The defeat of Japan’s proxy forces encouraged many Chinese into pushing for a more active resistance against the Japanese. The victory in Suiyuan was celebrated across China and shocked the international press, being the first time that the Chinese army stopped a Japanese force. Delegations arrived from as far away as the southern Chinese provinces to urge the defenders to keep fighting. Captured Japanese weapons and equipment were used by the Chinese as evidence of Japan's involvement in the operation, although Hachirō Arita, the foreign minister of Japan, stated that "Japan was not involved in this conflict in Suiyuan at all." The Xi'an Incident, which resulted in the Kuomintang (the Nationalists) and the Chinese Communist Party recognizing the greater threat of Japan and agreeing to work together to fight the Japanese, was thought to be partly influenced by the events of the Suiyuan campaign.