We entend to you our national revolutionary salute! Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 25 August 1936 0 "Struggle," No 110, 5 September 1936 * "Selections of Current Event Discussions," Chih-hsin Printing Press, 1 May 1937 * "Reference Material of Chinafs Revolutionary History," Vol 3, Chinese People's University, 1957 "Guide to the Resist-Japan National United Front" (1), Resistance War University Training Department "Records of Kuomintang-Cotnmunist Cooperation To Resist Japan" 6080 CSO: 4005 55 LETTES FROM MAO TSE-TUNG TO TS'AI YUAN-P'EI 22 September 1936 . _-.-{Text] Dear Mr Chieh-min: It has been 20 years since I listened respectfully to your noble discourses and magnificent theories in the classrooms of Peking University in the old capital during 4 May Movement period! What kind of day is today? It is the day when the nation and the state are in desperation. The old like those of your generation, the middle aged like me, and the young like today's students, without distinction of rich or poor, of workers, peasants, merchants, or students, or of beliefs and preferences, will all fall into the hands of foreign aggressors. The rivers and mountains will no longer be our rivers and mountains; the people will no longer be our people; the cities will no longer be our cities. Such catastrophe of national perdition and racial extinction is unprecedented since ancient times in the whole world. How will you handle it? The Communist Party proposed creating a resist-Japan united front. As the people in the nation all find it feasible, you probably will also find it feasible. However, some among those in power may find it infeasible or suggest postponement. When the robbers enter the front door and one does not resist, when the tiger bites and one does not fight, when the people are led to a desperate situation, how will you handle it? Mr Sun Yat-sen's policy to ally with Russia, the communists, and the peasants and workers was effective in the first revolution of 1925—1927. The period of cooperation between the Kuomint,ang and the Communist Party was also the most revolutionary period of the Kuomintang. When Mr Sun's revolutionary policy was abandoned, civil war became continuous and external troubles, similar to a broken dike, became untrollable! Though only renewing a former proposal, the letter of 25 August from the Communist Party to the Kuomintang embodies actually the best means to avert perdition. How will you handle it? In the "New Literature" opinion statements, the name which appears foremost is yours. Seeing your name after 20 years, I feel a reverence and an Intimacy. Mr Chieh-min, you expounded a brand—new theory different from the general run of new and old 56 reactionaries. You must realize that I was not the only one who rejoiced upon reading it, nor the Communist Party alone, but a countless number of people! From comrades to friends, it is again doubtless that those who rejoice over your sympathy for the cause to resist Japan and save the nation are definitely not limited to myself, or the Communist Party, alone, but all the conscientious sous and daughters of the nation. Nevertheless, one more step should be taken beyond the 100-foot pole and, if you take the lead with your sense of righteousness and make plans to block the wild tide at this critical moment of national perdition with your position as a great national leader of the Kuang-fu and T'ung-meng Societies and an academic leader of the Peking University and the Central Research Institute, not just by words alone, but also by action, not just with sympathy, but also by advocation, and if you severely censure the Nanking government and ask it to stop the civil war immediately3 abandon its erroneous policies of compromise toward the external and harsh demands of the internal, abolish its national perdition policy of punishing the patriotic and rewarding the treacherous, launch the army, navy, and air force of the entire nation for a true resist-Japan war, revive the spirit of Mr Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary three principles of democracy and three great policies, rescue our 450 million compatriots from deep water and searing'fire, call a resist-Japan national salvation congress of all parties, all factions, all fields, and all military units, convene a national congress .elected by the people, establish a national defense government united against the external, build a true democratic republic, place the country in a powerful and prosperous position, and promote the nation among the free and liberated, then, your name will shine through 1,000 generations, spread among the people of the whole nation, and become a household word. Instead of reducing in the least bit the enthusiasm of those who hear your words several thousand li away, you will enhance it. Please remember me to Messrs and Mesdames Sung Ch'ing-ling, Ho Hsiang-ning, Li Shih-tseng, Wu Chih-hui, Chang P'u-ch'uan, Yu Yu-jen, Sun Che-sheng, Chu Chueh-hsien, T'an Li-ming, Liu Ya-tzu, Shao Li-tzu, Wang Ching-wei, Ch'en Pi-chun, Ching Heng-yi, Ch'en Kung-po, Ku Meng-yu, Tseng Chung-ming, Kan Nai-kuang, Chang Ching-chiang, Tai Chi-t'ao, Ch'en Kuo-fu, Ting Wei-fen, Sung Tzu-wen, Ch'en Shu-jen, Ch'u Min-yi, P'eng Tse-min, Li Jen-ch'ao, Li Te-lin, Ch'en Yu-jen, Tsou Hai-pin, Hsu Chi-lung, Chu Chi-chfing, Pai Yun-tTi, En-k'o-pa-tTu, Li Fu-lin, Ch'en Hu-fang, Ch'eng Sung-yun, T'ang Meng-hsiao, Chu Yi-chih, Li Hsieh-ho, Po Lieh-wu, Liu Chen-huan, T'an Yi-ju, Chang Chih-pen, Feng Tzu-yu, Hsieh Hui-sheng, Mao Tsu-ch'uan, Chiang Hsi-yen, K'ung Keng, Kuo Mo-jo, Shen Yen-ping, Ch'en Wang-tao, Li Ho-ming, Hu Shih-chih, Chang Hsing-yen, Chou Tso-jen, Ch'ien Chieh-p'an, Fu Szu-nien, Lo Chia-lun, Tuan Hsi-p'eng, Ch'en Pao-o, Chang Tung-sun, PTeng Yi-hu, P'eng Ch'uan-fang, Yang Tuan-liu, Hu Tzu-ching, Ch'en Feng-huang, Chou Ku-ch'eng, Shu Hsin-ch'eng, and all my old friends of the party and the state, academic teachers .and friends, and friends in society. 57 As the catastrophe is imminent, I hastily present my opinions. Sharing the same boat in wind and rain, I hope to hear your instructions. I wish you good health. Mao Tse-tung 22 September 1936 0 "On the United Front—Our Advocation To Resist Japan and Save the Nation in the Past Year," mimeographed (-*• hand copied) January 1937 6080 CSO: 4005 58 EDITORIAL—CHAIRMAN MAO'S TALKS 15 October 1936 [Text] Soviet Central Government Chairman Comrade Mao Tse-tung today publishes his talks: "The Soviet Central Government and the People's Red Army Military Commission have issued an order. 11 (1) All Red Army units will cease any attack of the National Revolutionary Army. "(2) They are only permitted to take the necessary measures of self-defense when attacked. "(3) All the personnel and weaponry of the National Revolutionary Army captured by us when it attacked us will be returned when the said army starts to resist Japan. Those who wish to join the Red Army may do so. "(4) There may be no interference when the National Revolutionary Army is being shifted to resist-Japan positions, and all possible aid must be rendered. We have decided to again earnestly request all units of the National Revolutionary Army and the Nanking Government to stop the civil war against us and resist Japan together. The request is now being drafted. As currently the situation of Chahar, Suiyuan, and Shansi is critical to the extreme, we eagerly hope to cooperate with the Nanking Government in order to reach the goal of aiding Suiyuan and resisting Japan, and averting perdition and seeking survival. If the Nanking Government feels a sincere concern over the national calamity, stops the civil war, and sends troops to resist Japan, the Soviet wishes to aid it with its full power, and it is also willing to make the main force of the Red Army in the entire nation serve as the vanguard for a decisive battle against the Japanese bandits." The people here find Comrade Mao Tse-tung's talks published today unsurpassable in earnestness and sincerity. Japanese imperialism and the spies are creating rumors every day, in an attempt to prove that the Soviet Red Army's proposal for a resist-Japan united front is merely a means to 59 overthrow the Kuomintang. Chairman Mao's words today have quashed by one stroke such rumors and slander. We know that his words will clear up the doubts in the minds of the patriotic elements in the Kuomintang and the National Revolutionary Army, because the Red Army has declared, through Chairman Maoa that it has no intention to capture the personnel and weaponry of any unit of the National Revolutionary Army, nor to eliminate its troops or overthrow the Kuomintang Hanking Government. The goal of the Soviet Government is to unite China by peaceful means, form a democratic republic of China, and expel Japanese imperialism from the country. Such advocation has now been made extremely clear. 0 "Mao Tse-tung's Talks on Stopping the Civil War and Resisting Japan" (mimeographed) * "Red China," No 307, 22 October 1936 * ntImportant Talks on Stopping the Civil War and Resisting Japan,1 Mao Tse-tung on the Sino-Japanese War," Shensi People's Publishing House, October 1937 6080 CSO: 4005 60 LETTER FROM MAO TSE-TUNG, CHU TEH, AND OTHERS TO CHIANG KAI-SHEK 1 December 1936 [Text] Dear Mr. Kai-shek: Since August of last year, the Communist Party Soviet and the Red Army have asked you many times to stop the civil war and fight the Japanese together. Response was unanimous from all parties and factions but you continued to pursue your own way, first by ordering the encirclement and suppression as manifested by the campaign of Chi-luo [4160 0925] township last winter. When we attempted to march toward the Hopeh-Chahar front by crossing eastward over the Yellow River, you blocked us at the Fen [3083] river basin. As we did not wish to expend the strength of our national defense needlessly, we headed west to find other means to oppose the Japanese, and, at the same time, published a proclamation to bring you to your senses. In the past several months the situation in eastern Suiyuan. has become critical. Then we thought you would change course and dispatch massive forces to carry out the war of opposition against Japan. But who was to know that instead you sent only eight regiments under T'ang En-po [3282 1869 0130] to succor Suiyuan while amassing a huge force of 260 regiments under the command of Hu Tsung-nan [5170 1350 0589], Kuan Ling-cheng [7070 7792 1767] Mao Ping-wen [3029 3621 2429], Hang Chun [3769 0971], Ho Chu-kuo [5516 2691 0365], Wang I-che [3769 0110 0772], Tung Ying-pin [5516 5391 2430], Sun Chen [1327 7201], Wan Yao-huang [8001 5069 3552], Yang Hu-ch'eng [2799 5706 1004], Ma Hung-pin [7456 7703 6333], Ma-Pu-fang [7456 2965 5364], Kao Kuei-tzu [7559 2710 3320], Kao Shuang-ch'eng [7559 7175 2052], Li Hsien-chou [2621 0103 3166], and others to form a savage army intent upon destroying the Red Army opposing Japan and savaging the Soviet areas battling the Japanese. We could not return in kind the hatred .you have built up in your heart so we ordered our Red Army to stop attacking your troops and to retreat step, by step in order to protect ourselves and our bases of opposition against Japan and we loathe its plundering offensives against us. Our enthusiasm is at its peak to aid the officers and soldiers fighting against the Japanese at Suiyuan. You, on the other hand, have concentrated all your forces to engage in a civil war of killing each other. Being in the field ourselves we know only too well the feelings and sentiments of the rank and file of the armies in the northwest, and there is no difference between theirs and ours. We greatly desire 61 to stop this suicidal civil war and go forth into the battlefield of war against Japan at an early date. Look at your own troops known as the crack brigade. They were unable to avoid the tragedy of the Shan Ch'eng Pao [-1472 1004 0202] campaign. The reason is not that they were unable to fight but that they were unwilling to have Chinese fight Chinese and would rather surrender their weapons to the Red Army. Why do you not spend a night to analyze the differences between the objectives sought by the people and by the military and find the reason for it? Take heed of the worsening situation in Suiyuan, the weakness of the forces manning the fronts, the war of opposition along the Great Wall and the 28 January Campaign of Shanghai. The world is in turmoil. It rests on your honor, alone to make the critical decision. It will come from you, and you alone, whether the civil war will end today and tomorrow, the Red Army, together with the mighty forces assembled by you in the northwest for suppression purposes, will march to the fronts of opposition against Japan. This will increase the defensive strength of Suiyuan a dozen times over, and it will enable us to avenge, the nation, protect our lands, and recover lost territories. You will then be regarded as a glorious hero opposing the Japanese and the fragrance of your fame will remain for a hundred generations. Why don't you then take such a course? We have the courage to once more beg you in all sincerity to make a decisive decision and grant us our request to save the nation, transform enmity into friendship, and fight the Japanese together. This will not be a great good fortune for us alone, but it will also be the only way out for the people of the entire country. Today we have but two choices, fight or surrender to the Japanese. Vacillation will only bring about the destruction of the nation, slavery to us, loss of the faith of the nation, and eternal damnation. We do not wish to see later generations pointing at us and saying that the man who betrayed China was Chiang Kai-shek. Instead, we want the people of China to remember you as a hero who reformed in time to save the nation and the people. It is said, "Fear not to correct your errors," and it is also said, "the butcher who lays down his knife at once becomes a Buddha." We sincerely hope your honor will observe with care which path is to be taken. We wait with impatience your weighty decisions and knowledgeable counsel and of your intentions. [Signed] Mao Tse-tung, Chu Teh, Chang Kuo-t'ao, Chou En-lai, Wang Chia-chiang, PTeng Te-huai, Ho Lung, Jen Pi-shih [0117 1732 2514], Lin Piao, Liu Po-chTeng, Yeh Chien-ying, Chang Yun-i [1728 0061 6654], Hsu Shang-ch'ien, Ch'en Ching-chih [7115 2533 3112], Hsu Hai-tung [1776 3189.2639], Tung Chen-t'ang [5516 2182 1016], Lo Ping-fei [5012 3521 65.40], Shao Shih-p'ing [6730 1709 1627], Kuo Hung-t'ao [6753 3163 3447], and the 200,000 men of the Chinese Red Army. 1 December 1936 0 On the United Front—Our proposals during the past year for opposition against Japan and saving the nation. (Mimeographed) January 1937 8493 CSO: 4005 62 LETTER TO COMRADE LIN PIAO 1936 [Text] Comrade Lin Piao: I am in full agreement with your letter. However, there is something I would like to add with regard to the cultural and educational aspects of the third section that form the most fundamental part of the entire educational plan (the nurturing of multiple abilities in the recognition of words, composition, reading of books, newspapers, etc.)- It follows that the tool of culture is part of the "Practical" in accordance with the theory of equal importance of theory and practice you propounded. A studentrs further development will be restricted when he leaves school with everything learned but without the ability to read books and compose. Even though he has learned all that has to be learned, though not much in quantity or depth, but is able to read books and compose, then he will have a basic foundation of things which will be in frequent use after he leaves school. If you concur -with this proposal I would suggest that in the next 4 months increase the curriculum on culture (recognition of words, reading books, composition, and other departments) in the second and third sections. I would like this to be increased to one-fourth or one-third of the entire study period (including the period for self-study). Please give thought to this problem, and make culture an important criteria at the time of scheduled examination. Salute. 0 "Long Live Mao Tse-tungTs Thoughts," April 1967. 8493 CSO: 4005 63 LETTEK TO OLD COMRADE HSU February 1937 [Text] Old Comrade Hsu: Twenty years ago you were ray teacher, you are still my teacher now, and you will still be my teacher in the future. When the revolution met with failure many of the Communist Party members deserted the Party and some of them even went over to the side of the enemy. In the fall of 1927 you joined the Communist Party, and the attitude you adopted was very much that of an activist. In comparison with many young, robust Communist Party members you were even more active, even more fearless of difficulties, and even more eager to studiously learn about new things during the long, arduous period of struggle since that time to the present. All the obstacles and difficulties [associated with] old age and senility and feebleness have melted from in front of you. What about the others? They used these as excuses for not doing anything. You know much but frequently find yourself lacking while it is "half a canteen of water" pretending to be "a full one" with others. You are a thinking man, and you do what you say, but for others, something unclean hides in a corner of their hearts. You are with the masses at all times, but others are happy to be separated from the masses. In every way you showed yourself to be a model of obedience to the discipline of the Party and the revolution, while for others discipline is something to be applied to restrict others, and they themselves are exceptions. You are first for the revolution, first for work, and your first consideration is for others. Others put publicity, recreation, and themselves first. You always select difficult tasks to perform and you have never shirked your responsibilities. There are people who only want to select the easy and light tasks, and shirk responsibilities. In all these I have great respect for you. I am willing to emulate you, and also hope all the comrades in the Party learn from you. On your 60th birthday I am sending this letter to you as a greeting. I wish you good health and long life, and I hope you will become the model for all members of the revolutionary party and for the people of the nation. I give you my revolutionary salute. 0 "Long Live Mao Tse-tung's Thoughts," April 1967 * "Teacher"s Journal," 18 January 1957 8493 CSO: 4005 64 TALK ON SINO-JAPANESE PROBLEMS AND THE SIAN INCIDENT 1 March 1937 [Text] On 1 March, the American authoress Smedley visited the Soviet area. and met with Comrade Mao Tse-tung at Yenan. They talked of the Sino-Japanese problems and the Sian Incident; the highlights of this conversation are as follows: Smedley: Have there been any basic changes in the United Front policy now implemented by the Communist Party and the one that was discussed with Mr. Snow last fall? Mao: Speeking from a basic viewpoint, there have been no changes, as manifested in the following: I. Our United Front is anti-Japanese, therefore it is not against all imperialism but against Japanese imperialism because it is now launching aggression against China. However, we ask the British, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union to be sympathetic toward China's anti-Japanese movement, on at least not to oppose it. We are willing to establish friendly relations on these fundamental points. II. Our United Front is a national one. It means that with the exception of traitors it includes the entire nation, all parties and factions, and all classes. It has been said that the Communist Party promoted the people's front, but this is incorrect. The Communist Party promoted a national front. In comparison with the popular fronts of France and Spain this kind of national front has a greater scope. III. Therefore, the principal political program of this anti-Japanese National Front should include the following: 1. Domestic peace and unity; 2. Fighting a war of resistance against Japan; 65 3. Democratic freedom for the people' 4. The Nanking government is to be transformed into a true government of national defense which absorbs all parties and factions and oust the pro-Japanese faction; 5. Change in the system of government should be based upon a democratic republic with general elections for the national assembly; 6. Improve the.people's livelihood; 7. Develop industry and commerce; 8. Unite with those countries In sympathy with the Chinese resistance against Japan. Smedley: To what degree are you willing to sacrifice in order to bring the anti-Japanese National United Front to fruition? Mao: A historical perspective Is necessary. Since the beginning of the summer of 1927, the Kuotnintant cast aside the United Front of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, discarded Dr. Sun Yatsen's policy of uniting with Russia, the Communist Party, and the peasants and workers, threw away the political program of national independence and democratic freedom and also took a diametrically opposite course. This compelled us to reluctantly take up the responsibility of the Chinese revolution alone and to implement Soviet political power and the policy of agrarian revolution, thereby placing us in opposition to the Kuomintang. The policy adopted then, and which was In opposition against the Kuomintang, was entirely correct and necessary. However, following the 18 September Incident, the Communist Party published a proclamation requesting an end to the civil war and announced its willingness to contract an agreement under the three conditions with the Kuomintang to have internal peace and carry out a war of resistance against Japan. But only the 19th Route Army agreed with our proposal at that time while the Nanking government refused to do so completely and, at the same time, launched a massive encirclement and suppression campaign. When the North China incident erupted and the peril to the nation reached its most critical point, we further published on 1 August 1935 the proclamation to organize an anti-Japanese allied army and a government of national defense. In December of the same year we published a program for organizing an anti-Japanese National United Front Party and also set forth the guidelines for the United Front. This new policy was Immediately accepted by the masses upon its proclamation, and many patriotic elements in the Kuomintang likewise agreed with and accepted this policy. This was because we were facing an even larger enemy and only by ending the. civil war could we carry out the war of resistance against Japan and gain revenge. This set a new stage in Chinese politics. But the Kuomintang was still unwilling to discard its old policies. Last August we again wrote a long letter to the Kuomintang resolutely demanding that the target of antagonism be shifted from the internal one to that of the Japanese aggressors, that the three great policies of Dr. Sun Yat-sen 66 be revived, and also set forth the idea of transforming the national system into a democratic republic, convening a .general election of the national assembly, to request it to repent the past and make a new beginning with the people. We announced that the Soviet area was willing to implement a similar democratic system throughout the nation. This letter received wide support from among the Kuomintang, but the central government of the Kuomintang did not answer our letter. The Sian Incident exploded and the nation was faced with a major crisis. The .danger lies in the fact, that Japan will seize this opportunity to launch its offensive, and the peaceful solution of this matter was indeed an act of providence. In order to consolidate internal peace and quickly launch the. war of resistance against Japan, we sent an important cable to the Kuomintang on 10 February on the eve of the opening of the Kuomintang's Third Plenary Session. The cable carried the following points: 1. The Soviet Government will become the Government of the Special Region of the Republic of China, and the Red Army will become the National Revolutionary Army which will also be under the direction of the Nanking Government and the Military Commission. 2. A thoroughly democratic system.is to be implemented within the territories of the Government of the Special Region. 3. The policy of overthrowing the national government shall cease in the country (this guideline was implemented last year, and we are reiterating this only). 4. The policy of confiscating the land of the landlords will be discontinued. These new expressions were for the sole purpose of dispelling doubts among the various circles and nullifying the opposition in order to establish the Anti-Japanese Nation United Front with the Kuomintang. As for the Kuomintang, a program was set forth requesting a basic change.in their former policies, waging war against the foreigners, practicing democracy domestically, and improving the livelihood of the people. Smedley: How are you going to implement the principle of your United Front here and in other areas? For instance, toward businessmen, the intelligentsia, landlords, peasants, workers, soldiers, and other aspects. Mao: There is not much difference now as in the past with regard to businessmen. From the outset we proposed the development of national industry and commerce, and wherever the Red Army goes they protect the businessmen. The Red Army won acclaim recently when they not only protected the businessmen but did not even confiscate land from a single landlord when they were in the area around Sian. and Sanyuan. This is a well publicized affair. As for the Soviet area, commerce has complete freedom within it. As in the past the present policy is to protect the intelligentsia, giving preference treatment to technicians, literary persons, and artists. Our attitude toward them is of respect. 67 We do not confiscate, the land of the landlords so long as they do not oppose the policy of war against the Japanese and save the nation. With regard to workers we adopted various methods to improve their treatment. On the question of our attitude toward the Kuomintang troops, we should unite in a friendly manner under the national front, especially with the Whampoa troops with their glorious history, fight the Japanese together with our guns pointed against the foreign enemies, and stop all internal wars. Although the Red Army has fought the Kuomintang for 10 years, we are not bitter against them at all, and we are willing to shake hands with them and fight for the defense of the nation under a unified command, and we believe they hold similar feelings* We are all willing to consult the Kuomintang and people from various circles with regard.to the aforementioned policies in order to reach a unanimous concensus of opinion and make this a guideline of the various important articles regarding policies against Japan, the system of government, and others, including all of them within the program of the national front so that they will be implemented throughout the country. Smedley: Does the new policy of the United Front mean.taht Chinese Communist Party members will forego class struggle and become democratic for the sake of establishing the national front? Mao: As I have said before, the practical policies that the Communist Party has decided to carry out have the sole objective of truly opposing the Japanese and defending the nation. Therefore, domestic peace must be realized and the situation of two regimes in opposition eliminated, otherwise a war of resistance against Japan will not be possible. This is known as minority interests taking a subordinate position to majority interests, placing class interests in subordination to national interests. All political parties and individuals in the country, should understand this important significance. Communists will not chain their own viewpoints to that of the interests of one class of the moment. Instead, they are very sincerely concerned about the interests of the entire country and of all the people, and they are also concerned about long-range interests. With regard to class struggle^ it is our opinion to suitably resolve this problem through endeavors on both sides as follows: First, with regard to landlords and capitalists, they are wealthy and have power. They must first of all respect the national interest and take steps to improve the livelihood and treatment of workers and peasants. This is because if they carry on as before perpetrating unhuman oppression and exploitation of workers and peasants caring only for the interests of their own and of one class, then it will not be possible for the workers and peasants to exist, let alone fighting a war of resistance. The nation will be lost and the landlords and capitalists will also become colonial slaves. Therefore, landlords and capitalists with the least bit of conscience should express their love for the nation and agree to the improvement of the economic and politic life of the workers and peasants made necessary by the war of resistance to save the country. There definitely cannot have a situation in which 68 only they have food to eat while the workers and peasants do not, and only they have political freedom while the workers and peasants have none. I believe that the running dogs of the Japanese, that is the traitorous elements, are the only ones who do not care for the general situation and the interests of the nation. Even at this crucial point of national and racial extinction they still put all their efforts into oppressing and exploiting the workers and peasants. With regard to this aspect of the demands, we have already presented them to the Kuomintang on behalf of the workers and peasants of the entire country, and the Kuomintang should have a satisfactory answer for us for the sake of the general situation and the national interest. Second, the masses of poor and suffering workers and peasants are without wealth and power, but they are the foundation of the nation and the largest class. And at this crucial point of national and racial extinction, their most important task, similarly, is to resist the Japanese and defend the nation. Furthermore, they will become the main force for the war of resistance against Japan for national salvation which, without them will not be possible. When their economic life and political life have been reformed, their dissatisfaction with the landlords and capitalists and the Kuomintang will lessen. The workers and peasants, too, must also take into consideration the general situation and the national interests, therefore, we do not propose to make any demands which are not suitable to the war of resistance to save the nation. It is because for this very reason that the Communist Party proposed the improvement of people's livelihood and cessation of the confiscation of land. There is no doubt at all that these policies set forth by the Chinese Communist Party are patriotic in nature. Some say, the communists are internationalists and do not care for national interests nor do they desire to defend the fatherland. This is complete nonsense. The communists are internationalists and are in favor of the one world movement. But at the same time, they are patriots defending the fatherland. For the sake of defending the fatherland they are willing to shed their last drop of blood. The 15-year national liberation struggle led by the Communist Party is known by everyone. This kind of patriotism and internationalism are not in conflict, because only with an independent and liberated China can there be participation in the one world movement. Smedley: What will the conditions for peace with Japan be if the Chinese National Front Government is established? Should talks still be held between China and Japan? Mao: If Japan desires peace we will not reject negotiations and our conditions for. peace will be as follows: First, Japan is to abolish its policy of aggression against China and abrogate its so-called mainland policy and the Three Principles of Hirota, respect the independence of China and relations between the two countries will be as equals. 69 Second, abolish the Yin Ju-keng eastern Hopeh government, Manchukuo, and return of the four provinces of Northeast China, and Northern Chahar. Third, withdraw the troops garrisoning North China. Fourth, stop Japanese airplanes from flying freely all over China. « Fifth, abolish all intelligence organizations in the various areas of China. Sixth, prohibit violent and irresponsible attitudes extended by Japanese toward the Chinese within the boundaries of China. Seventh, cease smuggling. Peace talks should.be carried out only under the condition that the Japanese agree to discuss these conditions. All negotiations leading to the sacrifice of sovereignty of Chinese territories will be opposed. .However, you should understand that only with the establishment of a people's government in Japan can talks be carried out based on these conditions. Currently, Japan has a military government and such possibilities do not exist. Smedley: Is the war against Japan inevitable? Mao: It is unavoidable. Before the people of Japan overthrow their militarist government Japan will not desist in her aggression policies, therefore, war is unavoidable. The threat of war is further intensified with the pact between Germany and Japan. Smedley: The Japanese say that cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party in China is an obstacle to peace in the Far East. What is your answer to this theory? Mao: The so-called "Peace in the Far East" claimed by the Japanese militarists means that China should not resist but let Japan occupy it, taking it over as it pleases. At the same time those countries like Britain, the United States of America, and France who are concerned with the Chinese question also should not oppose them. This is "a country lost without a fight," and it is the "Peace in the Far East" that the Japanese militarists want. But there is another kind of peace in the Far East, and that is to carry out the steps I mentioned before—Japan is to abolish its policy of aggression, return the four northeastern provinces, withdraw its garrison troops, etc., so that the Chinese people can live peacefully, and peaceful commerce can begin between China and the various countries of the world. Of course, this is another kind of peace in the Far East. This is the only true peace which, the Chinese people want, and which is also needed by all peaceful countries throughout the world. It is also something that the people of Japan want. It is only the Japanese militarists and their allies in aggression, Germany and Italy, the two fascist .countreis that do not want this kind of peace. Therefore, we can put it this way: The "Peace in the Far East" we oppose is the former 70 kind, and the one we approve of is of the latter kind of peace, and we propose substituting the latter kind of peace for the former. This is because the "peace" that is on the lips of the Japanese militarists is another name for war, and it is a synonym of slavery for the Chinese people. It is another name which threatens all the other peaceful countries of the world, and, by the same token, will bring the greatest harm to the Japanese people. In my view we should "obstruct" this "peace." Smedley: Does contradiction exist between world peace and the Sino-Japanese war: .Can a point of amelioration be found? Mao: Of course there is. The majority of the people and the countries of the world desire peace, but the Japanese militarists hope for war. This kind of contradiction cannot be reconciled in accordance with the program of the Japanese. There is only one way to resolve this contradiction and that is for the peaceful countries of the world to join with China to oppose Japan's policy of aggression, compelling the Japanese militarists to bow to world opinion. In another respect, if war cannot be avbided China should fight resolutely in resistance. Only these methods will be compatible with world peace. The foundation of world peace can be established only on the policy of stopping and opposing aggression. Smedley: Do you think such peace treaties as the Nine-Power Treaty, the Kellogg-Briand Pact and .league pact will be able to stop Japan declaring war against China? What impact will these treaties have in the Sino-Japanese war? And what are their significance? Mao: Today, it looks like as if these treaties truly express a hope for peace, therefore, the aggressor countries have manifested their determined opposition. But such treaties will only have the force of moral restriction of an aggressor country such as Japan. It will not be possible to stop them from declaring war against China. These treaties will have no influence on the Sino-Japanese war, therefore, it does not have any practical political significance. A new treaty must be available if it is desirable to stop Japan warring against China, and this treaty must include concrete measures to take forceful action against the aggressive violence of Japan, of the kind similar to the collective security of the Pacific that was negotiated. Only this kind of treaty can truly stop wars, and when wars erupt, they can also be quickly extinguished. Smedley: Can China immediately go to war against Japan after the United Front Government has been established? Or will a considerable period of preparation be needed? Mao: This depends on Japan. Regardless of when China is attacked by the Japanese, it should offer resistance immediately. However, we do not propose to provoke Japan. Since our policy is defensive warfare, we should rapidly set about making preparations, in all respects .thoroughly so that China will be able to handle any incident at any time. We are not against preparation, but we do oppose "long-term preparation" which seeks compromise under the pretext of preparation. 71 Smedley: Will the resources and finances available to the Chinese people be adequate to launch a victorious war of resistance against Japan without international aid, and can China shoulder the responsibilities of the finances and economics of war? Mao: China must fight the war of resistance even without friendly troops, and with the resources and natural conditions China has prolonged warfare can be sustained. The 10 years of the Red Army?s fighting history is living proof. But we are seeking friendly forces because Japan already has its bandit allies, and China cannot elect for isolation, and on this basis we propose that the five countries of China, Bxitain, the United States, France and Russia set up an allied Pacific Front. This kind of allied war front is to assist China, and, at the same time, it is mutual help. JapanTs aggression is not only China's misfortune but also that of the world, as Germany is a great catastrophe to the world,, and since these two aggressor countreis have formed an alliance, I fe;el that the five countries of China, Britain, the United States, France and Russia should quickly unite, as one or else face being destroyed one by one. , Smedley: Under the present circumstances—that is, under the situation of Italian-German-Japanese alliance—what impact will such a war have on the economy, finances, and commerce of Japan? Can Japan carry this war through successfully with the .assistance of these two countries? Mao: It is absolutely of no benefit to the Japanese people for Japan to carry out aggression against China. The final result of Japan's war against China will be the financial, economical, and political collapse of Japan. This fact is understood not only by the Japanese people, but even those bourgeoisie with foresight, but the Japanese militarists are completely blind to it. The Japanese militarists have already formed a world-wide league for aggression, and they hope to receive help from Italy and Germany in coordinated offensives. They hope to carry through the war of aggression against China using this method and get hold of the entire world as well. Of course their dream is perfect and satisfactory, but in my view, the end result will not be that way. The Chinese people should have the confidence of overcoming the Japanese in warfare. Smedley: Why did the Communist Party elect for a peaceful solution to the Sian Incident? This was a complete surprise and we hope you will give us an explanation. Mao: It is not an event that is out of expections, but entirely within reason. It is simply that nobody connected it with the political proposals set forth in the past by the Communist Party. With the beginning of the Japanese aggression we have been.willing to stop the civil, war since only with internal peace can there be an anti-Japanese war of resistance. In such things as the announcement 4 years ago that we were ready to contract an agreement with the Kuomintang troops-to fight the Japanese under the three conditions set forth, the proclamation made on 1 August of last year, and last year's letter to the Kuomintang all expressed our sincere desire 72 to establish a new United Front with the Kuomintang. During the Sian Incident there were people in the country who vigorously fomented civil war and the seriousness of it was critical. A peaceful solution would not have been possible without Chang Han-ch'ing accompanying Mr. Chiang Kai-shek back to Nanking on 25 December and follow up steps taken in accordance with Chiang Kai-shek's handling of the Sian Incident. Soldiers would have been everywhere and to what disastrous ending it would bring nobody would know. But it would provide the Japanese, with the best opportunity for aggression, and because of this China might have been lost, or at least most grieviously harmed. When the Sian Incident occurred, the Japanese militarists and some Chinese from the areas of Nanking, Shanghai, Peiping, and Tientsin claimed that it was a communist plot. That was completely false. The incident rose from differences in political views within the Kuomintang on the questions of resisting Japan and domestic reforms, and it was an incident that erupted suddenly of which we had no prior knowledge. After the incident there was opposition between Nanking and Shensi, and again there were people who claimed that the Communist Party was turning Sian.into another Madrid. This is again completely at odds with reality. The political circumstances between the Chinese and the Spanish are fundamentally different. In Spain there was no other recourse but civil war, but in China, today, the only objective is to wage a war of resistance against outsiders, and there must be peace domestically. The peaceful solution to the Sian Incident has proved that these claims were mere conjectures and some of them were outright malicious lies. Smedley: Many people claim that the Sian Incident was concocted by the Communist Party, and that red flags flew high over the walls of Sian. They also accuse the Red Army of seizing young men and women in the Sanyuan area. What are the facts of this case? Mao: Red flags on Sian's walls must have been seen only by the Japanese and traitors, for they have yet to be seen by the people of Sian. As for seizing young men and women of Sanyuan, this must also have originated from the Japanese and traitors, and the truth can be found only by asking the young men and women of Sanyuan. In official documents it is still asserted that the Red Army kills and burns, oppressing the people and destroying the rural areas. They have repeated this over and over again for 10 years and they are still not tired of it and must say it again. Of course the person who made the statement has the freedom of speech, but the people of all China also have the freedom to look at the facts themselves. The government has not promulgated a law prohibiting people to take a look at facts with their own.eyes, and anybody can go to those places where the Red Army has passed through or been stationed to see for themselves what the facts really are and there is no need for me to talk more about this. Smedley: It is going the rounds that the policy of the Communist Party is to concede to the Kuomintang, surrendering to them and be repentent. What are your, views on this? 73 Mao: I know there are people outside saying this, but of note is that the Japanese are not willing to say that. The Japanese want the Kuoraintang and the Communist Party to fight each other, and they are absolutely against this kind of "concede, surrender, and-repent" policy. Because the Japanese militarists deeply understand that regardless of whether people called it "conceding, surrendering, and repenting," such a policy adopted by the Communist Party toward the Kuofflintang would mean in practice dealing a heavy blow against the Japanese policy of aggression. In viewing the Chinese problem there is one standard, and that is the Japanese will definitely oppose any policy that is revolutionary, and they will welcome any policy that is counterrevolutionary. It is only necessary to look at what the attitude of the Japanese is in order to investigate the correctness of any policy or action. By just taking a look at the. way the Japanese oppose the-so-called policy of "conceding, surrender, and repentence" will verify how revolutionary our policy is. The Communist Party requests the Kuomintang to and their 10-year-old policy and change to the new policy of national revolution and democratic revolution. These requests were expressed in the cable sent to the Third Plenary Session of the Kuomintang congress concerning the convening of a national salvation congress, democratic freedom for the people, improvement of the people's livelihood, rapid preparations for a war of resistance, and other matters.. Under these circumstances the Communist Party is willing to change the names of its Soviets and the Red Army, and its opposition against the Kuomintang, and cease confiscating land from the landlords. These measures are without doubt a .major concession made by the Communist Party to the Kuomintang. However, this concession was necessary because it is based on an even greater and more important principle, which is the urgency and need to resist Japan and save the country. This is known as mutual concession, and joint unity. With regard to the resistance against Japan, the intelligent people in the Kuomintang leadership and party members understood this significance. But there are people within the country possessing the Ah Q spirit who go about boasting that the concessions we made is "conceding, surrender, and repentence." It iw well known that Lu Hsun, who passed away recently, wrote a story about a person known as Ah Q. This Ah Q is always victorious under any circumstances, although it would have been failure for others. Let them say what they wish, there are Ah Q's throughout the world. Besides, there are personages suffering from/Jleft tending gullibility" and you can find them everywhere. Sun Ming-chiu [1327 06S2 0046], who shot and killed Wang Yi-che [3769 0110 0772], is an extreme example of such people. Theirs is patriotic enthusiasm, and they are sorrowed by the historical tragedy of losing political power and home territories. They are pure hearted people but they lack political experience. They are unable to orient themselves when major events occur; they do not understand the relationship of the part to the whole in a situation, and they cannot distinguish the past from the present, the difference between today and tomorrow, and the connection between them. First, they opposed Mr Chiang's return to Nanking; later they oppose peaceful solution to the incident. As with regard to Sian, some of the people not only do not understand the Communist Party, but also do not understand Chang [1728], Yang [2799] and others who supported peace. They do not understand that although progress by the Kuomintang was slow, a united resistance against Japan still exists. In the Kuomintang and within 74 the national revolutionary army the anti-Japan fervor is mounting daily. The majority of the leaders and party members can join us and the people to work together for the cause of anti-Japanese national salvation war. The sincerity of the changes in the Kuomintang policies have yet to satisfy the people but a beginning has been made. From the resolution of the third plenary session comes evidence of these changes. They do not know how to make distinctions between the majority of those patriots and possible patriots within the Kuomintang from those elements that are actually betraying the nation, the so-called pro-Japanese faction, and they have these two mixed up. They also do not understand that the responsibility of all progressive elements in the country is to persuade those who do not understand our viewpoints for the moment and bring.them around to an understanding so that we can face the common enemy. There must be patience in this work, and at times there must be concessions. So long as it does not go against the cardinal principle of anti-Japanese national salvation there is space for consultations. We can only submit the aforementioned self-criticism to those who have a high degree of impatience and do not understand our policies. But for those whose only thought is personal and group benefits and who have pushed national interests out of their minds, this will be no self-criticism regardless of whether they are the.pro-Japanese faction or those giving lip service to resistance against Japan. It is also not a matter of a few words of sarcasm directed against them but a means to expose their schemes and prevent them from plying their trade. Smedley: What is your attitude toward the Three People's Principles? Mao: We have come to believe in the Three People's Principles long ago, otherwise how could we join the Kuomintang from 1925 to 1927? Many of the members of the Communist Party have been members of the Kuomintang's Central Committee and provincial party committee members. I was one of them, as well as Lin Po-ch'u [2651 0130 3255], Wu Yu-chang [0702 3768 4545], Tung Pi-wu [5516 1801 2976], Hsieh Chueh-tsai [6200 6030 0762], and Tung Wei-chien [5516 1919 0256]. Many of our people, such as Chu Teh, Chou En-lai, P'eng Teh-huai, Liu Po-ch'eng, Ho Lung, Lin Piao, Yeh Chien-ying and Hsu Hsiang-ch'ien, were former leading cadres of the Kuomintang's revolutionary army. The current task is to struggle for the actual realization of the revolutionary Three People's Principles. This is to say that nationalism for an independent and liberated China must be realized through the war of resistance against the outsiders, in order to realize democratic freedom internally, establish a system of general elections for the national assembly, republic with the power to the people, and improvement of people's livelihood to alleviate the sufferings of the people under the principle of people's livelihood. The Three People's Principles is not incompatible with our current political program, and we are asking the Kuomintang precisely for these things. In our letter to the Kuomintang of last August we requested them to revive the three principles of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. We are most resolute and most loyal in our struggle to bring about a China governed by the three principles. The agrarian reform policy practiced in the past is but the proposal of Dr. Sun Yat-sen that those who farm shall have their land. As to our continuing belief in communism there is no conflict there. When Dr. Sun Yat-sen was still living he agreed 75 to our continuing belief in communism. In recent times you can name it and you will find it in the Kuomintang. There are many in the Kuomintang who believe in capitalism, and there are also quite a few believers in anarchism. Some of them believe in Confucianism, Buddhism,. the Methodist denomination—a conglomeration of all sorts of beliefs. It is necessary only for the current revolutionary political program to become unified and unanimous thereby forming a foundation of unity for national salvation, then all doubts will be dispelled and we shall take the path of facing the nationrs peril together. The bright and prosperous future of China rests on this. Collection of Current Discussions, Chih-hsin Printing Bureau 1 May 1937 The Sino-Japanese Problem and the Sian Incident Collected Essays of Mao Tse-tung (On Certain Victory in the War of Resistance) (excerpts) The Ta-chung Publishing Co. December 1937 The Eighth Route Army (On Certain Victory in the War of Resistance in China), War of Resistance Publishing House, 10 December 1937 The Eighth Route Army Resisting the Japanese (On Certain Victory in the War of Resistance) War of Resistance Publishing House, January 1938 8439 CSO: 4005 76 LETTER TO THE SPANISH PEOPLE 15 May 1937 [Text] To the armed comrades of the Spanish people! We of the Chinese- Communist Party, the Chinese Red Army, and the Chinese Soviet hold the view that the war being fought under the leadership of the Spanish government is the most sacred one in the world. This war is not only being fought for the very existence of the Spanish nation, it is also a war fought on behalf of the oppressed peoples of the world. This is so because the Spanish people and its government are resisting the Italo-German fascist imperialists and Spanish rebels who are destroying world civilization, culture, and human justice. The Spanish government and its people are now fighting the Italo-German fascist imperialists who are now going all out to support the fascist imperialists of Japan who are attacking China in the Orient. The fascist imperialists of Japan are putting all their effort into China. After forcefully occupying our Four Northeastern Provinces, they launched their aggression against north and central China. Without the help of the Italo-German fascist imperialists^ the Japanese fascist imperialists would not be launching such frenzied offensives against China as they are doing today. The Chinese Communist Party is in full concurrance with the unification of all parties and factions on the people's front. Furthermore, we are also calling upon all parties and factions in China to unite and form a national unified front to oppose the Japanese fascist imperialists. This work is being carried out with utmost urgency. A victory for us will be a blow against the Japanese fascist imperialist, and this will also help the people of Spain and its government. We believe that the struggle of the Chinese people cannot be separated from the struggle of the Spanish people. Today, the Chinese Communist Party is using its struggle against the Japanese fascist imperialists to help and encourage the Spanish people. The Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese Red Army, the Chinese Soviet, and the Chinese people are deeply moved by your victories on the northern and southern fronts and in protecting Madrid. The 77 newspapers in our Soviet areas daily publish news concerning your heroic and courageous struggle. We are firmly convinced that the unification of all parties in your people's front is the foundation for your final victory. We unreservedly concur with the 10 major guidelines set forth by the Spanish Communist Party. Besides pointing out the similarity between your struggle and the struggle we are engaged in .the, East, we would like to mention that Trotskyite bandit elements have infiltrated our ranks. Only by resolutely opposing these internal renegades can we consolidate our fronts, and by launching a struggle opposing our own enemies we are also helping you. in your struggle in Spain. In China there are over 100 different newspapers and periodicals that publish news, articles, and photos and they are sympathetic with your heroic struggle for democracy and freedom. We know.that your victory will directly assist us in our struggle against the Japanese fascist imperialists. The cause you are struggling for is our cause, too. We read with, deep emotion about the International Brigade composed of people from various countries of the world, and we are very happy to learn that there are Chinese and Japanese participants. Many comrades of the Chinese Red Army are willing to go to Spain and join you in your struggle, and not a day passes without their discussing your struggle and the situation in the entire country of Spain. If there had not been the Japanese enemy to be dealt with, we would certainly have joined your ranks. You all know that the Chinese Red Army has gone through 10 years of ceaseless warfare of the most difficult kind. There were no resources, hunger and cold were constantly with us, and there was no supply of arms and ammunition. But in the end we finally won our present victory. We understand that you and your troops are going through the same difficulties we experienced, but we believe that you will be victorious. Our 10-year struggle has taught us that if a revolutionary people and army oppose an enemy unwaveringly and without fear of difficulties, they will be certainly victorious. We, the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese Red Army, the Chinese Soviet, and the Chinese people, extend our deepest comradely respect to the heroic men and women of Spain who are fighting for their democratic system. Through them is expressed the spirit of unlimited unity and friendship of the oppressed nations of the world. As we had done before, we shall continue to keep our attention focused every hour, every day on the course of your struggle, and we shall be happy and joyous with all the victories you win, and we believe that final victory will definitely be yours. Mao Tse-tung 15 May 1937 Yenan, Shensi Province 0 Collected articles of Mao Tse-tung, The Ta-chung Publishing Company December 1937 National Savior Daily, Vol 123, Paris National Savior Daily 18 September 1937 8439 CSO: 4005 78 ON ANTI-JAPANESE DEMOCRACY AND NORTH CHINA YOUTH 1937 [Text] Question: How are the recent peace negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party going? Answer: The talks are still in progress. The common political program for the two parties is of primary importance since it is the basis for their cooperation. If there is no such program cooperation will not be complete, and the principles underscoring the program are the revolutionary tasks of nationalism, democracy, and people's livelihood. On the reorganization of the military and the transformation of the Soviets, these concrete tasks will be carried out soon. So far, what the Kuomintang has expressed is still not enough, for example the charges brought by the leaders of the save the nation party of Shanghai. The various limitations set upon the rules and regulations governing the national congress and the treatment of Shanghai textile plant workers were quite disappointing. Question: Has the danger of civil war been completely eliminated? Answer: On the surface it appears that the danger of civil war has passed, however it still exists although it is not significant now. If peace is said to be wholly successful it will lead the people to slacken their efforts in the movement to "consolidate peace." Cessation of civil war on a nationwide scale still has not been achieved today. The Communist Party on their part has issued orders to Red troops dispersed all over the country to stop fighting, but the Kuomintang troops are still carrying on with their annihilation offensives. Fighting is still going on along the border areas of Fukien-Chekiang-Kiangsi, Hupeh-Honan-Anhwei, Hunan-Kiangsi, and the Hunan-Hupeh-Kiangsi provinces, and we are requesting the Kuomintang to stop their offensives against these areas. The opposition of Nanking and the local areas also exist. Only through exercising absolute democracy can these dangers of opposition and civil war be completely averted. Question: What are the views of the Communist Party with regard to the various factions in Nanking? 79 Answer: We are willing to join with all those Kuomintang elements who are sympathetic with the national democratic revolution, as for those who are not we shall carry out the work of explanation to make them understand and not to interfere with the national democratic revolution. The Kuomintang left wing's approval for peace and the movement for democratic war of resistance is still developing, and they hope to see the entire country united, the Three People's Principles of Dr. Sun.Yat-sen revived, and the Kuomintang reformed in order to revive its revolutionary spirit. A certain section of people are not resolute enough, they do not unreservedly accept the tasks of national democratic revolution and entertain doubts about cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. They are struggling against the impact and the pull of the people's tasks which are pushing them to the side of the people. Another body of people, the so-called pro-Japan faction, also exist within the Kuomintang. The entire country, as well as the majority in the Kuomintang, are very much dissatisfied with them. If they do not change their attitudes they will be destructive to the people and to the Kuomintang. Question: What kind of development was attained with regard to the United Front after the Sian Incident? Answer: There was development in the United Front Movement after the Sian Incident, significantly the contact between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. There were also modifications in the attitude of suspicion toward the policy of the Communist Party. They did not oppose the cooperation of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and there was also a diminishing in the views held by the "leftists" opposing the peaceful solution of the Sian Incident. However, distrust of the Nanking government still exists in literary circles, the student bodies, and the media, because Nanking, so far, has given no concrete expression of its willingness to thoroughly and resolutely change over. Many erroneous things were still held on to by the government, thereby leading to distrust throughout the nation. We say "everybody should work," but the complete changeover of the Nanking government must wait for the people to continue with their work and this is not necessary. There is hope for a United Front in the future. There must be unity within the country before we can attain the objectives of the war of resistance. This is quite obvious. Question: What is the reaction of the various parties and factions within the country toward the United Front idea? Answer: With the exception of traitors, all other parties and factions are in sympathy with the idea of nation-wide unity. Many of the bourgeois class have welcomed and agreed with the policy of peace obtained by the Communist Party during the Sian Incident. However, some of the obdurate personages adopted an attitude of opposition. If these elements do not change their attitudes they will be in actuality helping Japanese imperialism regardless of what their subjective viewpoints are. In accordance with what we have learned, it is precisely those traitorous elements who are directly under the command of the Japanese who are the fiercest opponents of unity within 80 the country. For instance, the likes of the Trotskyite elements are quite obvious examples. The activities of these elements are, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the activities of traitors. In dealing with this portion of people will use all available means to expose their plots so that they will not be able to deceive the masses and have the people of all China recognize them as the public enemy of the nation so that they will rise en masse and attack them. Question: How will the problem of opposition between Nanking and the factions holding local powers be resolved? Answer: The existence of this opposition between Nanking and the factions holding local power will be a disadvantage in dealings with foreign matters. It is our policy to diminish such oppositions as much as possible in order to attain the objective of uniting against the foreigners. In order to achieve such an objective the Nanking government and the various provinces should all take a step toward rapproachment. Foremost, there must be progress on the question of democracy, only thence can opposition be eliminated and we all step onto the great road of united opposition against the Japanese. Question: How can a suitable solution be worked out on the question of class struggle in the policy of the United Front? Answer: It will be impossible to eliminate class contradictions before the class system is done away with. Faced with the war against Japan, we must, however, seek a suitable solution for this problem. Therefore, in the program of the United Front, we proposed giving the people democratic rights in the political field, and improvement in livelihood in the economic field. It is inevitable that workers and peasants will rise in opposition when they are oppressed politically and economically, and this contradiction can be alleviated only by giving them democratic rights and improving their livelihood. We will set forth in the mutual political program now in the process of being negotiated with the Kuomintang that the workers will have the freedom of assembly, association, and speech and universal, suffrage. Improvements must be made in the treatment of workers and in their working conditions. As for the peasants, there should be cuts in rents and taxes. With regard to the land problem it should be settled through legislation and other suitable methods. Question; Why are you now stressing the question of democracy? Answer: At other times I have talked a lot about the relationship between democracy and opposition against Japan. In order to secure peace and unity in the country, peace will not be consolidated and there will be no true unity if there is no democracy. It requires the participation of the people of the whole country to fight Japan and if there is no democracy the civilians cannot participate, and there will be no peace and unity. The war of resistance will become impossible without the participation of the people, and even if the fight is carried on victory cannot be guaranteed, therefore, the democratic system is a necessary condition, for victory in the war of resistance against Japan and it is absolutely indispensable. Therefore, it is to be victorious against Japanese that we stressed the question of democracy. 81 Question: How are you going to promote the realization of political democracy? t Answer: The realization of political democracy is dependent upon the democratic movement. Political democracy will not be realized without the broad masses of people demanding for and giving impetus to the democratic movement; All parties and factions and various circles throughout the country should unite and struggle to win democratic rights. The military throughout the country should support this democratic movement. We can achieve victory over Japan and save China and avoid the danger of becoming a colony only by realizing political democracy and giving.the people the freedom to take part in politics. In practical implementation of the democratic movement we must give our attention to the election, convention, and holding of the national congress. We should pay attention to winning complete freedom of speech, assembly, and association, as well as patriotism and saving the nation. These are the very minimum of democratic rights and if the entire nation turns in this direction it will be possible to realize a unified democratic republic. Question: What is the attitude of the Communist Party toward the current national congress? Answer: The current national congress is of national defense in nature, and, at the same time, it forms a bridge to cross from dictatorship to democracy. Therefore, the entire country should participate and the Communist Party intends to take part. With regard to the election, convention, and tasks of the national congress, the Nanking government has not been democratic about it. If they do not make any revisions then the congress will have very little effect, therefore, the entire country should join in requesting the Nanking government to revise those illegal regulations. The election of the national congress should have the participation of the people. Ample freedom should be permitted for convening and opening this congress and its task should not be limited to the discussion of the Constitution but must be expanded to discuss thoroughly and concretely the policy of fighting the Japanese to either save the country or lose it. The opinions of the Communist Party regarding the national congress have already been proclaimed to the country. They have also been proposed to the Kuomlntang and talks are now being held. The objective is to have the congress accomplish the task of democratic opposition against Japan. Question: What are the views of the Communist Party on the question of freeing political prisoners? Answer: Long ago, the Communist Party requested the release of political prisoners throughout the country. This request is still being made and it is incorporated into the talks held with the Kuomintang. If the Nanking government desires to express a thorough transformation of its policy there is no reason why the political prisoners should not be freed. However, there has been no concrete expression from the Kuomintang presently on this question. Although they have verbally agreed to free political prisoners nothing of this sort has actually taken place. Besides, incidents of continuing arrests of patriotic prisoners have occurred. The trial of the leader.of the Save the 82 Nation party in Suchow was a great disappointment for the people, and there were also many within the Nanking government who were dissatisfied. If the Nanking government sincerely desires to express its determination to make a new beginning with, the people it should immediately release the seven leaders of national salvation and proclaimed thetn to be innocent. Question: What suggestions do you have with regard to the question of preparing for the war of resistance? Answer: We must- immediately put up resistance regardless of when the Japanese imperialists launch its offensive against us. We are prepared to deal with incidents at any moment without regard to when or where the war erupts. But if Japan does not launch a massive armed attack against China for the moment and adopted a relatively mild policy during the period of preparation for aggression, we should then utilize this moment to take positive action in the work of preparing for the war of resistance. The "preparations" we have set forth has a different context from the principle of preparation propounded by the Kuomintang in the past. The Kuomlntang's preparation theory is to pacify domestically first and then drive out the foreign enemy. It vas a civil war with no defined boundaries, and an attrition on the forces to resist Japan. Today's preparations in the making are for stopping the civil war, consolidate domestic peace, realize political democracy, open the doors to all freedomes of the people to save the nation, organize the masses, train and arm them, and, at the same time, to accelerate the accomplishment of the preparation work for resisting the enemy in such areas as the military, political, finance, economy, culture and education. The war of resistance in China seeks final victory. The sphere of this victory is not limited to Shanhaikuan nor is it restricted to northeast China. It encompasses the liberation of Korea and Taiwan, and even the success of the people's liberation revolution in Japan. This is our proposal for the preparations for the war of resistance. Question: What is your estimation of the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese war? Answer: There are two possibilities for the conclusion of the war. First, China is completely victorious over Japanese imperialism, the Chinese nation gaining freedom and liberation, the success of the United Front within the country, a close unity between the government and the people, victory for the international peace front, support of the peace forces within the Japanese nation, striving to attain the conditions that will bring about such a future. But the most important and decisive condition for winning such a future is the self-unity of the Chinese people and a determined war of resistance. Without this condition the war of resistance is hopeless. Second, Japanese imperialism achieves its objective of transforming China into a colony solely its own. This danger also exists. This will happen only under such conditions as when the Chinese people are scattered and not united, offering no resistance or fighting a war of resistance irresolutely and haphazardly, and not uniting with their friends who are helping them. If the Chinese people continue to sleep, the enemy will take away their house. The Communist Party is struggling for the first one. Setting forth the proposal of a National United Front is to achieve this first future. We call on all parties, 83 factions, and classes to resolutely oppose the attempt to make China a colony and demand the freedom and liberty of China. We must struggle to the end with the enemy in order to achieve victory in realizing such freedom and liberty. Question: What are your views on the recent closeness between Britain and Japan? Answer: The rulers of Japan and the conservative government of Britain between them are planning to ameliorate their conflicts by carrying out negotiations of compromise in order to achieve their objective of sacrificing China. The Chinese people cannot allow them to carve up China as they please, and the Chinese people must give their closest attention to this matter. Should the Wanking government manifest vacillation and apathy in the task of protecting national interests, the people and patriots within the Ruomintang must not show them any mercy. At the same time we must realize that the compromise between the two countries of Britain and Japan has not yet formed a good base. It is true that there will always be the possibility of compromise between Britain and Japan but there is a limitation as to where and when. The British want to preserve the status quo, but its contents are easily mutable.. This can be seen from the step-by-step retreat made by the British after 18 September. Basically, the policy of Japan to solely occupy China and the open door policy held by Britain and other imperialists are in opposition to each other. But temporary and partial compromises are possible because Britain can sell out the interests of China at any time in order to attain the objective which will be to its interest. Regardless of the degree of compromise reached between Britain and Japan, the Chinese people should not for a single moment drop their guard regarding the life and death of China, and in the movement to resist Japan we must not place too much trust in Britain. By understanding clearly the basic nature of the British we will not be taken in by them. China cannot be completely isolationist. Dr. Sun Yat-sen's policy of union with Russia has practical political significance today. The relationship between China and Russia should advance a step closer and be improved upon. The interests of the United States in the Par East is also incompatible wi.th the continental policy of Japan, therefore, the United States should not. be an idle bystander with regard to the question of China and we should make a distinction between the British conservative party and the broad masses of the British people. With regard to the British conservative party's policy on Western Europe, it vacillates between the peace front and the fascist front and it has already aroused great dissatisfaction among the country's people. If they once again hobnob with the Japanese aggressors to seek a compromise, they will not only arouse the opposition of the Chinese people but it is doubtful whether they will have the sympathy of their own people. The organizing of a world-wide peace front Is proceeding in depth and breadth, and it Is also making preparations to stop all fascism. The liberation movement of China is closely connected with the liberation movement of the world and our future is absolutely bright. Question: What hopes do you hold for the youths of the North? 84 Answer: The youths of the North are the vanguards In the struggle for national liberation. The majority of them should unite and struggle to the end for national democratic revolution. Many among them are troubled by the situation, and a solution should be sought in a collective movement, and this movement is a struggle to realize democracy and the war resistance against Japan. The youths of the North should heighten their enthusiasm for achieving freedom of the peopleTs livelihood. Striving to achieve the patriotic freedom of democracy forms one link in the core of the political life of today. For instance, if some, people only talk about resisting Japan and do not understand the realities of the struggle for political democracy, then resistance against Japan will not be effective. The reformism of the bourgeoisie is having an impact on the youths of the North. Its attempt is to draw them from the front lines to the rear areas, from an environment of excitement to peace and quiet, and from positions of leadership to become followers, thereby extinguishing the leadership roles played by the youths of the North in the national democratic revolution, and the youths should struggle against such reformism and strictly examine the influence and trends of these reformists and completely overcome them. 0 "Collected Articles of Mao Tse-tung," Ta-ching Publishing House, December 1937 * Mao Tse-tung on the Sino-Japanese War (resistance against Japan, democracy, and the youths of the Norttt), Shensi PeopleTs Publishing House, October 1937 "The People's Companion," Vol 1, 4th edition. 8439 CSO: 4005 85 LETTER TO BROWDER, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE U.S. COMMUNIST PARTY 24 June 1937 [Text] Dear Comrade Browder: Through the courtesy of a comrade's visit we are writing to you, our respected comrade Browder, a good friend of the Chinese people and a leader of the American people. The Chinese Communist Party are similarly faced with a historical task. This task is no other than to oppose and overthrow Japanese imperialism1s policy of aggression. The Chinese Communist Party is endeavoring to bring about a National United Front of opposition against Japan. Although our work is currently in the midst of a difficult period we have made progress, and we are also giving all our efforts to achieve the results we are working for. We hear from American friends and other sources that the Communist Party of America and the masses of America are very much concerned about the Chinese struggle against Japan and are giving us help on many fronts. This makes us feel that our struggle is absolutely not a solitary one. From the heroic and courageous aid given us from abroad we feel that when victory becomes ours, it will be very useful to the struggle of liberation waged by the American people. The world is on the eve of a big explosion. The working class of the world and all people seeking liberation must unite and rise to engage in a common struggle. In closing I give you my revolutionary salute! Mao Tse-tung 24 June This is a letter written on 24 June of this year by Mr. Mao Tse-tung to Mr Browder, the secretary general of the U.S. Communist Party on behalf of the Chinese people seeking the sympathy of the United States and the proletariat of the world for the struggle of the Chinese people against Japan. An important document, it has been selected for inclusion. (Original in English) 0 "Collected Documents of Mao Tse-tung," Ta-chung Publishing Co., December 1937 * Famous articles of the War of Resistance, Wartime Publishing Co. 8439 CSO: 4005 86 THE 8 JULY CABLE SENT BY GENERALS OF THE RED ARMY TO GENERALISSIMO CHIANG ON THE JAPANESE OFFENSIVE AGAINST NORTH CHINA 8 July 1937 [Text] To His Excellency, Generalissimo Chiang, Lushan The Japanese have attacked Lukouchiao [Marco Polo Bridge], carrying out the planned stage of seizing North China with force of arms, and the news brings us unmeasurable sorrow and anger. Peiping and Tientsin.are important cities in North China and it is impermissible to lose them again. We respectfully beg you to issue strict orders to the 29th Route Army to offer courageous opposition and order the Third Plenary Session to issue an edict for a war of resistance, carry out general mobilization country wide, defend Peking and Tientsin, protect North China, and recover lost territories. The officers and soldiers of the Red Army are willing to give their lives for their country under the leadership of the Generalissimo and fight the enemy in order to attain the objective of defending the nation and our territory. This is urgently submitted and we wait in readiness for your orders. Respectfully, Mao Tse-tung, Chu Teh, P'eng Teh-huai Ho Lung, Lin Piao, Liu Po-ch'eug, and Hsu Shang-ch*ien. 0 Guide to the Anti=Japanese National United Front Liberation Publishing House, April 1938 * "Liberation," Vol 11, 7 August 1938 8439 CSO: 4005 87 THE 8 JULY CABLE SENT BY RED ARMY GENERALS TO SUNG CHE-YUAN AND OTHERS ON THE JAPANESE OFFENSIVE AGAINST NORTH CHINA 8 July 1937 [Text] The honorable messers Sung Ming-hsuan [1345 2494 6513] of Peiping, Chang Tzu-chung [1728 5261 1813] of Tientsin, Liu Ju-ming [0491 3067 2494] of Chang-chia-kou, and Peng Chih-an [7458 3112 1344] of Pao-ting: The Japanese offensive has surprised and angered the nation, the courageous and heroic opposition put up by the 29th Army In the Lukuochiao campaign has become known throughout the country and the people are willing to back them up. We boldly request the planning of all the armies to fight in defense of Peipping and Tientsin and to pretect North China. We shall not allow the Japanese to occupy an inch of our country's territory and we shall shed the last drop of our blood in its defense. The officers and soldiers of the Red Array are filled with righteous anger and are prepared to inarch at any given moment to follow your armies and engage the Japanese in a fight to the. death. Besides cabling Generalissimo Chiang and friendly armies to kill the enemy, we specially submit this and await for your instructions. Mao Tse-tung, Chu Teh, P'eng Teh-huai, Ha Lung, Lin Piao, Liu Po-ch'eng, and Hsu Shang-ch'ien. 0 Guide to the Anti-Japanese National United Front Liberation Publishing House, April 1938 * "Liberation," Vol 11, 7 August 1938 8439 CSO: 4005 FOREWORD NO. 1 TO 'RURAL INVESTIGATION' 6 October 1937 [Text] Of all the materials I personally collected from the rural areas during the period from the Northern Expedition in 1927 to my departure from the Central Soviet Region in 1934, only the following are left: (1) the Hsun-wu Investigation; (2) the Hsing-kuo Investigation; (3) the Investigation of Tung-t'ang and Other Places; (4) the Mu-k'ou Tsun Investigation; (5) the Land Distribution in Southwestern Kiangsi; (6) the Problem of Land Rental with Unharvested Crops; (7) the Mistakes in Land Struggle in Kiangsi; (8) the Rich Peasant Problem After Land Distribution in Yung-^-hsin; (9) the Two Initial Stage Land Laws; (10) the Chang-kang Hsiang Investigation; and (11) the Ts'ai-ch'i Hsiang Investigation. The last two had been published in "Struggle News" in the Central Soviet Region. The original manuscript of the other nine investigations, which survived the long march, are preserved. All the other materials were lost. The most regrettable loss is the Five Hsien (Changsha, Hsiangtan, Hsianghsiang, Hengshan and Liling) Investigation., done in Hunan in the spring of 1927. It was lost because of the Hsu K'o-hsiang rebellion. The Ningkang and Yunghsin investigations made in the spring of 1928 at the Chingkang mountains were lost because of the fall of the Chingkang mountains. The materials preserved here were all from the Central Soviet Region. The first nine parts reflected land distribution at its early stage. The last two parts reflected land distribution as it was thoroughly implemented. Incomplete as they are one can get a general idea from these materials. This is a kind of historical material in which some of the viewpoints were my opinions at that time and which I have subsequently changed. Mao Tse-tung 6 October 1937 Yenan 1004 CSO: 4005 89 INSCRIPTION FOR THE POUNDING AND OPENING OF SHEN-PEI PUBLIC SCHOOL 1937 [Text] We should cultivate a large group of people. These people are the vanguards of revolution. These, people have political farsightedness. These people are full of the spirit of struggle and the spirit of sacrifice. These people are frank, faithful and sincere, positive, and straightforward. These people do not seek self-interest, but are solely devoted to national and social liberation. These people are not afraid of difficulties, they always firmly and bravely go ahead in the face of difficulties. These people are not fanatic elements; or seekers of the limelight. Rather, they are people with their feet firmly on the ground and fortified with realistic spirit. If China has a large group of vanguards like them, the mission of China's revolution can be smoothly accomplished. 0 "Long Live Mao Tse-tung's Thought," April 1967 * "Mobilization," No 10, 23 October 1937 1004 CSO: 4005 90 TALK WITH 'HSIW-CHUNG-HUA, PAO* REPORTER IN YENAN (ON ONE-PARTY DICTATORSHIP) 2 February 1938 [Text] Question 1: Is the present political system in the Soviet Union a one-party dictatorship? Answer: The Soviet Union is a country under the dictatorship of the proletariat, that is, a worker-peasant socialist dictatorship state and not a state under a party dictatorship. From the Marxist-Leninist viewpoint, class dictatorship and party dictatorship are two different things. Party is only an organization of the most awakened people in a class. A party should and can only play a leading role in a country under a proletarian dictatorship. A party should not and cannot take the place of a class to effect a dictatorship. Therefore, Lenin and Stalin, founders of the political system of the Soviet Union, never mixed party dictatorship and class dictatorship as one problem. Instead, when occasionally borrowing the so-called term of "dictatorship," they referred only to the leadership function of the party in the country's political system. In order to enable you to understand and believe my interpretation, I am glad to introduce to you what Lenin and Stalin said about this problem. For the sake of recollection and understanding, I wish to introduce to you especially Lenin's opinion cited in Stalin's book "Concerning the Problem of Leninism" and Stalin's own opinion on this problem. In the section on "Party and Worker Class in Proletarian Dictatorship System" in this book, Stalin made detailed and clear expositions on Lenin's opinion on this problem. For instance, he said: "For example, here in our Soviet Union, in a country under proletarian dictatorship, this fact should be regarded as the highest manifestation of the leadership role of the party. This fact is that our Soviet or other mass organization, in resolving any important political or organizational problem, must base its decision on the direction of the party. In this sense, it may be said: proletarian dictatorship, in fact, is the 'dictatorship' of the vanguard of the proletariat, or the 'dictatorship' of the party of the proletariat because the party is the basic 91 leadership force of the proletarian class." Please see Lenin's talk about this problem at the Second World Congress of the Comintern: "(Tienaire) said: He advocates proletarian dictatorship, but his understanding of proletarian dictatorship is not entirely the same as our understanding of it. He thinks that the proletarian dictatorship as we understand it is in substance the dictatorship of a minority of the proletarian class who are well organized and awakened. It is true that during the capitalist era when the proletarian class was subjected to incessant exploitation and unable to develop their ability as human beings, the greatest characteristics of the workers political party is that this political party can include only a minority of its own class. The political party can only unite with a minority of its own class, just like the fact that in any capitalist society the really awakened workers constitute only a minority of all the workers. Hence, we cannot but admit that only this awakened minority can guide and lead the broad masses of workers. If Comrade Tienaire says that he is the enemy of the political party and at the same time advocates letting a minority of the best organized and most revolutionary elements give direction to the entire proletarian class, then I would say that there is actually no difference in opinion between us." (See "Complete Works of Lenin," Vol 25, p 347) However, is this to say that we can put an equal sign between proletarian dictatorship and the role of party leadership (or party "dictatorship")? Is this to say that we can regard the former and the latter as one thing? May we substitute the former for the latter? Of course not. Of course, we should not say so. For example, Comrade (Sulin) had said that "proletarian dictatorship is our party's dictatorship." (Please see "Lenin's Theories on Party," p 95) This way of saying evidently regards "party dictatorship" and proletarian dictatorship as one thing. From the standpoint of Leninism, may we accept as correct this matter of regarding these two things as one thing? No, we cannot. Prom this we can see that what is carried out in the Soviet Union is proletarian dictatorship, not the Communist Party dictatorship. To confuse class dictatorship with party dictatorship is neither in agreement with Marxist-Leninist theory, nor with the facts in the Soviet Union. I think, as far as the Soviet aspect of this problem is concerned, the opinion of the founders of the Soviet political system, Lenin and Stalin, is the most authoritative and most creditable. Question 2: Although the Soviet Union is not under party dictatorship, why is there only one communist party in existence in the Soviet Union? Answer: In one respect9 this is the result of the choice of people1s will during the long struggle among the various parties and factions in Russia. That is, the result of the fact that the Russians, in their long historical struggle, had become tired of and rejected other parties and only supported the Communist Party. In another respect, due to the fact 92 that in the socialist Soviet Union, there is no social base for the existence of other political parties, and consequently there is no necessity or possibility for the existence of other political parties. In order to make you understand and believe my way of interpretation, perhaps the best thing to do is to introduce to you what Stalin himself said on this problem. The fact that the Soviet Union has only one Communist Party in existence is not a result of the workers1 manipulation or imagination, or the use of administrative order. It is, rather, a result formed by historical life. Concerning this point, Stalin said clearly in his talk with the First American Workers Delegation on 9 September 1927. He said: "The position of our Communist Party, the position of being the only public political party throughout the country (the position of one-party monopoly) is neither created at will, nor out of empty imagination. This kind of position can never be deliberately created by the use of administrative order. The monopoly of our Communist Party grows spontaneously from actual life, and was gradually formed in history. It is the result of the total bankruptcy and the subsequent fall of the Socialist Revolutionary Party and the Menshevik Party." In the Soviet Union, there is no social foundation for the existence of other political parties besides the Communist Party, and there is no necessity and possibility for the existence of other political parties. Concerning this point, Stalin made a special explanation in his report on the new constitution of the Soviet Union on 25 November 1936. He said: "At last, there is another group of critics. If the above-mentioned group of critics blame the draft constitution of the Soviet Union for abandoning the workers class dictatorship, then this group of critics is just the opposite. They blame the draft constitution of the Soviet Union, saying that it has not changed the present situation in the Soviet Union at all. They say it has not given up dictatorship of the working class, and it does not tolerate the freedom of various political parties, and it still maintains the validity of the present leadership position of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union as before. At the same time, this group of critics regards the lack of freedom for various political parties in the Soviet Union as a sign of violation of the principle of democracy." "I admit that the draft of the new constitution of the Soviet Union still retains the validity of the dictatorship of the working class as before, and preserves the present leadership position of the Communist Party without any change. If respectable critics regard this as a weakness of the draft constitution of the Soviet Union, then we can only express our regret. We Bolsheviks regard this as a merit of the draft constitution of the Soviet Union." 93 "As to the freedom of various political parties, then, our viewpoint in regard to this problem is slightly different. A political party is part of a social class, and the vanguard of that class. Only in societies where there are antagonistic classes whose interests are mutually antagonistic and irreconcilable with each other, in other words, only in a society where there are capitalists vs. workers, landlords vs. peasants, rich farmers vs. poor farmers, etc. can we talk about the existence of several political parties and the freedom of their existence. In the Soviet Union, capitalists, landlords, and rich farmers disappeared a long time ago. Today, the Soviet Union has only two classes of people, workers and farmers. The interests of these two classes are not only not antagonistic, but, on the contrary, are harmonious. Therefore, in the Soviet Union, there is no basis for the existence of several political parties, and consequently there is no basis for their freedom. In the Soviet Union, there is a basis for only one political party—the Communist Party. In the Soviet Union, only one party—the Communist Party which bravely and thoroughly safeguards the worker-peasant interest—can survive. The Communist Party has done a good job in protecting the interests of these two classes. About this point, few can doubt." "Everyone is talking about democracy, but what is democracy? In capitalist countries, there are antagonistic classes. Democracy there, in the last analysis, is democracy for those who have power, and democracy for the minority who have property. Democracy in the Soviet Union, conversely, is democracy for the laborers, and democracy for all the people. From this we can see that what violates the principle of democracy is not the new constitution of the Soviet Union, but the constitution of the capitalist class. Therefore, I think the constitution of the Soviet Union is the only thoroughly democratic constitution in the world." From this we can see that the existence of one party can only be achieved in a country with a social foundation like that of the Soviet Union where other parties have been totally rejected and overthrown by the masses of people during the course of revolution and where there is no other party in existence. Question 3: How can Germany and Italy carry out one-party dictatorships? Answer: First of all, we must make a clear distinction between one party in power in a country, and the real existence of one party in a country. It is true that in Germany and Italy there is only one party in power, but this is not to say that the political party in power is the only party in existence in these two countries. In Germany, the fascist National Socialist Party is the only party in power today, but all the other political parties before the fascist party came to power—the Social Democratic Party which had the support of hundreds of thousands of German voters during the last election (1933), the Communist Party which had 5-6 million voters, and other historical and traditional capitalist class parties in support of a democratic system with several 94 million voters-—are still in existence and active, although their existence and activities are covert and illegal. Anyone who goes to German cities and rural villages to make a careful investigation will immediately see that although hundreds of thousands of anti-government party elements are confined in concentration camps, the Social Democratic Party, the Communist Party and other parties in support of democracy and against fascist dictatorships are still struggling secretly and bravely. They secretly publish papers and magazines. They are engaged in educating and organizing the masses of people under difficult conditions. The German political exiles in France, Czechoslovakia and Belgium are contacting political parties in Germany for establishing an anti-fascist, democratic people's front. In the leadership organizations of Social Democratic Internationale (or the Second International) and Comintern are seated delegates from the German Social Democratic Party and the German Communist Party. The situation in Italy is not any different from that in Germany. Similarly, the Italian Communist Party, Social Democratic Party and all other democratic parties are courageously and secretly conducting their anti-fascist activities. In the same manner, the delegates of these parties are establishing an anti-fascist popular front inside and outside of Italy. Delegates of the Italian Communist Party and Social Democratic Party also occupy important positions in the leadership organizations of the Third International and the Second International. From this we can see, it is right if we say that in Germany and Italy there is only one party in power, and there is only one party which has legal status. It is totally unrealistic to say that there is only a fascist party in existence in these two countries. Question 4: Some people say: Now Kuomintang should carry out "one-party dictatorship." What is your opinion on this problem? Answer: First, if what you call "one-party dictatorship" refers to the control of national government by the Kuomintang alone, then this is a fait accompli today because, as everybody knows, all responsible persons in the national government are Kuomintang members, or persons whom the Kuomintang chooses to appoint of its own will. Up to now there is nobody representing other Chinese parties in the government. Our Chinese Communist Party is China's biggest political party outside the Kuomintang. Today we do not ask for participation in the government. This point has been frankly and earnestly announced on behalf of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party by our party leader Comrade Ch'en Shao-yu [7115 4801 4416] in his interview with American correspondent Pal Te-en on 25 December 1937, and by another leader of our party, Comrade Chang Wen-t'ien [1728 5113 1131] [or Lo Fu 3157 3940] in his article "Consolidate Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation To Strive for the Victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan11 published in "Chieh-fang," No 28. On this point I wish to represent the Chinese Communist Party to make a serious announcement again: We of the Chinese Communist Party now 95 earnestly help the Kuomintang fight the Japanese, but we do not ask for participation in the national government at this time. Second, the so-called one-party dictatorship, whereby one party controls the country's political power, does not necessarily have to adopt the method of "dictatorship." If the so-called "one-party dictatorship" method is actually equal to the policy carried out by the Kuomintang in the last decade, then I think it calls for consideration. In my opinion, although the Kuomintang is able to maintain its one-party control of political power, for the sake of concentrating all the talents to resist Japan and save the country and expressing the people's will of resisting Japan and saving the country, it seems that the Kuomintang should use considerably democratic measures. Of course, these democratic measures are measures absolutely beneficial to the war of resistance, and measures which will absolutely consolidate the government and further enhance people's support of and confidence in the government. Question 5: Now there are people who say that the Kuomintang should carry out its "no party outside the party" policy. In other words, a policy which does not allow the legitimate existence of any political party except the Kuomintang. Sir, what is your opinion on this problem? Answer: To allow only one party, the Kuomintang, legitimate existence means not only nonrecognition of the lawful existence of the Communist Party and other political parties (the National Youth Party, National Socialist Party, etc.)j but is also an attempt to eliminate other political parties by armed force. This is not only not a new theory, but an old fact which has been carried out for 10 years. However, the miserable result of this fact is not only ceaseless internal strife, but also an invitation to unprecedented foreign aggression. The painful experience of China's actual political life in the last decade tells us: The Kuomintang's policy of attempting to eliminate other political parties by armed force has failed; meanwhile, the Chinese communist attempt to create a one-party leadership regime under China's existing conditions has not reaped the anticipated results. The experience of the first Kuomintang^Communist Party cooperation which resulted in the victory of the Northern Expedition and the serious national crisis caused by the Kuomintang-Communist Party split in the last 10 years has taught comrades of both parties and all the people of China a bitter truth; that is, the real effective way for creating a united China is not continued internal strife with one party opposing or attempting to eliminate another party, but pooling the strength of all parties on a common political basis to form a national united front; first of all, close cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party. The basic reason why China has been able to carry on the war of resistance against Japan in the last 6 months is the consolidation and unification of all national forces within the country. The specific formula and specific content is the formation of the national united front against Japan by various parties with the Kuomintang-Communist Party cooperation as the foundation. That 96 is, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party have not only abandoned their mutual nonrecognition and mutually antagonistic stand, but carried out hand-in-hand cooperation in the interest of the anti-Japanese and national salvation war. That is, the Kuomintang has abandoned its former stand which denied the existence of the communist and other parties and carried out the policy of uniting with all other anti-Japanese parties in the war against Japan. The Communist Party and other anti-Japanese parties also abandoned their former anti-Kuomintang stand and cooperated with the Kuomintang in pursuing the common cause of resisting Japan and national salvation. From this we can see that the forging of an anti-Japanese national united front by all parties and factions is a necessary premise for China's war against Japan. Lack of this premise or destruction of this premise will indeed put China in continued internal turmoil. Once China is in internal turmoil, there will be no way to continue the war against Japan. This is a truth easily seen and recognized by everybody. It is precisely because of this that the Japanese militarists always attempt to apply, in addition to their military aggression, the poisonous plot of "using Chinese to control Chinese." Their first attempt is to instigate another internal strife among the parties in China in order to destroy the Anti-Japanese National United Front. From this we can see, the theory propounded by some people today for banning all political parties aside from the Kuomintang is in fact a theory which has been negated by historical facts of China, as well as an attempt to push China back to a tumultuous situation which existed before the national unification for the war of resistance against Japan. At the same time, it will make the situation of a united China formed by the united front against Japan unable to continue, and subsequently creates again a situation in which China is powerless to resist Japan. Therefore, no matter how loudly the proponents of this theory shout "national unity," if unfortunately their theory is put into effect, the result would definitely be the destruction of the national unification already formed today. No matter how loudly the proponents of this theory give lip service to "resist Japan," if unfortunately their theory is put to practice, the result will definitely be the destruction of unification against Japan and we will be unable to continue the war against Japan. It is precisely because of this that I firmly believe that such a theory in the name of national unification but actually detrimental to unification, such a theory in the name of fighting Japan but actually harmful to the war effort against Japan, and such a theory which will draw China back to the miserable situation which existed before unanimous unification against foreign aggression, will definitely be opposed by patriotic people, definitely be negated by the armed units throughout the country, and at the same time definitely be denounced and rejected by the wise leaders and comrades of the Kuomintang who are dedicated to the country and the people and who are willing to continue the war against Japan. This is not strange at all because, first of all, this kind of theory is not in conformity with and runs against reality. These people say: If there are nother parties which also have legal status, then the war effort against Japan will be hampered by party squabbles. Facts have proved that when only one party, the 97 Kuomintang, was allowed to exist with legal status and other parties were not allowed to exist with legal status, China did have a very serious party squabble which had caused it to fail to resist Japan, or, at best, resist Japan in some places, and made China powerless to launch an all-out war against Japan. On the contrary, as soon as the Kuomintang allowed other political parties to have legal status and cooperated with other political parties, civil war stopped and party squabbles came to an end, and an unprecedented unification in both national administration and armed forces was achieved. Consequently, China became able to conduct an unprecedented sacred war of national defense for safeguarding national existence and seeking national liberation. These people say if other political parties are allowed legal status, then the legal existence of multiple parties will become an element hampering national unity or destroying national unity. Facts in China have proven that when only the Kuomintang had legal status and other political parties were denied legal status, the country became tumultuous and incessant civil wars ensued. Conversely, once other political parties were allowed legal status, national unity immediately emerged. Even though there were quarrels among the parties on certain problems, they never used firearms as weapons for criticism; at most they used mutual and friendly criticism as their weapon. Facts in England, the United States, France, Belgium, Switzerland and other countries prove that the legal existence of multiple parties has never hampered or destroyed their national unity. From this we can see, the theory that only when one party, the Kuomintang, is allowed to exist legally can China be unified and fight Japan is a theory incompatible with the actual life in China, and a theory which will make China neither really unified nor able to really resist Japan. This kind of theory can never be accepted by China's soldiers and civilians who support national unification and resolutely resist Japan. Question 6: Now there are people who say} since the Communist Party has declared that it believes in the Three People's Principles then it can no longer believe in communism. Sir, what is your opinion? Answer: First of all, I wish to say that since Communist Party members have declared that they will struggle for the realization of the Three People's Principles, some people say that this is tantamount to giving up their belief in communism. I wish to make a serious statement once again on behalf of our party: This is a rumor spread by troublemakers, and is absolutely untrue. We are Communist Party members. We declared that we are willing to struggle together with Kuomintang comrades to accomplish the unfinished revolution of Dr Sun Yat-sen—that is, the goals of the Three People's Principles for China's equality in international status, political equality and economic equality. At the same time, we will never give up our own communism which we have believed in for so many years and for which we have sacrificed and struggled for so many years. Next, some people say, if you declare that you will struggle for the realization of the Three People's Principles, but at the same time you believe in communism, then this is in contradiction to the stand 98 of the Three People's Principles because it and communism are incompatible. Concerning this point, I wish to point out seriously once again that this kind of saying is entirely wrong. This kind of saying is neither in agreement with the theory and the action of Dr Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Three People's Principles and the revolutionary tutor of the Kuomintang, nor with the actual situation of China's revolution. Theoretically, the substance of the Principle of Nationalism, Principle of Democracy and Principle of PeopleTs Livelihood under the Three People's Principles are tolerable with such thoughts advocated by communism as the complete overthrow of imperialist oppression in.order to enable the Chinese people to attain national independence, the complete destruction of feudalistic oppression in order to enable the Chinese people to have democracy .and liberty, and the complete transformation of China's economic system in order to enable the Chinese people to enjoy a happy livelihood. Therefore, it is absolutely untrue that communism and the Three People's Principles cannot tolerate each other. It is, therefore, not impossible that our party and Kuomintang can lawfully coexist and cooperate hand in hand. Concerning this point, Dr Sun Yat-sen had clearly indicated more than once in his talks on the Principle of People's Livelihood. He said: "Hence, as soon as we talk about social problems, the majority of the youth agrees with communism. They want to carry out Marxism in China. What, after all, is the intention of those young patriots who accept communism? Their intention is good. Their ideal is to resolve the problem at its root, thinking that if we wish to set the basis of political and social problems right, the fundamentals of these problems must be resolved. Therefore, they actively organize the Communist Party and conduct activities in China. Now, our old comrades of the Kuomintang have a lot of misunderstanding about the Communist Party. "....In ancient times, as soon as man conquered nature and animals, money came into being. Then machines were invented. Those extremely clever people monopolized all the material in the world for their own self-interest and wanted other ordinary people to be their slaves. So came an era of severe fighting among men. When will this kind of fighting end? It will not end until a new communist era is restored. In the so-called fight among men, what do they fight for? They fight for bread and jobs. When the era of communism comes, everybody will have bread and rice to eat so that there is no need to fight, and fight among men will be avoided. Therefore, communism is the noblest ideal for resolving social problems." (See "Chung-san Chuan-chi" [Complete Works of Sun Yat-sen], Vol 1, "Second Talk on the Principle of People's Livelihood," p 38) Regarding the value of Marxism, Dr Sun said: "As to the books written by Marx and the theories he invented, they represent the culmination of human thoughts over the last several thousand years. Thus as soon as his theory was made known, it was widely accepted all over the world. All the scholars believed and followed him," From what I said before, you may see that from Dr Sun Yat-sen's own writings on the theories of the Three People's Principles you can never 99 find any indication that the Three People's Principles and communism are repugnant to each other. As to the indications of Dr Sun Yat-sen's actions on this problem, they are facts well known to everybody. The Communist Party was founded in 1921. Since its founding, Dr Sun had close relationship with members of the Communist Party. In 1924 when Dr Sun made up his mind to reorganize the Kuomintang, he openly cooperated with the Communist Party, The cooperation was very intimate. It had not only established a Kuomintang-Communist Party national revolution alliance, but also permitted Communist Party members to participate in Kuomintang organizations in their personal capacity to share the tasks of revolution. At that time, the Communist Party had only about several thousand members in the entire country, the party was founded only a few years ago, and Communist Party members joined the Kuomintang in their personal capacity to struggle together for the cause of national revolution. Under those circumstances did Dr Sun demand that those communist members should not believe in communism? No. Or under those circumstances, did Dr Sun propose that only the Kuomintang was allowed to exist and the Communist Party was not allowed to exist at the same time? No. He did not; rather he resolutely opposed anyone making such a request or advocating this idea. This is exactly why Dr Sun was great, farsighted and discerning because he deeply understood: the birth of any doctrine or any political party is not accidental; it has its social foundation and historical background. Nobody can be forced to believe anything, nor can anybody's belief be eliminated. In history there were numerous people who died martyrs for their beliefs. Any social foundation or organization supported by the masses can never be dispersed by force or eliminated. In history numerous revolutionary organizations continued to exist arid develop under tremendous pressure and suppression. Today's situation is quite different from before. The Chinese Communist Party already has 17 years of revolutionary history. It has hundreds of thousands of members, a strong organization which has long combat experience, a leadership cadre which is unswervingly and bravely struggling for their doctrine, their party, their revolution, the Chinese people's liberation, and the liberation of mankind, and the faith and support of millions of people. How can we talk about eliminating the Communist Party members' faith in communism and their party organization? If we say that we should renounce our belief in communism just because we have declared that we are willing to struggle for the thorough realization of the Three People's Principles, this is entirely a misunderstanding because our understanding of the relationship between the Three People's Principles and communism is exactly the same as that of Dr Sun Yat-sen—that is, we think that they are good friends and can tolerate each other. Therefore, not only during the first Kuomintang-Communist Party cooperation had our Communist Party members struggled together with comrades of the Kuomintang for the implementation of the Three People's Principles in their capacity as Communist Party members, but also during our lone bitter revolutionary struggle after our split with the Kuomintang our objectives remained to be China's national independence, democracy, liberty and happy livelihood^-objectives in conformity with the basic thinking of the Three People's 100 Principles. The difference between today's situation and that during the Kuomintang-Communist Party split is that during the split we Communist Party members struggled single-handedly for our own communist ideal as well as the revolutionary ideal of the Three People's Principles. How the Kuomintang and the Communist Party are cooperating with each other again, we Communist Party members are struggling together with our comrades of the Kuomintang again for our common revolutionary cause. Therefore, under this condition, if there is any person who asks Communist Party members to give up their communist thinking and their organization, this is not only unacceptable to the Communist Party, but also in direct violation of Dr Sun Yat-sen's doctrines and actions, [omission] to promote the Three People's Principles is repugnant to communism." (See "Chung-san Chuen-chi," Vol 1, "Second Talk on the Principle of People's Livelihood," p 42) From this we can see that Dr Sun Yat-sen publicly pointed out that it was a mistake for some of the comrades of the Kuomintang to think that the Three People's Principles and communism are not compatible. Why has this mistake occurred? As Dr Sun Yat-sen has particularly pointed out in his talk ("Chung-shan Chuan-chi," pp 44 and 45), the reason is that these people don't understand the interrelationship among the Three People's Principles in general, and that people don't understand the Principle of People's Livelihood in particular. Therefore, after giving the reason, Dr Sun continued in his talk: "Why dare I say that our comrades of revolution did not understand the Principle of People's Livelihood? It is due to the fact that during the recent Kuomintang reorganization many comrades, because of their opposition to the Communist Party, went so far as to say that communism is different from the Three People's Principles, that it is good enough to carry out the Three People's Principles in China, and that communism cannot be accepted. Then what, after all, is the Principle of People's Livelihood? In my last talk I raised a new question: What is the center of gravity of the development of civilization, the improvement of economic organization, and the progress of morality in society? The people's livelihood is the center of gravity. People's livelihood is the motivating force of all activities in society because if the people's livelihood is not satisfied, civilization of society cannot be developed, economic organization cannot be improved, and morality will degenerate. All injustices, such as class war, sufferings of the workers and various kinds of suppressions are attributable to the failure in resolving the problem of unsatisfied livelihood. Therefore, all anomalies in society are the effects, while the problem of people's livelihood is the cause. According to this reasoning, what is the Principle of People's Livelihood? The Principle of People's Livelihood is communism, or socialism. Therefore, in regard to communism, not only that we cannot say it is in conflict with the Principle of People's Livelihood, but we should say it is a good friend. Those who advocate the Principle of People's Livelihood should make a careful study." Continuing in his talk, Dr Sun Yat-sen raised the question: "Since communism is a good friend of the Principle of People's Livelihood, why do the Kuomintang members oppose communism? The reason is perhaps that members of the Communist Party themselves do 101 not know what communism is, and frequently make remarks opposing the Principle of People's Livelihood, thus causing hostile reaction from the Kuomintang. However, we cannot blame the entire Communist Party or its doctrines for the behavior of these ignorant and mischievous party members. We can only say that these are their personal conduct. Therefore, we should never use the undesirable personal conduct of a few Communist Party members as the standard to oppose the Communist Party; that is, we should not oppose communism as a doctrine on the basis of some personal conduct, Why should have this problem arisen among our comrades? The reason is that they don't understand what the Principle of People's Livelihood is. They don't know that the Principle of People's Livelihood, after all, is communism." From this passage of Dr Sun Yat-sen's talk, what conclusion can we draw? Our conclusion should be: Pirst, the Three People's Principles and communism can tolerate each other and coexist. The Three People's Principles has good relations with communism. Second, those who think the Three People's Principles cannot tolerate communism actually are people who do not understand the Three People's Principles, especially the Principle of People's Livelihood. These people should be only an extremely small minority in the Kuomintang. Similarly those who think communism cannot tolerate the Three People's Principles are also actually people who do not understand communism, especially the relationship between communism and the Three People's Principles. These people should also be only an extremely small minority in the Communist Party. In regard to the solution of this problem, Dr Sun thought that this is only the personal conduct of certain members of both parties. One party should not oppose the other party as a whole or its doctrines just because of such personal conducts. Third, Dr Sun thought, not only should those who advocate communism understand the Three People's Principles, but also those who advocate the Three People's Principles should carefully study communism. This is a brilliant, open, and unselfish attitude. We Communist Party members extremely admire this attitude of Dr Sun's. Indeed, any great thought or doctrine in the world is not the patented commodity of a certain group of people or a certain party. It should and certainly will welcome anybody to study it and carry it out. Not only that we are willing to struggle for the implementation of the Three People's Principles but also that we welcome anybody—first of all, comrades of the Kuomintang, to study communism carefully according to Dr Sun Yat-sen's guidance. We are deeply convinced that all those who are willing to struggle for the liberation of mankind and really understand communism (or Marxism) must recognize that Marxism is the noblest ideal for resolving social problems and the best cumulation of human thinking over the last several thousand years. Communist society is the most satisfactory, happiest and the most fortunate society^ which should not be regarded as something to be afraid of. It is precisely because of this that our country's greatest contemporary revolutionary Dr Sun said: "Judging by the actual situation in China, the first Kuomintang-Communist cooperation has led to the viable development of the revolution during 1925-1927, and the great victory of the Northern Expedition, while the split between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party has created an unprecedented serious situation 102 characterized by domestic turmoil and foreign aggression in the last 10 years." Now that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party are cooperating with each other, externally we are able to wage an unprecedentedly glorious war of national defense; internally we are able to achieve a political and military unification unprecedented in the last several decades and created a great unprecedented consolidation of all the forces of the parties and classes of the entire nation. This has made all our fellow countrymen and the people all over the world feel that this is the only opportunity and hope for survival during this critical moment of life and death struggle for the Chinese nation. Whether the legal coexistence of two doctrines and two parties is beneficial or harmful to the Chinese people and the nation should be adjudged by live and commonly known facts, not by biased or subjective wishes of a small number o£ people. The past and present ironclad facts in China have proved once again that as soon as the Three People*s Principles and communism help and cooperate with each other, the country is unified and the revolution forges ahead; as soon as the Three People's Principles and communism oppose each other and negate each other, the country is divided and the revolution runs into difficulty. Therefore, any idea in violation of this fact cannot be carried out. If unfortunately such an idea is carried out it will definitely create new disasters for the country and the nation. From this we can see, the opinion that the Three People's Principles and communism cannot tolerate each other and, as a consequence, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cannot lawfully coexist is an opinion without foundation and detrimental to the liberation of the country and the nation, This kind of opinion is not only in violation of the bequeathed theory and deeds of Dr Sun Yat-sen, but also in contradiction to the actual situation in China. The danger of this opinion lies in changing the good domestic situation characterized by unanimous opposition to foreign aggression into a possible situation where people's eyesight is turned inward, thus causing internal trouble. Therefore, at the conclusion of this interview, I wish to repeat and seriously tell you a few words on this problem. If the content of the so-called Kuomintang one-party dictatorship is Kuomintang control of the political power of the government, this is already fait accompli, and this is not a problem. Although we Communist Party members do not participate in the government ourselves, we absolutely support the national government which is leading the country in the war against Japan. Today, only the Japanese fascist militarists deny the authority of the national government and attempt to overthrow the national government. Today only those Trotskyists and their disciples who execute the will of the secret service agencies of the Japanese aggressors spread the rumor that the national government is a Karensky-type temporary and transit regime, and consequently adopt the traitor's policy of "perfunctorily accommodating on the surface" with the national government, but "actually preparing to bring about its downfall." The support and help of the Communist Party members to the national government are absolutely sincere, started from 103 the fundamental stand of the basic interest of the country and the nation. At the same time, if the content of Kuomintang one-party dictatorship is enlarged to or misinterpreted as meaning that the communist and other political parties are not allowed to exist legally, or that the Communist Party members are not permitted to believe in their own communism, then this is absolutely not a new theory, but an old fact. This is a return to the unworkable deadend road method of 10 years ago. If this idea is put into effect, it will be harmful not only to national unification, but also to the war effort against Japan. It will fragment the already formed national united front against Japan, and thus endanger the war of resistance and national salvation. This thinking will definitely be utilized by Japanese fascist militarists and Chinese traitors. It is precisely because of this that I can hardly believe this kind of thinking will have the sympathy of those knowledgable persons in the Kuomintang who take the basic interest of the country and the nation seriously, not to mention the sympathy of those unbiased nonpartisan soldiers and civilians who value national unification and dedicate themselves thoroughly to the war against Japan. However, since this problem is publicly raised at this moment when the national crisis is increasingly acute, we cannot but seriously alert the Communist Party members, all political parties and fellow countrymen who are dedicated to the war effort against Japan and for national salvation. This concerns not only the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, but also all other parties and the fate of the entire Chinese nation. Therefore, I hope my fellow countrymen from all walks of life throughout the country and the farsighted discerning gentlemen of all parties would pay serious attention to the tendency of development of this problem, make every effort to insure that China's anti^Japanese national united front based upon the cooperation o£ all parties will not be threatened and the national unification, the anti-Japanese war, and the national salvation, movement will not be endangered so that we can carry on the war to the very end and win the final victory for our country and nation. 0 "Talk With HSIN-CHUWG-HJA PAO Reporter in Yenan," 1939 * "Liberation," 11 January 1938 1004 CSO.r 4005 104 TALK WITH REPORTER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS February 1938 [Text] Reporter: Now there are many people who are pessimistic about China's war against Japan. What is your opinion, Sir? Answer: I am entirely optimistic about this because the course of China's war of resistance is inevitably one of defeat first and then victory, and one of initial weakness gradually turning strong. This has become a definite direction. In the early stage of the Sino-Japanese war, the general situation was that Japan was strong and China weak. But in the future Japan's weakness will be gradually exposed, and China's strength will be gradually built up, Japan is now borrowing money to wage the war. Aside from the 2.2 billion yen spent in the last 6 months. Japan is said to need 4 billion yen or more. This has greatly depleted its national strength. Japan's international credit has deteriorated, and the price of its bonds has dropped. Its "quick battle, quick ending" plan has failed. Let us ask how can it have so much money to prolong the war indefinitely? Militarily, Japan's battle front has been extended several thousand miles from Hangchow to Paotow. It does not have enough men to be deployed just for defense. Therefore, its military strength is gradually weakening in proportion to the extent of deep penetration and wide expansion. It occupies long stretches of railways, and troops have to be sent to guard each railway station. Japan has mobilized one-third of its armed forces to invade China. If it wants to occupy Hankow, Canton and other cities, it has to mobilize hundreds of thousands of additional troops. At that time, its situation will become worse. Japan's enemy is not China alone. Additionally, because of its domestic, international and other major contradictions, Japan will definitely be on the road to total collapse. Question: Did you say, Sir, that China's strength can be gradually enhanced? Answer: According to the war experience in the last 7 months, militarily if we can employ mobile warfare, position warfare and guerrilla warfare 105 and coordinate these three types of warfare, we can definitely put the enemy force in an extremely difficult position. In my opinion, at present, aside from using 200,000 to 300,000 crack troops to form a few strong field armies to launch annihilating attacks on the enemy's advanced units in a mobile warfare, we should also have 80,000 to 90,000 troops, organized into 20 or 30 hardcore guerrilla regiments with 3,000 to 4,000 men in each regiment, led by resolute and dynamic commanders and with their political work strengthened, deployed in front of the enemy's battle line from Hangchow to Paotow. These forces should fight their way to the rear of the enemy line through 20-30 gaps along this long battle front. If this strategy is properly applied, the guerrilla units can work together with the local masses and proliferate into numerous small guerrilla units which will definitely be able to establish numerous anti-Japanese bases behind enemy lines, mobilize hundreds of thousands of the masses, and forcefully coordinate with the mobile field armies and thus throw the enemy into discomfiture. As to position warfare, we should not regard it as our main strategy at present because we are technologically inadequate. However, we must build a national defense industry, and manufacture heavy and advanced weapons ourselves. At the same time, we should find ways to transport these weapons so that we can effectively conduct both defensive and offensive positional warfare. This is very necessary. Some people say that we only advocate guerrilla warfare. That is nonsense. We have always advocated the coordination of mobile, position and guerrilla warfares. At present, we are using mobile warfare as the main tactic, and the other two as complementary tactics. In the future, we should make position warfare effectively coordinated with mobile warfare. Guerrilla warfare, as a way of battle, is always complementary. However, guerrilla warfare in semi-colonial national wars, especially in countries with vast territories, occupies an important place in strategy. Politically, we already have domestic unity, and have the sympathy and support of the democratic countries all over the world. However, our present achievements are still not enough, and should be further strengthened. The strengthening of the aforementioned military and political positions is necessary. Only if we continue to exert our effort, can we strengthen our military and political positions, and this forecasts brightness in the future. Question: Is the 8th Route Army being surrounded by the Japanese on all sides and facing the danger of being routed or annihilated by the Japanese? Answer: The 8th Route Army is presently engaged In an enlarged guerrilla warfare in four areas. The first area is a pocket bordered by the Peiping-Hankow, Peiping-Suiyuan, Chengting-Taiyuan, and Tatung-Puchow railways and the adjacent areas to the east and the north of this pocket. This area has 12 million people who are resolutely against the Japanese, and working closely with the armed forces. This is a large bulwark of the war of resistance. The 8th Route Army has firmly established its foothold here. Although the enemy is stepping up its attack on this area, it is impossible 106 for him to chase them out, not to mention annihilating them. Several big branch units of the 8th Route Army advancing toward the east have now come close to Tientsin-Pukow Railway. The second area is in northwestern Shansi, south of the Peiping-Suiyuan Railway, west of the northern section of the Tatung-Puchow Railway, and east of the Yellow River. The third area is in southeastern Shansi and southwestern Hopeh bordered by the Peiping-Hankow, Chengting-Taiyuan and Tatung-Puchow railways. The fourth area is in southwestern Shansi. The 8th Route Array is intimately associated with the local people, ready to severely attack the enemy's communication line at any time. They have scored many major and minor victories, and greatly bogged down the enemy's advance forces. In view of these areas, what China has lost are only several railways and a few cities, and it has not lost anything else. This fact illustrates to the entire nation that if we adopt this method everywhere in the country, the enemy can never annihilate China. This is one of the solid foundations for launching an offensive in the future for recovering the lost territory. Question: Sir, do you think this Kuomintang-Communist Party cooperation is of permanent nature? Answer: I think so. The 1928 split was against the wishes of the Communist Party, The Communist Party has never wanted to split with the Kuomintang. In the last 10 years, both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and the people all over the country had lived through hardship experiences which should strengthen future unification. The purpose of the present and future cooperation is to fight the Japanese together and to rehabilitate the country together. Under this principle, as long as our friendly party has the same sincerity as we have and as long as we have the supervision of the people of the entire nation, this cooperation will definitely be long lasting. Question; True, the Communist Party in its declaration on the current situation has said that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party will not only fight Japan together., but also rebuild the country together after winning the war against Japan. But, may I ask how can these two political parties which represent two different classes of people cooperate with each other in building a new country? Answer: China is in a semi-colonial status. Right now, it is in a critical moment facing the danger of being wiped out as a nation. Even its semi-colonial status is in danger. Although party is different from class, they share this same status. This has predetermined that the two parties can cooperate not only in resisting the Japanese aggression but also in rebuilding the country. But this cooperation is cooperation under a definite platform, and cooperation based on a principle. It must be genuine cooperation, not just for experience or appearance. If this cooperation is divorced from a common platform or principle, it will of necessity degenerate into expediency or cooperation only in appearance. 107 This is not permissible by any political party which, stands by principle. Cooperation based upon principle and a common platform is comparable to the righteous friendship between two persons. Only this kind of righteous friendship can last long. Question: What is this "democratic republic" advocated by the Communist Party? Answer: The democratic republic we advocate is a country which has a system whereby its representative bodies are organized by representatives selected by people who are unwilling to be slaves through unrestricted universal election. This kind of country is a country based on the principle of people's rights. By and large this has been advocated by Dr Sun Yat-sen a long time ago. The policy of rebuilding China should be formulated in this direction. Question: Is the Communist Party satisfied with the present central government? Is it still necessary to convene an ad hoc national congress? Answer: We support the present central government because of its adherence to the policy of waging a war of resistance against Japan, and its action ia providing leadership in this war. But we wish this government to substantiate and broaden its basis and make necessary reforms in its internal administration so as to be more beneficial to the war of resistance. We have proposed to convene an ad hoc national congress. This was also proposed by Dr Sun Yat-sen. In our opinion, it will be beneficial for consolidating the country and strengthening the forces for the war effort. As to what method we should use more beneficial to the war effort, we have no predetermined opinion. As long as it is really beneficial to the war of resistance, any method can be adopted. Question: Does the Chinese Communist Party provide leadership to the anti-Japanese activities of the Volunteer Army in Manchuria? Answer: The Chinese Communist Party indeed has a close relationship with the anti-Japanese Volunteer Army in Manchuria. For example, such famous Volunteer Army leaders as Yang Ching-yu [2799 7231 1342], Chao Shang-chih [6392 1424 1807], Li Hung-kuang [2621 4767 0342] and others are all Communist Party members. Their meritorious services in the hard struggle against Japan is well known to everybody, A national united front exists there also. Aside from Communist Party members, there are also other parties, other different armed units and mass organizations of the people. They have united under a common policy. Question: Sir, what is your general thinking about the United States? Answer: The American Democratic Party's support of international peace, President Roosevelt's condemnation of fascism, the Scripps-Howard 108 newspapers' sympathy toward ChinaTs war against Japan, and especially the support of the broad masses of American people for China1s struggle against Japan-—all these are welcome and for which we are grateful. But we hope that the United States will take a further step by uniting with other countries to give the brutal Japanese some real censure. It is time for China, the United States and other anti-aggression countries to take a further step in their unification against the enemy. [Associated Press correspondent Mr Wang Kung-ta [3769 0361 6671] visited Yenan in February 1938, and had a talk with Comrade Mao Tse-tung. This article is based on Mr WangTs minutes and previously checked by Comrade Mao.—Editor of "Chieh-Fang"] 1004 CSO: 4005 109 SPEECH AT RALLY IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 13TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF DR. SUN YAT-SEN AND OF FALLEN OFFICERS AND MEN ON BATTLE FRONT 13 March 1938 [Text] Today is the 13th anniversary of the death of Dr Sun Yat-sen. We are here holding such a solemn commemorative rally. Meanwhile, the war against Japan has been going on for 8 months. Many brave officers and men have made the ultimate sacrifice. We are holding here such a grave commemorative rally. All these are not at random or accidental. They have their reason in the development of our nationTs history. Where does the greatness of Dr Sun Yat-sen lie? It lies in his Three People's Principles, his united front policy, and his hard struggle spirit. When I met Dr Sun Yat-sen in Kwangtung, the Kuomintang First National Congress was in session. The new outline of the Three People's Principles written personally by Dr Sun Yat-sen, that is, the famous "Declaration of the First National Congress of the Kuomintang," was adopted. At that time, the united front policy based on Kuomintang-Communist Party cooperation began to be put into effect. This united front included domestically uniting with the Communist Party, the workers and the peasants, and externally uniting with those nations which treat us equally to share the common struggle. The famous "Three Great Policies" were established at that time. Dr Sun Yat-sen's outline of the Three People's Principles and his united front policy are the greatest contributions to the Chinese nation from a great revolutionary of a country in a semi-colonial status. Dr Sun's greatness also lies in his hard struggling, unyielding, unbending and unfailing revolutionary perseverance and revolutionary spirit. Without this kind of perseverance, and without this kind of spirit, his doctrines and policies could never be carried out. The first sentence of Dr Sun Yat-senTs Testament, which we just recited a moment ago, said: "I have declared myself to the national revolution for 40 years." During those 40 years, he experienced much hardship and complicated situations, but the more he was frustrated, the more vigorously he struggled. Unyielding and unbending, he always came back with redoubled strength after each failure. When many of his followers showed signs of despair or were even ready to surrender or 110 desert the cause, Dr Sun stood firm. He insisted on his doctrines. During his lifetime, he had never neglected to develop his Three People1s Principles. Never was there a time when he disregarded his doctrines. He always insisted on and developed his Three People's Principles. The Declaration of the First National Congress indicated the development of the Three PeopleTs Principles. So was his effort for the united front. Dr Sun had not only insisted on but developed the united front from a policy for the overthrow of the Manchus by uniting with all revolutionary parties and underground societies to a policy for the overthrow of imperialism and feudalist influence by uniting with the Communist Party, the workers and the peasants. All these, in combination with his fearless, unyielding, unbending, and undaunted revolutionary perseverance and his practical revolutionary spirit, portray Dr Sun as a model, great revolutionary. Today we have another united front. This united front is much more broadened than the last. The enemy with which this united front is dealing is much more formidable. The program this united front is to execute is basically the same as that stated in the Declaration of the First National Congress, although it has undergone some development in form and content. In the future, there will definitely be further developments. For attaining the goal of implementing the Three People's Principles, enlarging the united front and defeating our enemy, we must manifest our hard struggling, unswerving and uncompromising revolutionary spirit through revolutionary practice. If we are to commemorate Dr Sun Yat-sen not merely as a matter of perfunctory formality, we must pay attention to the following: First, struggle for the thorough Implementation of the Three People's Principles. Second, struggle for the consolidation and enlargement of the anti-Japanese national united front. Third, manifest the hard struggling, unyielding, unbending and unfailing revolutionary spirit. I think these are the most pertinent, most substantial and the greatest heritage left by Dr Sun. All Kuomintang members, all Communist Party members and all patriotic countrymen should accept and develop this heritage! To judge whether one is a loyal disciple of Dr Sun, we should see his attitude toward these three precious heritages. Now let us talk about the commemoration of our fallen officers and men in the war against Japan. Since the Lukou-chiao incident, a great war unprecedented in the history of the Orient has lasted 8 months. The enemy has thrown in all available forces. Their purpose is to wipe out China. Its strategy is to win a quick victory through a quick war. How about us? We have also employed all our available forces to resist. Our purpose is to defend our fatherland. Our strategy is protracted warfare. In the last 8 months, our land and air forces gave a heroic account of themselves, a great national unity is carried out throughout the country, several million troops and numerous people have joined the fireline, and several hundred thousand of them have heroically given their lives while executing their duties. Among them, many were Kuomintang members, many were Communist Party members and many others were nonpartisan. We sincerely mourn for those who are dead, and we shall remember them forever. From Generals Meng^-ling [6787 1125 7881], 111 T'ung Lin-ko [0157 7792 7040], Chao Teng-yu [6392 6260 4416], Jao Kuo-hua [7437 0948 5478], Liu Chia-ch'i [0491 1367 4388], Chiang Yu-chen [1203 3768 6297], Ch'en Chin-hsiu [7115 6930 4423], Li Kuei-fan [2621 2710 0030], Huang Mei-hsing [7806 2734 5281], Yao Tzu-hsiang [1202 1311 7449], and Pan Chan-kuei [3382 0594 7608] to each warrior, all were noble and great models for the Chinese people. The Chinese nation is not a flock of sheep. Rather it is a great nation richly marked by a sense of self-respect and human righteousness. For national self-respect, human righteousness and their right to live on their own land, the Chinese people will never permit the Japanese fascists to achieve their lawless purposes without paying a heavy price. Our methods are war and sacrifice. We use war against war. We use a revolutionary war for righteousness against a barbarian war of aggression. This spirit has been proven during the several thousand years of our national history. Now, another great proof is given. It was for this proof that General Ho Meng-ling and several hundred thousand men have sacrificed their lives. We are sure that the Japanese fascists will make further advances. They will attack Sian, Chengchow, Wuhan, Nanchang, Poochow, Changsha and Canton. They want to devour all of China. But we wish to inform the fanatic enemy that his objective can never be attained. The enemy should not think that he has achieved his purpose after occupying our territory. He has not and will never achieve his purpose. In the verdict of history the victory of the Japanese fascists can only be temporary, not permanent. There are enough reasons to prove that the eventual victory belongs to our side. When the war comes to an end, they can only occupy a part of our territory, it being impossible for them to occupy the whole country. If they can fight a quick war for the cities, then they will have to fight a protracted war for the vast rural areas. For example, they have occupied several main roads and several cities in Shansi, but the vast countryside, which is many times bigger than the occupied areas, still belongs to China. We have to tell our fellow countrymen this reason. The Japanese can only achieve a partial occupation of any province. They do not have enough strength for deployment. In addition, their barbarian policy has angered every Chinese. China has a huge army and hundreds of millions of people. It is carrying out an excellent national united front policy. All these have predetermined which side is going to win the protracted war and the final victory. In the future, if Japan occupies a larger part of China as a result of bloody battles, we can use the remaining smaller part as our base to continue the war and win victory. But in the larger portion of China( Japan can only occupy big cities, main roads, and some plains. If we can organize and arm the majority of our people in the countryside and establish many anti-Japanese bases, such as the bases we have established at Wu-tai Shan, we will have the Japanese army surrounded. Someday, after all important party, political and military tasks are improved on a nationwide basis, our outer-perimeter force will be coordinated with our inner-perimeter forces for a well concerted big offensive. At that time our effort must also be coordinated with the support of the revolutionary forces of the world and the support of the people's revolutionary force in Japan. Who can say that the final victory will not be ChinaTs? 112 Who can say that General Ho Meng^ling's blood was shed in vain? Who can say that the Japanese robbers will not be driven out of China? Who says that Dr Sun Yat—sen's three great ideals—national liberation, freedom of people's political rights, and happy livelihood—cannot be carried out in China? We want all Chinese people to have this kind of clear understanding and firm conviction. We want them to understand that the best policy is to wage a protracted war. Under the leadership of the central government and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, we must in this great war, with one heart, break the shackles or the threatening shackles for slaves. At this rally, we wish to salute all the officers and men on the front because they are fighting heroically for the final victory. We wish to salute all the family members of our soldiers who are engaged in this war against Japan, especially the family members of those who died martyrs in this war because these families have produced such soldiers who fought so valiantly for their country unafraid of sacrifice. We wish also to salute all those devoted, self-denying and public minded workers and leaders at all levels and in all walks of life engaged in the war against Japan in the rear because their work has directly or indirectly helped the war effort. At this rally let us salute our national leader and commander in chief Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek because of his unyielding, unbending and unfailing leadership in waging and directing this great war against Japan. Fellow countrymen at this rally! Fellow countrymen all over the country! Let us be united forever! Down with Japanese imperialism! Long live China's national liberation! * "Liberation," No 33, 1 April 1938 * Guide to Anti-Japanese National United Front, (4), Liberation Press, April 1939 1004 CSO: 4005 113 NOTICE OF THE REAR AREA OFFICE OF THE 8TH ROUTE ARMY OF THE SHENSI-KANSU-NINGHSIA BORDER AREA GOVERNMENT 15 May 1938 [Text] The public is hereby notified: Since the Lukouchiao Incident, the entire country and nation's forces and patriotic fellow countrymen under the leadership of the central government and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, are dedicated resolutely to the war of resistance against Japan. The officers and men on the battlefront are shedding their blood and sacrificing their lives. All parties and factions are sincerely united. People from all walks of life are making a concerted effort to save the country. These are strong safeguards for a bright future for China as a nation and a victory against Japan. All our countrymen should march ahead along these lines. The soldiers and civilians in the Shensi-Kansu-Ninghsia border area are a constituent part of China. They obey the leadership of the central government and exert their efforts to prevent their country from perishing. Everything we have done has been open and upright. We struggle hard without claiming any credit. All the people in the country regard us highly in their conversations. This office of the border area government cannot but encourage all people in the area to exert their effort in order to thoroughly carry out our mission. Hot a single person is allowed to neglect his duty, and nothing should be done to jeopardize the task of national salvation. Recent investigations reveal that there are some elements who, in disregard of the general situation, use different methods to compel the peasants to return the land and houses already distributed to them, or compel the debtors to repay their already abrogated debts, or compel the people to change the already established democratic system, or sabotage the already established military, economic, and cultural organizations, and other mass organizations. They are even disguised spies who contact bandits to instigate rebellion in the armed units, survey the land and draw maps, secretly investigate local situations, and openly oppose the propaganda of the border area government. These conducts are evidently in contradiction to the basic principle of unification, for fighting Japan and in violation of the public opinion of the 114 people in the border area. They attempt to create internal trouble, instigate class struggle for destroying the united front, destroying people's interest and destroying the prestige of the border government, increase the difficulty for mobilization against Japan, and create skepticism in the mind of the people toward their supreme commander and the central government. This is attributable to a few stubborn elements who, disregarding the interest of the country and the nation, willfully pursuing their whimsical wishes and even being utilized by the Japanese aggressors, misrepresent themselves as a means to camouflage their covert activities. In the last few months, many reports were received from people in various hsien. There are several such reports each day causing an unusually heavy work load. In order to strengthen the war effort against Japan, consolidate the rear area, and protect the interest of the people, this office of the border government cannot but forbid the above-described activities. It is deemed appropriate to notify the public as follows: (1) In the territory under the jurisdiction of the border government, all land and houses distributed and all debts nullified at the beginning of domestic peace in the country should not be changed at will as this office of the border government must protect people's obtained interests. (2) All military, political, economic and cultural organizations already established and all such organizations established, improved or developed according to the principle of national united front against Japan at the beginning of domestic peace in China should be guarded against intrigues and sabotage as this office of the border government must protect their activities and promote their development. (3) Under the principle of resolutely carrying out the central government's platform for war of resistance and national reconstruction, this office of the border government is glad to promote any anti-Japanese and national salvation activities, and welcomes people from all walks of life to give their bona fide assistance. However, all those who entered and then stayed in the border area without the consent of this office or the border government or without any identifying documents issued by this office or the border government are forbidden to engage in any activities, no matter what activities they are, in order to prevent imposters, traitors and spies. (4) During this tense period of war against Japan, people are allowed to inform on and arrest, if there is concrete evidence, elements who attempt to sabotage, willfully create trouble, incite people, or covertly gather military information in the border area. If the accusations are found true, severe punishments will be meted out without exception. 115 All the soldiers and civilians in the entire border area must observe and not violate the above four points. Any who dare to instigate trouble are hereby warned that these words are followed by law enforcement. Don't say that they are not forewarned. Chairman Lin Po-chu [2651 0130 3255] Director Hsiao Ching-kuang [5618 0513 0342] 1004 CSO: 4005 116