A Look Back: The September 18 Incident

by+Xiao+Bian

In the wake of World War I， Japans expansion into China was restrained by Western powers such as Britain and the United States. Chinas Northern Expedition （1926-1928）， led by the Nationalist government and aiming to unify the country， undermined Japans interests on the mainland. The expedition prompted Japan to readjust its China policy and accelerate its pace of consuming northeastern China. In the early 1930s when the global Great Depression broke out， Japans economy was hit hard， and a domestic political crisis erupted. Newly fascist Japan fixated on invading northeastern China to dominate more of the world while Britain and U.S. had their hands full dealing with their own economic challenges.

In this context， the September 18 Incident of 1931， also known as Mukden Incident， occurred. Japan had long coveted northeastern China and already seized the northeastern Chinese cities of Lushun and Dalian as well as the Manchurian Railway after defeating Russia in Russo-Japanese War （1904-1905）. After the war， Japanese economic presence and political interests in northeastern China continued growing. The incident marked the beginning of Japans invasion of China during WWII. Within five months after the incident， all of northeastern China was under Japanese control.

Timeline for the September 18 Incident of 1931：

Evening of September 18： The Independent Garrison Unit from Japans Kwantung Army stationed at Hushitai Barracks heads south along South Manchuria Railway for a “night drill” to Mukden （now Shenyang City）.

September 18， 10：20 p.m.： The Kwantung Army blows up a section of the South Manchuria Railway under their control in an area near Liutiao Lake， only 800 meters from the Chinese garrison at Beidaying. Japan accuses Chinese troops of sabotage and uses the incident as a pretext to launch an attack on the Chinese Beidaying base. Because Chinese soldiers are under orders not to resist， the Japanese troops quickly declare victory.

September 19， 12：20 a.m.： Shigeru Honjo， commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army， orders troops to attack various targets in northeastern China.

September 19， 3：00 a.m.： Japanese troops invade Shenyang. The citys police force， led by director of internal affairs Huang Xiansheng， engages in street battles with the Japanese.

September 19， 4：00 a.m.： Japanese troops stationed in Changchun and its surrounding areas attack Chinese troops. At the time， only two important political and military figures of northeastern China are in Shenyang： Rong Zhen， chief of staff of the Northeastern Army， and Zang Shiyi， Liaoning provincial governor. Facing the Kwantung Armys rogue and clearly long-term ambitions， Rong and Zang are not prepared. When they first learn that Japanese forces are beginning to launch attacks， Zang calls Japans Consul General in Shenyang seeking diplomatic negotiations， only to hear： “It is a military operation. The Consulate has no authority to interfere.”

September 19， 6：30 a.m.： In the early morning after five hours of fighting， Shenyang is declared secure by the Japanese. The Japanese proceed to occupy the city with minimal difficulty， and soon disarm all Chinese policemen and military police. On the same day Shenyang is taken， Japanese soldiers launch attacks and begin occupying another 20+ northeastern Chinese cities including Changchun， Yingkou， Haicheng， Liaoyang， Anshan， Tieling， and Fushun.

Northeastern China finds little relief from the Japanese invasion over the next months. Within less than five months after the incident， the Imperial Japanese Army overruns every major town and city in provinces of Liaoning， Jilin， and Heilongjiang. With a combined area of 1.28 million square kilometers， the three provinces composing northeastern China measure 3.5 times larger than Japans total territory.

The September 18 Incident of 1931 was not an accident. It was a key invasion “strategy” devised by Japanese imperialists in an attempt to swallow China and dominate Asia as well as the Pacific region. The incident shattered the comparatively stable global environment formed after WWI， prompting the outbreak of war in Asia and the beginning of WWII. After the incident， Chinese people rose to resist Japanese aggression and strongly criticized the non-resistance policy. People in northeastern China， in particular， carried out guerrilla warfare against the Japanese invaders and formed various militias to combat Japanese aggression.