Chiang Kai Shek Was Kidnapped
Chiang Kai Shek Was Kidnapped
The Xi'An Incident was big news at the time. It had even bigger consequences for China.
After the Long March, the Chinese Communists were mostly in northern Shaanxi, wanting a breather.
Japan had continued its aggression in China after it set up the puppet state of Manchukuo under Emperor Pu Yi. It manufactured incident after incident and had expanded its army’s reach into northern and northeast China. It was trying to influence Inner Mongolia and Hebei, around Beijing. It looked to set up warlords as puppet leaders under Japanese control.
Students and intellectuals in Beijing and other Chinese cities began protesting against the Japanese and against politicians that they perceived as being too friendly to Japan. It was a reminder of earlier demonstrations against Japan like the May Fourth movement of 1919.
The Communist Party and Comintern supported these student protests against Japan. The Soviet Union was very concerned by Japan’s aggression and the fact that Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had signed an anti-Comintern pact in late 1936. Stalin wanted either an anti-Japanese China, or alternatively, a Communist controlled buffer state between it and Japan.
Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT government in Nanjing was prioritizing pacifying internal enemies before resisting foreign aggression. Chiang was not against resisting Japan. He had done so when Japan had attacked Shanghai and at other times, but Chiang Kai-shek's strategy was clear-cut. First, eliminate the internal threat posed by the Chinese Communists, then turn attention towards the aggressive expansion of Japan.
His subordinates, especially Generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng had other ideas.
Zhang Xueliang was the Young Marshall, raised as a prince in Manchuria while his father, the Manchuria Warlord Zhang Zuolin, ran northeast China. Chiang Kai-shek appointed him and Zhang’s Dongbei Army, which was made up of veterans from areas now controlled by Japan, to lead an encirclement of the new Communist base in northern Shaanxi. This Northeastern Army, composed largely of troops exiled from their homeland in Manchuria by Japanese forces, believed that the immediate threat of Japanese expansion should be the priority.
Yang Hucheng was commander of the Northwestern Army and had also been ordered to destroy the Communists in the area.
Yang was influenced by the local Communists and his wife had fallen under Communist persuasion.
To gain a breather, the Communists under guidance from Moscow, changed their messaging from class warfare to a united front against Japan. That move was successful. Ordinary soldiers and commanders both preferred to fight the Japanese instead of Communists, who they saw as fellow Chinese.
While Zhang’s army did do battle once with the Communists, it lost that skirmish and then agreed to a ceasefire. Zhang became friendly with the Shaanxi Communists, who then agreed to retreat further north if they had help to purchase food and supplies. Zhang gave the Communists funds to do so, all without informing Chiang Kai-shek or Nanjing.
But the KMT had its spies in Shaanxi and knew that the mood there was changing.
Zhang Xueliang spoke with Chiang Kai-shek directly about changing national policy but did not volunteer about his contact or support for the Communists. After weeks of being unable to convince Chiang Kai-shek to abandon his policy of encircling the new Communist base in favour of war against Japan, Zhang Xueliang made a fateful decision.
In the ancient city of Xi'an, in southern Shaanxi, Zhang Xueliang seized and detained China’s national leader Chiang Kai-shek. He was placed under house arrest. This happened on December 12, 1936, and is known as the Xi'an Incident. It would drastically shift the direction of Chinese history, paving the way for monumental changes in the policies of China.
The two generals, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, men who were supposed to be loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, kidnapped their own leader.
The generals' motivations were rooted in their profound disagreement with Chiang's strategic focus.
To them, the real enemy was Japanese invasion.
In their eyes, Chiang's preoccupation with eliminating the communists was a misguided strategy that was leaving China vulnerable to foreign aggression.
They believed that the civil war needed to end, and that the country must unite to resist the Japanese expansion.
By taking Chiang captive, they aimed to pressure him into shifting his focus from the communists to the Japanese.
It was a direct challenge to Chiang's authority, a clear message that his generals were willing to go to extreme lengths to alter the course of the nation's future.
It was a daring gamble, one that had the potential to either bring about the change they desired or to plunge the country into even deeper chaos. It risked an even bigger civil war, which was the very thing they said they wanted to avoid.
For a time, it looked like the result would be a serious civil war. Officials in Nanjing wanted to launch a punitive campaign against Xi’an and the Communists and separatist warlords siding with Xi’an.
Mao Zedong’s first reaction, when he learned of the kidnapping, was to push for the execution or show trial and execution of Chiang.
But Moscow overruled that desire. It preferred a United Front against Japan, not a weakened China that would be even more vulnerable to Japanese aggression.
Chiang Kai-shek’s family members, especially his wife Meiling Soong (Madame Chiang Kai-shek) and Chiang’s brothers-in-law, wanted to prioritize his release by negotiation.
So, before a battle could begin, William Donald, who was liked and trusted both by Zhang Xueliang and Chiang Kai-shek’s family, went to Xi’an to facilitate negotiations. He had formerly been an advisor to the Young Marshall.
Later, Madame Chiang Kai-shek herself flew to Xi’an and, upon seeing her, the Chiangs reported that Chiang Kai-shek was emotional and said, “Why have you come? You have walked into a tiger's lair.” But he quickly re-covered from the surprise and then said "although I urged you not to come in any circumstances to Xian, still I felt that I could not prevent it. I opened the Bible this morning and my eyes lit on the words: 'Jehovah will now do a new thing, and that is, He will make a woman protect a man.’
The negotiations between the Chiangs and Zhang Xueliang made progress. The Young Marshall was willing to let Chiang Kai-shek free in exchange for a verbal promise to change his policies. But Yang Hucheng was less willing. He kept insisting on a written promise from the Chinese leader. Chiang would not sign a humiliating promise under duress.
Ultimately, the inclusion in the negotiations of the Communist leader Zhou Enlai helped break the impasse. Madame Chiang Kai-shek and Zhou spoke privately for two hours and he met with the Nationalist Party leader too and they reminisced about their times working together at the Whampoa Military Academy during the first United Front.
Zhou Enlai helped convince Yang Hucheng to let Chiang Kai-shek free.
The ceasefire and talks between the Nationalists and Communists upset the Japanese. A United Front against them was, of course, not what Japan wanted at all.
The Generals in Xi’an, and their soldiers, wanted an end to the Chinese Civil War and a united front against Japanese expansion.
These demands reflected a growing public sentiment in China. There was a growing frustration with Chiang's singular focus on eliminating the Communist Party of China.
This was a time when China was under KMT control. The Nationalists decided policy in Nanjing and there was no Parliament to express a different view. While there was somewhat free expression, and there were demonstrations, there were also limits and repression. In this situation, it took two generals, with their own armies and power bases, to articulate the growing opposition to Chiang’s strategy and to push for a different policy.
Chiang’s captors saw themselves as loyal Chinese driven by desperation and a sense of patriotic duty.
But bringing Communists into the negotiations, added an extra layer of challenges.
They were, after all, the supposed enemy, the force that Chiang had been so determined to wipe out.
But now, they, through Zhou Enlai, helped smooth resistance to Chiang’s release from custody.
The captors faced immense pressure, both from within their own ranks and from the outside world. They were walking a tightrope, their actions seen by Nanjing as treason.
But with Madame Chiang Kai-shek making certain promises, but Chiang refusing to make any commitments on paper, an agreement was reached. Chiang would review his policies. Chiang could return to Nanjing. Zhang Xueliang volunteered to accompany him and, if necessary, to stand trial for his actions.
The understanding was that the result would be an end the civil war and to unite the country against Japan.
Chiang Kai-shek’s release on Christmas Day, December 25, 1936, avoided a bloody civil war between Nanjing and its Northwestern and Northeastern armies. Huge crowds turned out for the Chiang’s return and his words. But his kidnapping and release would have far-reaching consequences, shaping the future of China and leaving a lasting imprint on the world stage.
The meaning of Chiang’s release meant an end to the ongoing civil war with the Communists. It was a pledge to unite the warring factions and to resist the expansionist ambitions of Japan.
It sped up the shift in Chiang's strategy. He ended the encirclement of the Shaanxi Communists and instead moved up his reaction to external threats.
The subsequent ripple effects would continue to unfold in the years following the Xian Incident.
This change of strategy, although coerced, marked a significant turning point. The relentless pursuit of the Chinese Communists was put on pause, providing them with a much-needed respite and an opportunity to rebuild their forces and build a crucial base area.
The formation of the Second United Front was a direct consequence of the Xi'an Incident. The Nationalist government and the Communists, once bitter foes, set their differences aside and united against Japanese imperialist aggression. This alliance, albeit uneasy and riddled with mistrust, was a significant shift in China's political landscape.
The Xi'an Incident provided a lifeline to the beleaguered Communist Party, enabling it to survive the civil war and eventually rise to power in the years to come.
On the international stage, the Xi'an Incident was met with apprehension and outrage. The Japanese, in particular, were furious with the unexpected turn of events. This marked the beginning of a new chapter in Sino-Japanese relations, leading soon to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The fate of the two generals who orchestrated the incident, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, was a testament to the gravity of their actions.
Zhang Xueliang, voluntarily accompanied Chiang Kai-shek to Nanjing, but was put under house arrest. He would remain a prisoner for over five decades. His house arrest included a move to Taiwan after the Communists he had helped with the kidnapping, succeeded in taking control of Mainland China after the end of the war against Japan.
His co-conspirator, Yang Hucheng, fared no better. He was dismissed from his position. And in 1949, when the KMT was preparing to evacuate to Taiwan, he was executed, a stark reminder of the perilous power game he had played.
The kidnapping of Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Nationalist government, by his own generals, was a bold move to steer the course of the nation. This shift in power dynamics paved the way for the eventual establishment of the People's Republic of China.
The Xi'an Incident also serves as a poignant reminder of the power dynamics within a nation's military and political structures. It highlights the potential for internal conflict to redirect national priorities, often with far-reaching and unforeseen consequences.
I wonder, what if the Xi'an Incident had never occurred? How different would China be today?
These are questions to which we don’t have answers. But they serve as a reminder of the profound impact that one event can have on the course of history, with ripple effects that can result across time and space. Thanks for reading about the Chinese Revolution.
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