At the risk of her life, Helen rushed to the battlefield to report the Shanghai war against Japanese aggression in 1932. Again at the risk of being assassinated, Helen covered the 1935 student movement continuously for six months. As one of the two active journalists in Asia, Helen reported truthfully to the world not only what had happened, but also what would happen in the near future.
Helen had a unique opportunity to interview the Young Marshall in Xi’an on October 3, 1936. The next morning, the Young Marshal and his English secretary carefully checked and authorized the interview, which Helen cabled to the London Daily Herald upon her return to Peking. They quickly published it on October 8, page 13, under the big headline: Prefers Red Army to Japanese, Chinese General Wants Unity, which conveyed the message of the second cooperation between Guomindang and the Communists, and forecast the Xi’an Incident 70 days in advance.
During World War II, Helen Snow analyzed the developing situation and foresaw the inevitability that Japan might declare war on the United States. As early as in the fall of 1940, Helen advised the American citizens, women and children in particular, to evacuate the East as quick as possible. However few of Americans thought that would be possible. Helen left China for the United States in December 1940, and 10 months later the Japanese made a surprise attack on the U.S. military base, which lead to the Pacific War.