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| 1979, Jan. 1 |
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| Diplomatic relations were established between China and the U.S. The U.S. broke relations with the Republic of China. | 1 |
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| Jan. 28 |
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| Deng Xiaoping visited the U.S., sealing the new Sino-U.S. ties. | 2 |
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| Feb. 17 |
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| After several years of increasingly tense relations with Vietnam, combined with support for the Cambodian regime of Pol Pot, Chinese troops invaded northern Vietnam (See 1979, Feb.–March). After a difficult and expensive mission, Chinese troops were withdrawn (by March 16). | 3 |
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| July |
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| Four special economic zones were created along the southeast China coast—the most famous being at Shenzhen, near Hong Kong—which looked much like Taiwan's export processing zones. Capitalism was given liberties within these zones that it was not (as yet) given elsewhere. | 4 |
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| Nov. 15 |
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| It was announced that all those improperly denounced during the campaigns from 1957 forward were to be rehabilitated. | 5 |
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| Dec |
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| The Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee of the CCP met. The Gang of Four was vilified, and the Four Modernizations were elaborated in somewhat more detail. They entailed reforms and development in agriculture, science and technology, industry, and national defense, marking a return to stress on expertise and incentive based on performance, not ideological purity. | 6 |
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