Zhang, Xueliang, 1901-2001

Zhang Xueliang (Chinese: 張學良; June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also known by the epithet "Young Marshal" in contrast to his father "Old Marshal" Zhang Zuolin, was a Chinese general. He is best known for his role in the Xi'an Incident in 1936, in which he arrested Chiang Kai-shek and forced him to form a Second United Front with the Chinese Communist Party against the Japanese. In 1928, following the Japanese assassination of his father, Zhang assumed command of the Northeastern Army and leadership of the Fengtian clique. A progressive sympathetic to nationalist ideas, he pledged loyalty to the Nationalist government in the Northeast Flag Replacement, bringing an end to the Warlord Era. He used his military base to wield considerable influence in the politics of the Nanjing decade. He followed a policy of nonresistance to the Japanese invasions of Manchuria in 1931 and Rehe in 1933, the latter of which prompted Wang Jingwei's call for his resignation and provoked public outrage. He stepped down after the loss of Rehe. In 1934, Zhang was again appointed as commander of the Northeastern Army to suppress the Communists, but he became disillusioned with Chiang's policy of "stabilizing China before resisting Japan," and orchestrated the Xi'an Incident with Yang Hucheng. In its aftermath, Chiang placed Zhang under house arrest, first on the mainland and then in Taiwan, for more than five decades until 1988, refraining from executing him due to the intervention of Madam Chiang. Zhang died of pneumonia in 2001, at the age of 100 in Honolulu, Hawaii.