The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) sent a message of condolence Monday to family members of Zhang Xueliang (Chang Hsueh-liang), a great Chinese patriot, who died on Sunday at 20:50 local time, in Hawaii, the United States.
The message spoke highly of the former general' historic contributions and expressed deep grief on behalf of the CPPCC.
The message describes Zhang as a "great patriot," saying Zhang made historic contributions to "ending the 10-year (1927-1937) civil war, helping realize the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the CPC, and making the whole nation take part in the war of resistance against Japanese aggression." The CPPCC and the Chinese people will always cherish the memory of Zhang Xueliang.
Together with General Yang Hucheng, General Zhang Xueliang detained Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the then Kuomintang regime, on December 12, 1936, and demanded that the Kuomintang stop fighting the Communist Party and the two parties get united to fight against Japanese aggressors. The event is known as the Xi'an Incident in Chinese history.
The message also praised Zhang for his persistent patriotism and concern for the reunification of the motherland and the prosperity of the nation.
According to documentary records, Zhang was put under house arrest by the Kuomintang regime after the Xi'an Incident, and then taken to Taiwan in 1949, when the Kuomintang regime was toppled by the CPC-led revolution and fled to the island province. On December 15, 1993, Zhang left Taiwan, for the first time in 44 years, to visit his relatives in the United States, and in 1995, he settled in Hawaii.
(People's Daily 10/16/2001)
