‘Cuckoos in the Nest'

Conflict in north China was established by mid-1935 as a defining thread in the web of relationships joining China and Japan: regional tensions emerged in January as a discordant undertone to Nanjing’s diplomatic overtures to Tokyo, and by the summer overshadowed formal governmental exchanges. The Hebei provincial governor Yu Xuezhong wrote to Chiang Kai-shek to describe the effects of constant Japanese encroachment on Chinese political and military control of the province:

…[the Japanese armies] are like cuckoos in the nest … whatever they do, they seek to harm us in pursuit of their own goals … counties such as Changli and Leting were originally garrisoned by PPC units; now they forbid the new PPC units to take over, intending to prevent our political power from reaching these areas, so that they can do as they please without interference and continue their silver and drug smuggling … ¹