Xi'an Incident - Repercussions

Repercussions

Although Chiang described his perseverance during the ordeal in Half Month In Xian, parts of his journal were clearly fabricated. In his diary, Chiang described it as the greatest humiliation of his life, thus it was no surprise that he would later seek to take revenge on Zhang. As Chiang was the legitimate premier of China at the time, Zhang’s actions could be characterized as treasonous. Although some argued for a public trial, Chiang insisted on trying Zhang in a military court. Zhang was sentenced to ten years in prison, with Chiang quickly granting amnesty but nevertheless keeping Zhang in custody.

Zhang was incarcerated for most of the rest of his life, and his armies disbanded in the meantime; he did not publicly reveal any more details about the incident and died in 2001. Zhou Enlai publicly expressed regrets about the incident, while Zhang privately told others he felt the CPC had betrayed him, insofar as his actions had saved the CPC from annihilation but they had put Zhang in custody anyway. Furthermore, Zhang’s real status and beliefs were still in question. Zhang’s enthusiasm for communism was no secret; he applied for membership in the CPC. According to the biography of Zhou, however, Zhou told others that Zhang’s application was opposed by Stalin, as he thought Zhang's status as a warlord made him a poor candidate for CPC membership. New theories argued Zhang was indeed a CPC member, but his status was kept secret so only a few people, such as Zhou and Ye Jianying, knew. With eyewitnesses in their advanced years and fewer of them, Zhang's true status may remain unknown. If Zhang’s CPC membership were ever to be verified, the history of the Xi'an Incident would probably be rewritten as a CPC conspiracy (as opposed to a spontaneous act motivated by patriotism).

Yang Hucheng probably lost the most in the incident, as he was removed from his position and sent abroad for "review"; later, he was held in a concentration camp for 13 years. When the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, Chiang ordered the execution of Yang, his wife and his son as a small child.

It is generally accepted the CPC benefited the most from the incident. Chiang held up his end of the peace agreement and suspended anti-Communist operations until the outbreak of the New Fourth Army Incident with Mao exploiting the interlude, enlarging his base and strengthening his grip on power. By conforming to Soviet policy, Mao also appeased Stalin and avoided his further interference. Finally, the CPC won considerable support from the Chinese people for being open advocates of the anti-Japanese United Front. All this laid the foundation for the CPC’s victory over the Kuomintang after the end of the anti-Japanese war.