On his way to the Bandung conference , an assassination attempt was made against Zhou when a bomb was planted on the Air India plane '' Kashmir Princess '' , chartered for Zhou 's trip from Hong Kong to Jakarta . Zhou avoided the attempt when he changed planes at the last minute , but all 11 of the flight 's other passengers were killed , with only three crew members surviving the crash . A recent study has blamed the attempt on " one of the intelligence agencies of the KMT . " Journalist Joseph Trento has also alleged that there was a second attempt on Zhou 's life at the Bandung conference involving " a bowl of rice poisoned with a slow-acting toxin . " According to one account based on recent research , Zhou found out about the bomb on the '' Kashmir Princess '' after being warned of the plot by his own intelligence officers and did not attempt to stop it because he viewed those that died as disposable : international journalists and low-level cadres . After the crash , Zhou used the incident to warn the British about the KMT intelligence operatives active in Hong Kong and pressured Great Britain to disable the Nationalist intelligence network operating there ( with himself playing a support role ) . He hoped that the incident would improve Britain 's relationship with the PRC , and damage Britain 's relationship with the ROC . The official explanation for Zhou 's absence on the flight , however , remains that Zhou was forced to change his schedule due to having had surgery for appendicitis
Kashmir Princess
Kashmir Princess
Zhou Enlai