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Nanjing Incident
*** Shopping-Tip: Nanjing Incident
The '''Nanjing Incident''' (or '''Nanking Incident''', using the Wade-Giles spelling of the name of the city) should not be confused with the
Nanking Massacre, an entirely different and more horrendous event a decade later, which also is known by this name. It occurred on 21 through
23 March 1927, during the first phase of the
Northern Expedition. As
Kuomintang troops neared and entered the city, which had many foreign residents, the invaders shelled the area freely, doing much damage to foreign property and killing and injuring some foreign personnel. At the University of Nanking, the American vice president of the school, Dr. J. E. Williams, was shot to death. Many foreign shops and businesses were looted. The British and Japanese consulates were invaded and looted, two Britons being killed. Western and Japanese warships on the river shelled Chinese forces in an effort to protect the lives and property of their citizens.
Chiang Kai-shek and his "moderate" wing of the Kuomintang laid the blame for the outrages at the feet of communist elements in the army, an explanation which the Japanese and many westerners were very ready to accept. There is no good evidence to support this, however.
Foreign outrage was strong but the Americans and Japanese in particualar wanted to avoid action against Chiang that would weaken his hand against the communists, whom they feared far more.
Kijuro Shidehara, then the Japanese Foreign Minister, was criticized by many in Japan for this "weak" policy.
Reference: Akira Iriye, ''After Imperialism: The Search for a New Order in the Far East, 1921-1931'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965): 125-33.
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