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In June 1928, adventurist officers of the
Guandong Army, the Imperial Japanese Army unit stationed in Manchuria, embarked
an unauthorized initiatives to protect Japanese interests, including the
assassination of a former ally, Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin. The
perpetrators hoped the Chinese would be prompted to take military action,
forcing the Guandong Army to retaliate. The Japanese high command and the
Chinese, however, both refused to mobilize. The incident turned out to be a
striking example of unchecked terrorism. Even though press censorship kept the
Japanese public from knowing about these events, they led to the downfall of
Tanaka and set the stage for a similar plot, the Manchurian Incident, in 1931.
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