The Shanghai Min Guo Daily, controlled by Kuomintang rightists such as Ye Chulun, has, since November 20—when it began publishing the communiqué of the Beijing Rightist Conference—declared itself an organ of the reactionary camp. It has announced its secession from the revolutionary Kuomintang, its subsequent accommodation with the imperialist warlords, and its transformation into one of the imperialists’ and warlords’ propaganda organs. The paper’s turn to reaction is hardly surprising, for it was originally a private publication belonging to Ye Chulun and his associates; only after last year’s First National Congress was it taken over by the Party. Even then, however, it could never truly serve as the Kuomintang’s mouthpiece. Time and again, it either omitted or excised anti-imperialist and anti-warlord articles, labeling them “excessive,” while lavishing attention on whitewashing the actions of imperialists and warlords. It utterly failed to promote the Kuomintang and the National Government’s revolutionary policies. During last year’s Jiangsu–Zhejiang War, the paper completely abandoned any semblance of a Kuomintang position and became an organ of Lu Yongxiang’s Anfu clique. When the Nanyang Tobacco Company oppressed workers, driving many from their homes, the paper extensively publicized capitalist justifications for this repression, while refusing to print, or heavily editing before publication, reports exposing the workers’ plight. During this year’s May 30th Movement, the paper aligned itself with the Qingyuan faction, effectively functioning as that group’s official organ. In recent months, it has consistently withheld crucial news concerning Guangdong’s anti-imperialist and anti-warlord campaigns, as well as efforts to purge counterrevolutionaries, while devoting vast amounts of space to military developments involving Sun Chuanfang. All these instances were clear portents of the paper’s reactionary tendencies, and revolutionaries and party members alike had long been deeply dissatisfied with it. At this juncture, the paper merely seized upon the “official declaration of reaction” issued at the Beijing Rightist Conference as a pretext. Since November 20, when it formally proclaimed its reactionary stance, the paper has daily engaged in extensive propaganda attacking the left wing—precisely what one would expect of such a publication. For if it did not mount such attacks, it could not maintain its status as a right-wing organ; it would be unable to curry favor with the Shanghai Municipal Council and Duan Qirui in Beijing, thereby securing recognition of its counterrevolutionary role, nor could it achieve its reactionary aims. We regard the Shanghai Min Guo Daily’s turn to reaction as entirely justified. This development underscores the strength of the Kuomintang’s left wing, testifies to the growing momentum of China’s anti-imperialist and anti-warlord movements, confirms that the struggle between revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries has entered a decisive phase, and indicates that the success of the Chinese national revolution is drawing near. At present, all neutral elements and neutral newspapers in China must swiftly choose a side: either move leftward into the revolutionary camp or rightward into the counterrevolutionary camp. The former gray mask of neutrality can no longer be sustained. With this understanding, we can readily comprehend why the Shanghai Min Guo Daily has gone over to reaction, why newspapers such as the Morning News and the Awakening Lion Weekly have recently intensified their attacks on the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and why the leaders of the Kuomintang’s right wing felt compelled to convene in Beijing at this time to oppose the Central Executive Committee and the National Government led by the leftist factions in Guangzhou. With regard to the handling of the Shanghai Min Guo Daily, the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee has resolved to dispatch investigators to examine the matter and to issue a circular to party organizations at all levels throughout the country, denouncing the paper’s reactionary and absurd conduct. The text of the circular is reproduced below:

To be delivered without fail to No. 8 Cuifahutong, Beijing, and forwarded to the provincial party committees in Zhili, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Chahar, Suiyuan, Rehe, and Harbin; to the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee at Yongjili, Wangzhi Road, Shanghai; to the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee in Hangzhou; to the Hunan Provincial Party Committee in Changsha; to the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee in Nanchang; to the Hubei Provincial Party Committee in Wuchang; to the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee in Guangzhou; and also to all lower-level party organizations, as well as to the newspapers in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Hankou, and to party organizations overseas. To all comrades: The Shanghai Min Guo Daily has recently been seized by reactionary elements, espousing absurd views that grossly violate the principles of our Party. An investigative team has been dispatched to look into the matter. Signed, Xie Wen. Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Nationalist Party.

(Reprinted from Political Weekly, No. 3, p. 5; published by the Political Weekly Press, Guangzhou, December 20, 1925)