on this topic to help you come to some conclusions Government and the CCP It soon became apparent that real power lay with the CCP which in 1949 numbered almost 5 million The Party institution that in principle was most powerful was the National Party Congress NPC Among other things it was the NPC that chose the top Party leaders The NPC also elected the Central Committee CC of the CCP which in 1949 consisted of the 44 most important Party leaders It was the CC that in practice wielded more power than the NCP as the CC was in session all year round who ular intervals 1 MOD