Jung Chang and Jon Halliday claim that the uprising was in fact sabotaged by Mao to allow him to prevent a group of KMT soldiers from defecting to any other CPC leader.
Jung Chang og Jon Halliday hævder at oprøret i virkeligheden blev saboteret af Mao selv for at forhindre en gruppe af KMT-soldater i at hoppe af til andre af KKP's ledere.