Jinan Incident - Definition and Overview

The Jinan Incident (Japanese:済南事件) or May 3rd Incident (Chinese: 五三慘案) was an armed conflict between the Japanese Army and Kuomintang's southern army in Jinan, the capital of Shandong in 1928 during the Northern Expedition.

Afraid of the Nanjing government recovering Japanese interests at Shandong, Japan dispatched an army to Shandong to protect its interests in 1927. The army retreated from Shandong after a few months because the Northern Expedition was interrupted. The next year the Kuomintang resumed the campaign and Japan sent troops to Shandong in response. Some of these troops occupied Jinan.

Traditionally, the northern warlords allied themselves with foreign powers to resist the unifying Kuomintang forces. In 1927, the Shangdong warlord Chang Tsung-tsang (張宗昌) allied himself with Japan to slow down the Kuomintang's push into northern China. In April, the Kuomintang army arrived at Jinan and engaged in heavy fighting with the warlord army and the Japanese army. In May Chiang Kai-Shek requested withdrawal from Jinan, guaranteeing the safety of Japanese residents. However, on May 3rd, during negotiations the Japanese resumed fire on Chinese civilians. They also captured Chinese negotiators led by a Kuomintang official Tsai Kung-shih (蔡公時), who was later tortured to death by having his face disfigured. Fighting resumed between the Chinese and the Japanese troops and it was not until March 1928 when a cease-fire was arranged that the Japanese agreed to pull out of Jinan. Approximately five thousand Chinese civilians were killed in this conflict.