The arrival of the Japanese troops in Jinan, just as the Beiyang-aligned forces had retreated there, prompted suspicions about whether the Beiyang warlords had asked for a Japanese intervention. This was used as propaganda by the Kuomintang, though Beiyang government leader Zhang Zuolin denied doing any such thing.[14][15] Both the Beiyang government and the KMT government in Nanjing protested against the Japanese action, deeming it a violation of Chinese sovereignty.[17]