LIKE THE RED ARMY 1919-1923
The role of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army during the Korean War

By Dr.Nadia Helmy
July 29, 2023


The Chinese celebration comes every year to commemorate the victory in the Korean War and the cessation of the American-South Korean aggression against North Korea, China’s ally, and because of the importance of this event for the Chinese, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army held a large military exhibition in the Chinese capital “Beijing” and opened it and delivered a speech in it, Comrade Chinese President “Xi Jinping”. There is an annual Chinese keenness, specifically from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, to re-celebrate and remind of this Chinese victory over the American aggression on their borders and how to achieve the Chinese victory over that American aggressive attack on the territory of the Chinese state. The Chinese celebration of this anniversary comes differently in recent years, following the escalation of tension with the United States of America and between the two Koreas, after North Korea accused the American intelligence Agency “CIA” of bombing (the joint liaison office with its neighbor South Korea), which is located in North Korean territory, near the (Border town of Kaesong), with South Korean officials denying the Americans’ responsibility for this bombing and blaming their northern neighbor. The site of the “Inter-Korean Liaison Office”, which is located in the territory of North Korea, was opened in 2018, to help the two Koreas communicate. The liaison office remained empty without employees for a while due to the mutual tensions between the two sides.

Tensions have escalated between North and South Korea in the recent period, due to the presence of a group of defected Koreans living in the south, i.e. South Korea, and used to send propaganda to the North. Therefore, the two countries (North Korea and its southern counterpart) established a political liaison office between them, in the wake of the talks that took place between the North Korean leader, “Kim Jong-un”, and his southern counterpart, President “Moon Ji-in” with the push and encouragement of the administration of former US President “Trump”. This came after the start of unprecedented talks between the leaders of the two Koreas, China and the United States of America, regarding the signing of a permanent peace treaty, but the relations between them have deteriorated in recent years.

The American officials were looking at that Korean War, which began in 1950 between the two Koreas, as a (war with the global communist powers), namely North Korea and China. However, the Chinese expressed their concern about what they described as “armed aggression on Chinese territory”, when the Americans crossed the border separating North Korea and China and headed to the “Yalu River”, which represents the border line between North Korea and China, and the Chinese leader “Mao Zedong” at that time sent his forces to North Korea and warned the United States of the need to stay away from the “Yalu River” unless it wanted to wage an all-out war. In October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the “Yalu River” and entered the war on the side of North Korea against the South Koreans and Americans. This Chinese intervention led to the retreat of the Americans, which continued until 1951. In 1953, the Korean War ended with an armistice that was not followed by a peace treaty, which led to the dispersal of millions of families in the northern and southern parts of the peninsula, which are separated by a demilitarized zone.

Here, we find that the Chinese Air Force played an important and decisive role in the battles of the Korean War. For the first time, after World War II, military aircraft with engines were used by the Chinese army, and China’s power emerged in the field of air attack. It had 1,400 military aircraft, half of which were Soviet MiG/15s, which at that time were the best military aircraft in the world.

The Chinese victory in the war to resist American aggression during the Korean War and to help North Korea ensured the security of the new China and brought stability to the Chinese people and the whole world.

In this Korean War, China and North Korea jointly resisted the aggression and expansion of US imperialism and hegemony, guaranteed the “security of the new China”, and ensured the stability of the Chinese people’s lives. Therefore, when celebrating the anniversary of the victory in that Korean War, we must remember well this date and its significance for China and the world, and cherish the hard-won peace with China’s help in confronting the brutal US hegemonic policies.

China has always pursued a defensive policy, just as the Chinese army has always been steadfast in protecting world peace, just as the Chinese, unlike the United States of America, never seek hegemony and expansion like the Americans, but China refuses to stand idly by and allow damage to national sovereignty, security and interests, or expose Chinese lands to violation by the Americans and their dominant imperial policies.

The Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950. On July 27, 1953, the North and South Korean sides signed the “Korean Military Armistice Agreement between the Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, the Commander of the Chinese People’s Volunteers, and the Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Forces” in the Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjom.

We find here that China, its Ministry of Defense and its great army celebrate every year China’s great role in victory during this Korean war to end the policies of American hegemony and imperialism over the Chinese.

Therefore, China is keen every year to commemorate the Korean War and its role in it, and always describes it as (an important chapter in its modern history). On this occasion, Chinese President “Xi Jinping” is always keen to visit the Korean War Exhibition in Beijing to commemorate this important date for the Chinese.

On the occasion of the commemoration of the Korean War and the strong role of the Chinese army in it, so the words of the Chinese President, Comrade “Xi Jinping”, in his capacity as Secretary-General of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Communist Party of China, to the masses of the entire Chinese people, to remember “the spirit of toughness, courage and sacrifice shaped by China’s experience in this war”, which President “Xi Jinping” and the people and the Chinese army consider that it was within the efforts aimed at the renaissance of the modern Chinese nation, and affirming China’s role in protecting the security and stability of North Korea and the world in the face of intervention policies American expansionist hegemony.

Therefore, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army held an exhibition to commemorate the Korean War and the memory of China’s victory in it, under the title: “Remembering the Great History and Preserving Peace and Justice”.

Dr.Nadia Helmy
Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Politics and Economics / Beni Suef University- Egypt. An Expert in Chinese Politics, Sino-Israeli relationships, and Asian affairs- Visiting Senior Researcher at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)/ Lund University, Sweden- Director of the South and East Asia Studies Unit