Editing Xi'an Incident (section)

== Legacy ==

Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists believed that had the Xi'an Incident not occurred, they would have been able to destroy the CCP.{{sfn|Wu|1976|p=xi}} In China, the story of Chiang's capture is frequently retold as "illustration of the cowardice and duplicity of Chiang Kai-shek", according to historian Michael Dillon.{{sfn|Dillon|2020|p=103}}

Historians have tended to downplay the event's significance in comparison with its public perception. Parks Coble writes that "the basic concepts" determining Nationalist policy remained the same, and that Chiang had already decided on a course of confrontation with Japan.{{sfn|Coble|1991|p=360}} Rana Mitter points out that the terms agreed to at Xi'an differed little from the outline of a deal that had been in the works for months.{{sfn|Mitter|2013|p=73}} Even Tien-wei Wu, who calls the Xi'an Incident "the pivotal in modern Chinese history", also acknowledges that "there was no guarantee the KMT or Chiang Kai-shek would not resume the campaign" against the Communists after he had been released.{{sfn|Wu|1976|pp=xi-xii}} Hans van de Ven states that the main importance of the Xi'an Incident was that both the CCP and Chiang survived, given how close both got to destruction.{{sfn|van de Ven|2003|p=188}}