Resolution Concerning Party Newspapers
Resolution of The Second National Congress
of the Chinese Guomindang
(January 16, 1926)

What was deemed the most important point by the Second Congress of the
Chinese Guomindang is the promulgation of the revolutionary principles of our
party-the Three People's Principles in their entirety with the hope that they
will be fully realized following the success of the national revolution. If only one
or two but not all of the Three People's Principles are carried out, the national revolution cannot be considered successful. But the congress was fully
aware that the two principles of people's rights and people's livelihood cannot be realized until nationalism has been solidly established and firmly edified. This is our Director General's will, which this congress has pledged to
accept.

During the period of time between the adjournment of the Second Congress
and the convocation of the Third Congress, our party should, as quickly as
possible, arouse and call upon all the revolutionary factions to facilitate the
realization of nationalism. This is the most urgent task of our party and the first
and foremost goal that the party newspapers should strive to achieve.

As pointed out at the First Congress, the significance of nationalism is for
China to break out of her hypocolonial status and to enjoy equality with all
the other nations in the world. A hypocolony was defined by the Director
General to be a nation that is under the rule of many imperialists.¹ So the status
of a hypocolony is worse than that of a colony, which is controlled by only
one imperialist power. He also said that nationalism sought to achieve unifica-

This text was first published in the records of the Second Congress, Zhongguo Guomindang dierci quanguo daibiao dahui huiyi jilu ([Guangzhou]: Zhongguo guomindang zhixing weiyuanhui, April 1926), pp. 137--40. Our translation is based on that version, which
is also reproduced in Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 9, pp. 175-80.

1. For Sun's definition of the term cizhimindi, see the second lecture on Nationalism in
his Sanmin zhuyi. The Chinese expression might also be rendered as "subcolony," but the
standard translation has long been "hypocolony." See Sun Yat-sen, San Min Chu I. The
Three Principles of the People, translated by Frank W. Price (Shanghai: China Committee,
Institute of Pacific Relations, 1927), p. 39.

tion for China and furthermore, to bring her under a central government that is
based on the five-power constitution.
The Second Congress demanded that the party newspapers frequently remind
the masses of the two important points of nationalism: (1) to break away from
the oppression imposed by the imperialists and achieve independence; and (2) to
form a unified government in China based on the five-power constitution. In
order to form a unified government in China, we must do away with imperialism.
Our party newspapers should point out that it is a dangerous fantasy to try to
achieve unification based on our party's five-power constitution or any other
laws before China breaks out of her hypocolonial status. All the failures of our
party in the past serve to illustrate this.
Our party's newspapers should furthermore point out that it is also impossible
under the yoke of unequal treaties to seek economic progress to meet China's
needs. The more remarkable the economic development of the trading ports, the
tighter the grip of the foreign financiers on the nation's wealth; the result will be
the continued impoverishment of the interior of our country and the gradual
transformation of our country's industrial and banking enterprises into the vassals of foreign economies. The party newspapers must frequently point this out.
Members of our party who work in various capacities in schools or are involved
in socioeconomic surveys, and who totally agree with the explanations of nationalism given by the First Congress, should participate in the editorial work of the
party newspapers so that they can fully utilize their knowledge and communication skills to prove that our party's stand on industrial development is correct,
beyond the shadow of a doubt.
In a systematically planned fashion, our party newspapers should also
point out to students, workers, peasants, and merchants how they can satisfy
their demands after the unequal treaties are abolished, and how once the
peasants' welfare is served, national consumer markets will definitely expand. As consumer markets expand, the need for laborers will grow, resulting
in wage increases and improved living conditions. Improvement of the peasants'
and workers' economic conditions will lead to the expansion of the services of
the intelligentsia—teachers, engineers, and managers. During this time, commerce will naturally grow rapidly. The party newspapers should point out that all
these improvements and progress cannot be gained until the unequal treaties are
abolished, control over customs is recovered, and China is unified. Therefore, all
students, workers, peasants, and merchants must take part in the national revolutionary movement led by the Chinese Guomindang.
There are numerous plans to save China. But the party newspapers should
point out that among them, all those that do not call for the abolition of unequal
treaties and recovery of the foreign concessions and of control over customs are
dangerous propaganda and constitute obstacles to the unification and liberation
of China. This is an attitude to which party members should especially hold fast.
Commentary in the party newspapers should be constructive, not uniformly de-

structive. It should be easy for the masses to understand, and not destined exclusively for perusal by a small minority.
The Second Congress also instructed the party newspapers to propagate the
following slogans and policies:

1. Guangdong is the base for the movement of the Chinese national revolution.
2. Because of its loyalty to the late Director General's teachings, and under
the rule of the Guomindang guided by the First Congress, Guangdong has
made great progress administratively, militarily, financially, and economically. The people of Guangdong have also begun to have deeper faith in
the principles and deeds of the Guomindang.
3. All those who are opposed to the national government and who seek to
topple its regime, to damage its reputation, or to organize other small
groups in conspiracy against it are counterrevolutionaries, either conscious
or unconscious.
4. The Guomindang is currently engaged in the work of unifying national
politics in Guangdong. The Guomindang's success in Guangdong will
facilitate the realization of the national revolution. All obstacles to
Guangdong's success should be swept away without consideration for
sentiments and without fear of any dangers.
5. Party members should hold the interests of the national revolution higher
than their own interests and also as compared to the interests of their
families, relatives, or other organizations.
6. The Guomindang is not a mutual-aid organization, but rather a revolutionary party that strives for a free and unified China. To abandon the task of
national revolution or to forget this great responsibility would be to betray
the wishes of the Director General and of the citizens. We will never allow
this to happen within the Guomindang.
7. Our party's discipline is a weapon to defeat imperialism and warlordism
and to win unification for China. Those who violate party discipline are
tantamount to soldiers in retreat from the battlefield.
8. Talking revolution but failing to obey directives from above in the organization and failing to carry out orders received both constitute violations of
discipline. Only by doing one's best to proclaim revolutionary ideas and
engage in revolutionary work can the national revolution be facilitated.
9. It is inevitable that some party members, sacrificing themselves and out of
love for their compatriots, will need to deal severely with some minority
elements. If we cannot gain unification for the 400 million people by
peaceful means, violence is necessary. By violence is meant organization
and discipline. Each party member is ruled by the party, and his personal
welfare is contained within that of the party. Therefore, a party member's
welfare should be sacrificed for the welfare of the party.

10. Only a Guomindang that is well organized and well disciplined can establish a national government after our domestic and foreign enemies are
defeated. We shall follow the example of our late Director General,
who fought for China and sacrificed for the revolution over a period of
forty years.
11. The party only needs to ask each member: Can you participate in the
movement to abolish unequal treaties with all your might? Can you make
every effort to defeat the warlords? Can you strive towards the founding
of the national government of the Guomindang so as to unify China? If the
answer is yes, then that person is a Guomindang party member.

That our party's newspapers have failed to reveal and explain many domestic
events is indeed a big shortcoming. The training of members and the cultivation
of leaders in the party cannot be accomplished through abstract principles. We
must make use of existing facts to explain things to the party members and to
analyze their political significance, so as to enrich the members' revolutionary
experience and foster their revolutionary morale. Our party constantly fights for
the masses of the whole nation, with current events as our study topics. The party
newspapers are teachers for all party members. In explaining current events, they
should point out the causes and their influence on the nationalist revolution. Take
the incident of a coolie being beaten by an imperialist as an example. This has
enormous significance, and our party newspapers should feature it in a prominent position, using it to illustrate the necessity of the national revolution. The
plight of the factory and mine workers should be described in detail. The reason
for the miserable conditions of the workers is the backwardness of Chinese
industries, and the reason for that is the bondage of the unequal treaties. The
warlords often create a sensation among the masses by making use of the slogans
of fighting in the interests of the country and of the people. The party newspapers should point out the facts and attack the contradictions between their words
and their deeds. Whenever there are writings in Chinese newspapers and books
disseminating the culture of the imperialists and praising their supposed friendliness to China, our party newspapers must miss no opportunity to refute them.
The party newspapers should point out not only the political and economic
aggression of the imperialists, but especially their cultural aggression, which
undermines the ideology of the national revolution, causes splits in the ranks of
the intellectuals, and dopes the minds of the revolutionary masses in general. Our
party newspapers should be especially wary of this danger. Concerning this point
the party newspapers should propagate the following slogans:

1. The freedom and unity of China must be based on an ideology that has
been produced in Chinese conditions. In particular, it can only be achieved
through an awareness born of the demand of the masses for survival.
Imperialist academic learning cannot save China.

2. Academic thought and academic research is worthless dross unless it
is in the service of the demands of the masses for social and economic
liberation and for survival.
3. The slogan for the intelligentsia should be "Go among the masses."
China's liberation can be found only among the masses.
4. Anyone who divorces himself from the masses has lost his social basis. All
of his activities will, without exception, be ineffectual.
5. The imperialists have spent millions of yuan to gain control over our
thoughts. We should fight dauntlessly to defeat their crafty plot.
6. The imperialists have spent millions of yuan to propagate Christianity.
This is a very powerful tool they are using to undermine our nationalism.

The party newspapers should pay special attention to promulgating the above
points, and they should instruct the intelligentsia to make efforts to introduce
nationalism to the masses of the entire nation. They must never allow themselves
to be used as willing tools for the propagation of imperialist culture.
The Second Congress puts special emphasis on the work of the party newspapers, and therefore directs the Central Executive Committee and all provincial
executive committees to insist on our party's propaganda policies in all dailies
and weeklies, allowing for no vacillation or hesitation. The Central Executive
Committee and the provincial executive committees are to appoint the editorial
staff of the dailies and weeklies, and to oversee everything they write. Since the
central and the provincial committees bear total responsibility for the party's
policies, they may remove or change editorial staff and shut down any propaganda organs according to circumstances.
The Central Party Bureau will establish investigators, and will supply reports
and discussion pieces to all the party newspapers. The Propaganda Department
of the Central Executive Committee should periodically notify the party organs
of the party's resolutions on various events and issues.