thumb|300px|right|Tanggu Truce negotiations between the Japanese delegation on the left and Chinese delegation on the right on 31 May 1933
The Tanggu Truce, sometimes called the , was a ceasefire that was signed between military forces of the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan in Tanggu, Tianjin, on May 31, 1933. It ended the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, which had begun in September 1931.
Background
After the Mukden Incident of September 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria and, by February 1932, it had captured the entire region. The last emperor of the Qing dynasty, Puyi, who was living in exile in the foreign concessions in Tianjin, was convinced by the Japanese to accept the throne of the new Empire of Manchukuo, which remained under the control of the Imperial Japanese Army.
In January 1933, to secure Manchukuo's southern borders, a joint Japanese and Manchukuo force invaded Rehe. After conquering that province by March, it drove the remaining Chinese armies in the northeast beyond the Great Wall into Hebei Province.
From the start of hostilities, China had appealed to its neighbors and the international community but received no effective support. When China called an emergency meeting of the League of Nations, a committee was established to investigate the affair. The Lytton Commission's report ultimately condemned Japan's actions but offered no plan for intervention. In response, the Japanese simply withdrew from the League on March 27, 1933.
The Japanese army was under explicit instructions from Japanese Emperor Hirohito, who wanted a quick end to the China conflict and for Japan not to venture beyond the Great Wall. Japan's negotiating position was very strong, as the Chinese Nationalists were under severe pressure from the simultaneous full-scale civil war against the Chinese communists.
Furthermore, most of the new demilitarized zone was within the remaining territory of a discredited Manchurian warlord, Zhang Xueliang.
Aftermath
thumb|right|Area demilitarized by the Tanggu Truce
The Tanggu Truce de facto resulted in the de facto (but not de jure) recognition of Manchukuo by the Kuomintang government and its acknowledgement of the loss of Rehe. It provided for a temporary end to the combat between China and Japan, and relations between both countries briefly improved. On May 17, 1935, the Japanese legation in China was raised to the status of embassy, and on June 10, 1935, the He-Umezu Agreement was concluded. The Tanggu Truce gave Chiang Kai-shek time to consolidate his forces and to concentrate his efforts against the Chinese Communist Party albeit at the expense of North China.