Second Sino-Japanese War On July 30, 1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Tianjin fell to Japan, but was not entirely occupied, as the Japanese generally respected foreign concessions until 1941, when American and British concessions were occupied. In the summer of 1939, the Tientsin Incident damaged Anglo-Japanese relations. On June 14, 1939, the Imperial Japanese Army surrounded and blockaded a British concession due to the refusal of British authorities to transfer six Chinese people, who had assassinated a Japanese collaborator and taken refuge in the British concession, to be under Japan's authority. For a time, the events of 1939 appeared likely to cause an Anglo-Japanese war, especially when reports of the Japanese Army mistreating British subjects wishing to leave or enter the concession appeared in British newspapers. The situation ended when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was advised by the Royal Navy and the Foreign Office that the only way to force the Japanese to lift the blockade was to send the main British battle fleet to Far Eastern waters, and that given the situation in Europe, it would be inappropriate to send the British fleet out of European waters, thus leading the British to finally turn over the six Chinese people, who were then executed by the Japanese. During the Japanese occupation, Tianjin was ruled by the North China Executive Committee, a puppet state based in Beijing.
Second Sino-Japanese War On July 30, 1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Tianjin fell to Japan, but was not entirely occupied, as the Japanese generally respected foreign concessions until 1941, when American and British concessions were occupied. In the summer of 1939, the Tientsin Incident damaged Anglo-Japanese relations. On June 14, 1939, the Imperial Japanese Army surrounded and blockaded a British concession due to the refusal of British authorities to transfer six Chinese people, who had assassinated a Japanese collaborator and taken refuge in the British concession, to be under Japan's authority. For a time, the events of 1939 appeared likely to cause an Angl.o-Japanese war, especially when reports of the Japanese Army mistreating British subjects wishing to leave or enter the concession appeared in British newspapers. The situation ended when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was advised by the Royal Navy and the Foreign Office that the only way to force the Japanese to lift the blockade was to send the main British battle fleet to Far Eastern waters, and that given the situation in Europe, it would be inappropriate to send the British fleet out of European waters, thus leading the British to finally turn over the six Chinese people, who were then executed by the Japanese. During the Japanese occupation, Tianjin was ruled by the North China Executive Committee, a puppet state based in Beijing