The Japanese officer convinced him that the
Young Marshall wished to destroy the deposed Chinese Emperor and that there was
a contract out on his life. The
Japanese provoked riots, which were blamed on Chang Hsueh-liang and eventually
Pu Yi was smuggled out of China. He was
then formally enthroned as Emperor of Manchukuo on March 1st, 1934.
In his China and the Origins of the Pacific War, Youli Sun states that the
Tanggu Truce of May 31st, 1933 legitimised Japan’s control of China,
north of the Great Wall. According to
the Japanese version of events this practically put to an end the long
protracted state of affairs known as the ‘Manchurian Incident’. They declared that they had no other
intention than to maintain peace in the province of Jehol and pacify the
provincial people from local banditry and the invading troops from across the
Great Wall.
On April 17th 1934,
the Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Amau Eliji, stated that Japan had a
special mission to maintain peace and order in East Asia and opposed any
financial assistance to China by foreign countries and in particular any
Western military or political aid. This
statement in fact confirmed the status quo and was proof of Western inaction. The British and the United States responses
to what became known as the Amau (Amŏ) Doctrine were extremely indifferent
and both were unwilling to offend Japan rather than give support to China. In May 1935 the Japanese Army presented a
series of demands to the Chinese authorities in Peking, including the
withdrawal from North China of Marshall Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army and the
termination of all anti-Japanese activities.
According to Youli Sun, the Marshall conceded to every
demand except withdrawal of the Central Army.
Premier Wang Chin-wei and War Minister He Ying-qin were eager to avoid
conflict at any price and they verbally agreed to all the demands requested by
Major Takahashi Tan, the Military Attaché.
Nothing was provided in writing and the crisis mounted. Ambassador Sir Robert Clive made
representations to Japan, but wished to remain friendly with this country,
because the British Government had to contend with the troublesome issue of
Germany. America was following a policy
of isolation and had just granted independence to the Philippines. With the world powers indifferent to China's
fate on July 9th, Wang wrote to General Umetsu (Umezu), the
Japanese Commander in Tientsin, to meet the demands and this became known as
the He-Umetsu Agreement.