Huanggutun Incident - Consequences

Consequences

The younger Zhang, in order to avoid any conflict with Japan and chaos which might provoke the Japanese into a military response, did not directly accuse Japan of complicity in his father's murder, but instead quietly carried out a policy of reconciliation with the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek, which left him as recognized ruler of Manchuria instead of General Yang Yuting. The assassination thus considerably weakened Japan's political position in Manchuria.

Furthermore, the assassination, which was conducted by low-ranking officers, did not have the prior consent of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office or the civilian government. In fact, Emperor Hirohito harshly criticized the event and eventually dismissed Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi for his inability to arrest and prosecute the plotters of the incident, although privately he accepted the military's argument that doing so would be disadvantageous to Japan's military and foreign policy

In order to achieve its goals in Manchuria, the Kwantung Army was forced to wait several years before creating another incident to justify the Invasion of Manchuria and subsequent establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo under Henry Puyi Aisin Goro.