The Xi'an Incident
In 1936, the Japanese imperialists continuously expanded the invasion to China, but Chiang Kai-shek adhered to the non-resistance policy and continued the civil war. The North East army led by Zhang Xueliang and the 17th Route Army led by Yang Hucheng was deployed to Shaanxi-Gansu district to attack the Red Army led by the Communist Party of China (CPC). Because of the influence of CPC's anti-Japanese national united front policy and people's anti-Japanese aggression movements, Zhang and Yang came to a truce with the Red Army and demanded Chiang Kai-shek to untied with CPC to resist Japan.
On Oct 22, 1936, Chiang Kai-shek flew to Xi'an from Nanjing and announced his new plan for the campaign against the Communist forces, raising opposition from both Zhang and Yang. On Dec 4, Chiang traveled to Xi'an again to monitor the campaign.
After unsuccessfully attempting to persuade Chiang to voluntarily join forces with the CPC to meet the impending threat of Japan, Zhang and Yang finally decided to take matters into their own hands.
In the early hours of Dec 12, Zhang sent his troops and seized Chiang.
While the country was reeling in confusion, Zhang contacted the CPC and requested a delegation be sent to Xi'an to discuss Chiang's fate and that of the whole China.
On Dec 17, the CPC delegation was sent to Xi'an and met with Zhang and Yang to find a peaceful resolution. On Dec 22, Madam Chiang flew to Xi'an to meet Zhang, Yang and the CPC delegation led by Zhou Enlai.
An agreement to establish a united front against Japan was eventually reached and Chiang and his entourage were released on Dec 25. Zhang escorted them back to Nanjing and was immediately put in house arrest and later brought to Taiwan by the fleeing Kuomintang government. He later died on Oct 15, 2001. Yang Hucheng was also arrested after the incident, but was killed in Chongqing in 1949 right before the liberation.
Historians believe that the peaceful solution of the Xi'an Incident contributed to the cooperation between CPC and Kuomintang, and turned the domestic war between the two rivalries into the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
China Daily
(China Daily 03/19/2008 page18)
