China: Street execution by beheading of a Chinese communist by rightist soldiers, Shanghai, 1927.

The Shanghai Terror: In 1927, communists tried to end foreign rule, officially supported by the gangsters and the Kuomintang (KMT) nationalists. Leaders of the Green Gang however entered into informal alliances with Chiang Kai-shek and the Shanghailander capitalists acted against the communists and organised labour unions. The nationalists had cooperated with gang leaders since the revolution of 1911. Many communists were killed in a major gangster surprise attack in April 1927 in the Chinese administered part of Shanghai, although sporadic fighting between gangsters and communists had occurred previously. Chinese Communist leader Zhou Enlai was fortunate to flee the city, because suspected left-wingers were executed on sight.