He Siyuan Residence Bombing Case

In January 1949, as Beiping faced peaceful liberation by the People's Liberation Army, former mayor He Siyuan advocated for a negotiated settlement. To sabotage this, Chiang Kai-shek ordered secret police chief Mao Renfeng to assassinate He. Agent Duan Yunpeng and his team planted time bombs on the roof of He's residence. In the early hours of January 17, the bombs detonated, killing He's 12-year-old daughter He Lumei and injuring He Siyuan, his wife He Yiwen, and daughter He Luli. Despite his injuries, He continued to participate in peace talks, and Beiping was eventually handed over without a battle. The bombing was a failed attempt to derail the peace process.

The direct perpetrator Duan Yunpeng was captured in mainland China in 1954, publicly tried, and executed by firing squad. The main instigators, including Mao Renfeng and Chiang Kai-shek, had fled to Taiwan and were never brought to justice.

Whether the bombing constituted an act of state terrorism or a war crime, and the legal and moral responsibility of the Kuomintang regime for deliberately targeting a civilian family to obstruct peace negotiations.

The attack exposed the Kuomintang's use of terror, galvanized public support for the peaceful liberation of Beiping, and turned He Siyuan into a symbol of peace. It intensified public condemnation of the Nationalist government and underscored the cruelty of the civil war.