Hong Kong, October 2 1949: Yesterday was an epoch-making occasion in the history of Asia, with Mao Tse-tung, chairman of the Central People’s Government Council of the People’s Republic of China, formally proclaiming the inauguration of the new regime. He claimed that the “war of the people’s liberation” had now been “fundamentally won” and announced that the Central Government Council had appointed Chou En-lai as Premier and Foreign Minister, and Chu Teh as commander-in-chief, with Mao himself as chairman of the People’s Revolutionary Military Council.
