UNRRA’s Relief And Rehabilitation In The Liberated Areas

As the Second World War drew to a close,UNRRA was established in the United States to assist countries and regions affected by the war,and its work consisted of two main parts: relief and rehabilitation.As an international organization,the UNRRA stipulated in its General Assembly Resolution the principle of no discrimination on the basis of race,religion or political beliefs,and the Liberated Areas to which the Chinese Communist Party belonged should enjoy the right to fair distribution.Through the communication of the UNRRA,the Director of CNRRA Jiang Tingfu and Chinese Communist Party main leader Zhou Enlai reached an agreement at the end of 1945,and the relief work of the UNRRA for the Liberated Areas began.However,due to the tense situation in China,the relief work in the liberated areas faced great difficulties.Since the Basic Agreement for the UNRRA’s work in China was signed with the National Government,it was difficult for the UNRRA not only to maintain the status of the National Government as the central government,but also to make great efforts to promote fair distribution in the liberated areas.The Yellow River Project is the largest project of the UNRRA in China,and has received great attention from home and abroad from the very beginning.During the the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,the National Government dug the dikes of Huayuankou to stop the southward advance of the Japanese army,which caused the Yellow River to break and divert,and created a large scale floodplain area in the areas of Henan,Anhui and Jiangsu,causing great harm to the local people.So as to realize the reclamation of the Yellow River floodplain during its aid to China,the UNRRA was eager to return the Yellow River to its former course.Since most of the lower dikes were located in the Liberated Areas,and a large number of residents had lived in the lower riverbed,it was particularly important to restore the dikes and resettle the residents in the riverbed before the Yellow River returned to its original channel,which also became an important part of the relief work carried out by the UNRRA in the Liberated Areas.This paper examines the implementation of the UNRRA’s rehabilitation and relief work in the liberated area,with the Yellow River Project as the centerpiece.For the Yellow River Project,it focuses on the analysis of the Yellow River negotiation process from the perspective of the UNRRA.UNRRA played a key role in promoting the early start of the Yellow River Project.At the early stage of the Yellow River negotiations,the UNRRA still played an important role due to the relative stability of the domestic situation.However,as the China’s domestic situation worsened,the role of UNRRA became weaker and weaker,and the negotiations eventually broke down and the Huayuankou was forcibly blocked by the National Government by force.Although the Huayuankou was blocked,the work of repairing the dikes was not yet completed,and the UNRRA still made efforts to push forward the restoration of the dikes to the Liberated Areas.The UNRRA also made efforts to promote fair distribution to the liberated areas,however,the results were not as satisfactory.The CCP’s attitude toward it went through a change from relatively cooperative to fierce criticism.Ultimately,the UNRRA was jointly criticized by both the Chinese Communist Party and the National Government.Although the effectiveness of the UNRRA’s rehabilitation and relief work in the Liberated Areas was hardly satisfactory,its initial intentions and efforts still deserve recognition.