The
He–Umezu Agreement of 1935 between the
Republic of China and the
Empire of Japan led to the withdrawal of the
Nationalist government's political and military forces from North China, deepening the crisis in North China's special status. This sparked the
December 9th Movement, a student movement in
Beiping and
Tianjin dedicated to national salvation against Japanese aggression. The national anti-Japanese movement surged, and the left-wing cultural movement led by the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), based on the
August 1 Declaration, quickly shifted towards establishing a united front of cultural circles for national salvation against Japan. On 12 December 1935,
Tao Xingzhi, along with
Ma Xiangbo,
Hu Yuzhi,
Shen Junru,
Zou Taofen,
Wang Zaoshi,
Li Gongpu, and over 280 others, jointly issued the Declaration of the Shanghai Cultural Circles' National Salvation Movement, proposing eight anti-Japanese measures. In January 1936, the Shanghai Cultural Circles' National Salvation Association adopted the Shanghai Cultural Circles' National Salvation Association's National Crisis Education Plan, drafted by Tao Xingzhi. In February 1936, the National Crisis Education Society was established, centered around the educational institutions founded by Tao Xingzhi, and adopted the Declaration of the Establishment of the National Crisis Education Society. Zhang Jingfu served as the Party Secretary of the National Crisis Education Society. The National Salvation Federation of All Circles was established in
Shanghai on 31 May 1936. It was a nationwide anti-Japanese national salvation organization centered in Shanghai with a broad mass base. Fifteen people, including
Soong Ching-ling, Shen Junru, Zou Taofen,
Zhang Naiqi, Li Gongpu,
Sha Qianli,
Shi Liang, Wang Zaoshi, and Tao Xingzhi, were elected as standing committee members. On 15 July 1936, the
Hong Kong-based
Life Daily published an article titled Several Basic Conditions and Minimum Requirements for Unity Against Aggression, jointly signed by four leaders of the National Salvation Federation: Tao Xingzhi, Zou Taofen, Shen Junru, and Zhang Naiqi, actively responding to the CCP's August 1 Declaration in
Paris, published
Mao Zedong's open letter in response to Zhang, Tao, Zou, Shen, and all members of the National Salvation Federation, expressing "a sincere hope for unity and joint struggle to save the life of the motherland." During his two-plus years in Europe and America, Tao Xingzhi comprehensively promoted the CCP's advocacy of a united front against Japanese aggression to overseas Chinese and students, and promoted the establishment of the All-American Overseas Chinese National Salvation Association and the All-European Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese National Salvation Association on 20 September 1936. == References ==