Defeated in the Chinese Civil War, Chiang Kai-shek's government withdraws to Taiwan and makes Taipei its provisional capital.
Mao Zedong proclaims the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen.
The government of the Republic of Korea is established in the south of the peninsula, with Syngman Rhee as president.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is proclaimed in the north of the peninsula, led by Kim Il Sung.
North Korean forces cross the 38th parallel; the war, drawing in US-led UN forces and China, ends in an armistice in 1953.
An uprising against the Kuomintang administration in Taiwan is suppressed, killing thousands and ushering in the White Terror.
The postwar constitution makes the emperor a symbol of the state, and its Article 9 renounces war.