Case of Chiang Kai-shek's Two Escapes

This refers to two separate assassination attempts on Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek during the Nanjing decade. In June 1931, while Chiang was in Lushan, would-be assassin Chen Cheng approached his residence but was discovered and shot dead by guards before reaching the target. The second attempt occurred on November 1, 1935, at the Kuomintang headquarters in Nanjing. Members of the Morning Light News Agency, led by Hua Kezhi, planned to kill Chiang during a group photograph session. Because Chiang sensed danger and did not attend, assassin Sun Fengming instead shot Wang Jingwei, severely wounding him. Sun Fengming was wounded during capture and later died; other conspirators were arrested or fled. Both incidents exposed deep anti-Chiang sentiment and spurred a massive security crackdown.

In the 1931 Lushan attempt, Chen Cheng was killed on the spot with no trial. In the 1935 case, Sun Fengming succumbed to wounds shortly after capture. Hua Kezhi escaped and remained at large for years. Arrested operatives Zhang Yuhua, Yu Likui, and others were tried by military court for sedition and endangering the state; several were sentenced to death or long-term imprisonment by 1937.

Whether the assassination plots were orchestrated by the Chinese Communist Party, disaffected factions within the Kuomintang, or underground anti-Chiang movements; whether Chiang had prior intelligence warning and deliberately avoided the 1935 photo session; and the extent to which the assassinations were individual acts versus organized political terrorism.

The cases intensified the “White Terror” atmosphere in Republican China, enabling Chiang to justify the expansion of secret police and intelligence agencies such as the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. They reinforced his authoritarian grip, accelerated the suppression of political dissent, and deepened public perception of an embattled leadership, influencing both the internal “unification before resistance” policy and wartime security measures.