Brief Notes on Cooperation between Communist and KMT

In the wake of Japanese invasion of China, Mao called on Chiang Kai Shek to end the civil war and co-operate with the red forces to face the common enemy- Japan. However, Chiang did not respond quickly because he was in favour of striking on Japan at the opportune moment.

Further he did not want to co-operate with the Communists whom he considered as dangerous enemy. As he put it, “The Japanese are only a skin disease, the Chinese Communists are a heart disease”.

He wanted to crush the Communists before checking the Japanese aggression. He, therefore, called on Young Marshal, son of Chang Tso-lin of Manchuria to attack the communist headquarters at Ycnan.

But as Marshal was smarting under the blows struck by the Japanese he joined the Red Army with his Manchurian forces. This greatly enraged Chiang Kai Shek, and he proceeded to Sian to bring Young Marshal back to KMT camp.

But the Manchurian soldiers, who were very bitter with Chiang because he had handed over Manchuria to the Japanese without striking a blow, seized him and handed him over to Red Army. It was feared that the Communists would executed Chiang Kai Shck, but they set him free on the condition that civil war between the KMT and Communist would be stopped and the two would combine to fight against the Japanese.

Chiang Kai Shek was to lead the combined forced of united China against the Japanese. It has been argued that the Communists leaders magnanimously released Chiang Kai Shek because they believed that China needed him for a national resistance against Japan.