Chang Hsueh-liang

Chang Hsueh-liang, also romanized as Zhang Xueliang and known later in life as Peter H. L. Chang, was a Chinese warlord who ruled Manchuria from 1928 to 1936 and the commander-in-chief of the Northeastern Army after the assassination of his father, Zhang Zuolin. A reformer who was sympathetic to nationalist ideas, he completed the official reunification of China at the end of the Warlord Era by pledging loyalty to the Nationalist government in Nanjing. He nonetheless retained Manchuria's de facto autonomy until the Empire of Japan invaded and occupied the region in 1931. He was frustrated by Chiang Kai-shek's policy of "first internal pacification, then external resistance" and helped plan and lead the 1936 Xi'an Incident. Northeastern soldiers under Chang's command arrested Chiang to force him to negotiate a Second United Front with the Chinese Communist Party against Japan. Chiang eventually agreed, but upon his release he had Chang arrested and sentenced to 50 years of house arrest, first in mainland China and then in Taiwan. Although never personally a communist, Chang is regarded by the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic of China as a patriotic hero for his role in ending the encirclement campaigns and beginning the war of resistance against Japan.

3 June 1901

Born on the same birth date (3 June 1901): Maurice Evans (actor)

Born on the same birth day (3 June): Anderson Cooper • Colin Meads • Dan Hill • David Gregory (mathematician) • Detlev von Liliencron • Eddie Acuff • Françoise Arnoul • George Broadhurst • Jimmy Rogers • John Hale (minister) • Katie Hoff • Kerry King • Patrick Cargill • Raúl Castro • Sam Mills

Born in the same month (June 1901): Benny Wearing • Cap Fear • Elias Katz • Hap Day • Harold Roe Bartle • Harry Partch • Jan Struther • Llewellyn Rees • Merle Tuve • Nelson Eddy • Tage Erlander • Tom Gorman (rugby league)