The Chinese Communist Party Leadership and the Xi'an Incident

Under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Comrade Zhou Enlai, the Xi'an Incident was peacefully resolved when Chiang Kai-shek accepted the proposal to “end the civil war, unite with the Communist Party, and resist Japan.” This brought about the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. The peaceful resolution of the Xi'an Incident became a turning point in the political situation: it ended the decade-long civil war, laid the initial foundations for the second Kuomintang-Communist cooperation and the united national front against Japanese aggression, and marked the transition from civil war to a war of national resistance against Japan. Drawing on materials such as telegrams, reports, and letters, this manuscript reveals the background and course of the Xi'an Incident, as well as the Chinese leadership’s response.