Editing Zhang Xueliang (section)

==Xi'an incident==
{{Main|Xi'an incident}}
On April 6, 1936, Zhang met with CPC delegate [[Zhou Enlai]] to plan the end of the [[Chinese Civil War]]. KMT leader Generalissimo [[Chiang Kai-shek]] at the time took a passive position against Japan and considered the communists to be a greater danger to the Republic of China than the Japanese, and his overall strategy was to annihilate the communists before focusing his efforts on the Japanese.<ref name=":0" /> He believed that "communism was a cancer while the Japanese represented a superficial wound."  Growing nationalist anger against Japan made this position very unpopular, and led to Zhang's action against Chiang, known as the [[Xi'an Incident]].

In December 1936, Zhang and General [[Yang Hucheng]] kidnapped Chiang, imprisoning him until he agreed to form a [[Second United Front (China)|united front with the communists]] against the Japanese invasion. After two weeks of negotiations, Chiang agreed to unite with the communists and drive the Japanese out of China.

After Chiang negotiated with the Communists, Zhang flew back to Nanjing as a demonstration of good faith.{{sfn|Coble|2023|p=53}}