 The Japanese goal was to establish a buffer zone between Manchukuo and China, but the pro-Japanese collaborationist regime was seen as an affront by the Chinese government and a violation of the Tanggu Truce.The East Hebei Autonomous government received a response in the form of Gen. Song Zheyuan's Hebei-Chahar Political Government, which was under the Nanjing government, launched on 18 December 1935.Chinese soldiers remained in the area.