Book contents
- The Shanghai Agents
- Reviews
- The Shanghai Agents
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Note on Naming Conventions
- Cast of Characters
- Prologue
- Introduction: Summer 1990
- Part I The Arrests
- Part II The Agents and the Bureau
- Part III The Rueggs on Trial
- 15 The Global Left Steps In
- 16 The Shanghai Defense Committee and the Defense of Shanghai
- 17 The Defense Committee vs. the Guomindang
- 18 The Russian Method
- 19 Convicted
- 20 What To Do with the Boy?
- 21 Hard Times and Disappointment
- 22 Freedom
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Index
18 - The Russian Method
from Part III - The Rueggs on Trial
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 August 2026
Book contents
- The Shanghai Agents
- Reviews
- The Shanghai Agents
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Note on Naming Conventions
- Cast of Characters
- Prologue
- Introduction: Summer 1990
- Part I The Arrests
- Part II The Agents and the Bureau
- Part III The Rueggs on Trial
- 15 The Global Left Steps In
- 16 The Shanghai Defense Committee and the Defense of Shanghai
- 17 The Defense Committee vs. the Guomindang
- 18 The Russian Method
- 19 Convicted
- 20 What To Do with the Boy?
- 21 Hard Times and Disappointment
- 22 Freedom
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Index
Summary
Realizing they were making no headway with legal measures or the media campaign, Rudnik and Moiseenko decided to go on hunger strike just as their trial was about to begin in July 1932. They attended the first two days of the trial but refused to answer any questions, and then on the third day were too sick to attend. The court paused the trial, but flatly refused to release the prisoners. Behind the scenes, the mayor of Shanghai tried to shut down Harold Isaacs’ China Forum which was openly criticizing the Guomindang, and the Soviet military spy Richard Sorge brokered a $20,000 bribe to release Rudnik and Moiseenko. Although the bribe did not end in their release, Soong Ching-ling coordinated efforts that persauded the couple to end their hunger strike after two weeks.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Shanghai AgentsThe Soviet Plot to Start a Revolution in Interwar China, pp. 204 - 222Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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