Editing Xi'an Incident (section)

=== Establishing contact ===
In late 1935 Japan stepped up its expansionist policies in north China, severely worsening relations between Nanjing and Tokyo. Negotiations had reached an apparent impasse by October. China reached out to Nazi Germany for mediation, but afraid of offending Japan, the Germans declined to get involved.{{sfn|Coble|1991|pp=251-252}}{{sfn|So|2002|p=237}} Chiang Kai-shek was concerned that war was imminent, and wanted to secure the material and diplomatic support of the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Yang|2020|p=58}} He also faced growing public pressure to actively resist Japan: on December 9, 1935, for example, [[December 9th Movement|a major student protest]] broke out in Beiping.{{sfn|Coble|1991|pp=76-77}}{{sfn|Garver|1988|p=5}}{{sfn|Ienaga|1978|p=88}}

In January, Chiang Kai-shek sent emissaries to Moscow to negotiate a military mutual assistance treaty.{{sfn|Sheng|1992|pp=153-154}} However, as a precondition for a treaty, Chiang wanted the Soviet Union to order the CCP to submit to the Nationalist Government. The Soviet ambassador told Chiang that while the USSR hoped the CCP would agree to a unified command under the Nationalists, Chiang would have to negotiate directly with the CCP.{{sfn|Yang|2020|p=62}} This upset Chiang, who worried that if the USSR was unwilling to order the CCP to stop, they might be willing to support further revolutionary actions by the CCP if a ceasefire broke down. Progress halted, and after news leaked to the press that Chiang was contemplating a treaty with the USSR, he called off negotiations.{{sfn|Yang|2020|p=63}} These maneuvers left Stalin wary of Chiang's intentions.{{sfn|Sheng|1992|p=154}}

Nevertheless, Chiang still sought contacts with the CCP inside China. [[Soong Ching-ling]] and [[Chen Lifu]] managed to recruit two members of the Communist underground, [[Dong Jianwu]] and {{ill|Zhang Zihua|zh|张子华}}, to cross the front lines and bring the CCP the message that Chiang was interested in ending the civil war. They arrived on February 27.{{sfn|Itoh|2016|pp=124-125}} The CCP Central Committee agreed to begin negotiations, sending five conditions to the Nationalists in March. They sought a ceasefire, a government of national defense (i.e., one which included representatives of the Communists and warlords as well as the Nationalists), a military alliance against Japan (but with continued Red Army independence), the right to move their base of operations to Hebei, and political and economic reforms.{{sfn|van de Ven|2003|pp=181-182}} The Nationalist response proposed a different vision for a united front. They wanted to see the Red Army fully integrated into the [[National Revolutionary Army]] and a Communist base in (poorer and more exposed to Japanese attack) Suiyuan and Chahar rather than Hebei, but did agree to letting CCP leaders participate in the national government. The CCP disliked this proposal, but because their attempt to break into Shanxi was defeated in May, they had to continue to negotiate.{{sfn|van de Ven|2003|p=182}}