World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn an attempt to unify China by removing local warlords, Nationalist Chinese forces embarked on the Northern Expedition. Han Fuju was the warlord controlling the eastern province of Shandong, and was targeted by the Northern Expedition. As Nationalist troops neared, Japanese troops stationed in the Chinese city of Tianjin, against orders from Tokyo, moved into Jinan and Qingtao in Shandong Province to secure Japanese interests. On 30 Apr 1928, Nationalist Chinese troops entered Jinan, also against Chiang Kaishek's orders, who wanted to avoid a confrontation with the Japanese at this time. Japanese troops and Nationalist Chinese troops remained respectful of each other until 3 May, when a clash took place between soldiers on either side near the home of a Japanese family, resulting in 12 Japanese killed. Tensions mounted very quickly, with sporadic fighting taking place around Jinan. The Nationalist government sent negotiators in attempt to de-escalate the situation, but the Japanese refused to talk, detaining the negotiators. In the evening of 3 May, Japanese troops withdrew out of Jinan, and Chinese troops reported murders and rapes committed by Japanese soldiers against Chinese civilians. The Chinese chief negotiator Cai Gongshi and his team of 10 negotiators were executed around this time; Cai met a particularly gruesome fate as the Japanese cut off his ears, nose, tongue, and gouged out his eyes before executing him. From outside the city, Japanese artillery fired on the Chinese troops who now garrisoned the city, without concern for collateral damage. On 5 May, Chiang Kaishek and local Japanese commander General Hikosuke Fukuda reached an agreement, largely with Chiang conceding to Japanese demands, and the fighting scaled down over the following two days as Chinese troops withdrew. Jinan would become occupied by Japanese forces for the following ten months (Japanese troops departed from Chinese cities in Shandong on 28 Mar 1929), and it served as an excuse for the Japanese to station even more troops in Shandong Province. Chinese sources claimed that 6,123 Chinese military personnel and civilians were killed during the Jinan Incident; a further 1,701 were wounded.

ww2dbaseChiang and Japanese Prime Minister Giichi Tanaka attempted to mend relations between the two countries after the incident; Chiang blamed the incident on the actions of commanding officer He Yaozu of the Nationalist Chinese 3rd Army Group, who ordered his troops to move into Jinan against Chiang's orders.

Photographs

Jinan Incident Timeline

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