On 22 October 1936, Chiang flew to Xi'an from Nanjing and announced his new plan of suppression of the communist forces, raising opposition from both Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng. On 4 December 1936, Chiang came to Xi'an again, accompanied by many senior Kuomintang leaders including Chen Cheng to monitor the suppression campaign. In the interim between these two visits the Japanese backed Inner Mongolian Army had tried to invade Suiyuan. This invasion was defeated by the Chinese in the Suiyuan Campaign (1936), the success giving many Chinese the belief that it was possible and necessary to resist the Japanese.[1]
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 12 December 1936, Chiang and his entourage were arrested
by Zhang's bodyguards. During the arrest, Shao Yuanchong (Chinese: 邵元冲),
the incumbent minister of the propaganda department of the Kuomintang,
died after he was hit in his testicles while attempting to climb over a
fence. Colonel Jiang Xiaoxian (Chinese: 蒋孝先), Chiang's nephew and bodyguard, was also killed during the chaos for past grievances.
Misperceived as a coup by Zhang, news of the incident shocked the
world. But Zhang and Yang had a different plan. While the country was
reeling in confusion, they contacted the CPC and requested a delegation
be sent to Xian to discuss Chiang’s fate and that of the whole of China.
There was great disagreement within both the CPC and Kuomintang on
how to handle the incident. Senior leaders of the Kuomintang decided to
set up an acting commission for resolution. Chiang’s wife Soong May-ling (Madame Chiang Kai-shek, 宋美齡) was excluded from this commission although she desperately asked for a peace negotiation. General Tung Cheuk Heem
was appointed to take charge of the military. His role was quite
controversial. He was voted as acting commander to lead the Kuomintang
armies for the rescue of Chiang. Historians used to say that He Yingqin strongly supported solving this incident by force, for which He contacted Wang Jingwei
asking him back to China to take charge of Kuomintang. Two armies were
marched to Xian to fight Zhang’s army. It has been said that when Madam
Chiang came to him to ask for a peaceful solution, He refused her on the
grounds of her being a woman with little knowledge of politics who
should stay out of state issues.[this quote needs a citation] New evidence suggests that it was actually the Whampoa clique, especially the young and extremist officers from the Blue Shirts Society,
who intended to launch military attacks against Zhang, even though He
Yingqin rejected their request for military support. The radical young
officers of the Blue Shirts Society and Whampoa clique could not wait
for the decisions to be made by their senior leaders and launched
expeditions against Zhang's forces. Although he did not support the
young officers in public, his connivance did promote conditions calling
for Chiang's death. However, warlords such as Li Zongren and Yan Xishan
who used to oppose Chiang, did not want Chiang to die. They knew that
if they advocated the execution of Chiang, Japan would benefit the most
from a China without a national leader. These warlord generals sent
their telegrams of reprimand to Zhang Xueliang and Yang and voiced their
support for Chiang. Furthermore, most of the western powers, such as
the United States and United Kingdom, preferred a peaceful resolution to
the incident, for they regarded Chiang as the ideal person to govern
China.
In the CPC, there were two opinions as well. Most of the leaders such as Mao and Zhu De proposed the execution of Chiang for his suppressions, which had damaged the CPC immensely. Some of them, such as Zhou Enlai and Zhang Wentian,
did realize it could bring more damage to the anti-Japan movement if
Chiang was executed. At last they only made a resolution to send a
delegation consisting of senior leaders such as Zhou, Ye Jianying and Qin Bangxian to Xi'an at the request of Zhang and Yang.
As the fury over Chiang and pressure for his execution intensified
among the CPC members and armies of Zhang and Yang, the situation
worsened for Chiang. Madam Chiang did not believe that the Kuomintang
would be effective in freeing her husband. Thus, on 14 December 1936,
Madam Chiang sent her Australian adviser, William Henry Donald,
who had previously been Zhang’s adviser (and had helped him overcome
opium addiction), to Xi'an for negotiation. The winds began to change
his way after Stalin gave his guidance on this incident. Stalin believed
that Chiang's execution would not be beneficial to either Chinese
resistance to Japan or Soviet interests in the Far East. Desperately in
need of Soviet aid, Mao relented to Stalin’s opinion and showed his
enthusiasm for peace talks. On 17 December 1936, the CPC delegation was
sent to Xi'an and met with Zhang and Yang to find a peaceful resolution.
On 22 December 1936, Madam Chiang and her elder brother T. V. Soong flew to Xian to meet the CPC delegation, Zhang, and Yang. On 24 December 1936, the parties reached an agreement to establish a united front
against Japan and to release prisoners accused of inciting
anti-Japanese riots. The next day, Chiang and his entourage were
released. Zhang escorted him back to Nanjing, although Zhou expressed
his concern.
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