In 1945 after the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Mao Zedong and members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) travel to Chongqing for a meeting with Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang (KMT). With help from the China Democratic League, the Double Tenth Agreement is signed between the KMT and CCP, with both sides agreeing to stop the civil war and to establish a multi-party government in China. The following year, Chiang Kai-shek calls for a National Assembly in Nanjing and is elected as President of the Republic of China (ROC). At the same time, the peace negotiations between the CCP and KMT fail and the civil war continues. Other political figures such as Zhang Lan, Soong Ching-ling and Li Jishen, support the CCP because they oppose Chiang's government, even though they are in non-battleground areas such as Shanghai and Hong Kong. In May 1948, the CCP declares the opening of a "War of Liberation" against Chiang's ROC government, with many other political parties responding to the call and taking the CCP's side. The Red Army scores victories against the NRA in subsequent battles and eventually Chiang's forces retreat to Taiwan in December 1949. On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong proclaims the People's Repu