To all Soviet areas; to the Soviet governments at the provincial, county, district, and township levels; to the Red Army, Red Guards, and the broad masses of workers, peasants, and toiling people everywhere; and to the workers, peasants, and all oppressed people in the white-ruled areas:

Gu Shunzhang (also known as Li Ming, originally named Gu Fengming, once disguised as the magician Hua Guangqi, about 27 or 28 years old, a native of Wusong, Shanghai, extremely short in stature, with bulging eyes and a protruding nose), a traitor to the workers’ and peasants’ revolution, was captured by the counter-revolutionary detective squad of the Kuomintang in Hankou on April 25 this year and immediately surrendered to the reactionary rule. He disclosed to the enemy the Communist Party of China’s communication office in Wuhan, the Western Hubei United County Soviet Government, and the Wuhan office of the Second Red Army Group, leading to their complete destruction. More than ten revolutionary fighters were arrested and later all killed by the reactionary Wuhan government. Even a worker sympathetic to the revolution on a river steamer, known only to Gu Shunzhang, was betrayed by him and thrown into a counter-revolutionary prison. With these bloody sacrifices and guarantees, Gu Shunzhang repeatedly telegraphed Nanjing, requesting to see Chiang Kai-shek in person. After arriving in Nanjing, he not only informed the Kuomintang counter-revolutionaries about the organizational situations and activities of the CPC, the Soviet government, the Red Army, and all revolutionary groups of workers, peasants, and toiling people, but also identified from prison Comrade Yun Daiying, a member of the CPC Central Committee and a national leader of revolutionary youth, who had already been sentenced to imprisonment by the Nanjing government, leading to his immediate execution by the counter-revolutionaries. At the same time, he revealed to the counter-revolutionaries the addresses of five CPC Central Committee members and leaders, including Comrades Zhou Enlai, Qu Qiubai, and Li Weihan, whom he knew from his time in Shanghai. Orders were immediately telegraphed to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau to cooperate with the imperialist police stations in arresting them by name. Fortunately, these comrades had already left Shanghai by then and thus escaped harm. Subsequently, Gu Shunzhang, following the clues he had, continued to send his relatives and family members to spy on the offices and leaders of the CPC and various revolutionary groups in Shanghai. Unfortunately, Comrade Xiang Zhongfa, the General Secretary of the CPC, was captured and killed as a result of his schemes, marking Gu Shunzhang’s greatest contribution to betraying the revolution and surrendering to the counter-revolution. From then on, Gu Shunzhang became a key member of Chiang Kai-shek’s secret assassination organization, the KK group, joining counter-revolutionary criminals such as Chen Guofu, Chen Lifu, Xu Enzeng, and Yang Hu as accomplices in Chiang Kai-shek’s murders.

Recently, due to the victories of the Red Army in various Soviet areas, the establishment of the Provisional Central Government of the Soviet Republic, and the upsurge in the struggle of workers, peasants, and toiling people in the white-ruled areas against the Kuomintang and imperialism, the CPC and revolutionary mass organizations, despite operating under extremely difficult conditions of white terror, have grown more consolidated and rigorous with the support of the broad masses, leading the workers, peasants, and toiling people more resolutely in the struggle around the banner of the Soviets. Thus, the traitor Gu Shunzhang’s vicious plan to destroy revolutionary organizations and the physical lives of revolutionary leaders could not succeed. He then changed his tactics, slandering our responsible revolutionary comrades and the CPC Central Committee with the label of murderers, attempting through this scheme to undermine the faith of the masses in the CPC and its leaders. Even more shamelessly, Gu Shunzhang himself published a notice in the newspapers to arrest responsible CPC comrades like Zhou Enlai, claiming that since his betrayal, he had not harmed any individual in the Communist Party but had only stayed at home reading. Such a shameless denial can never conceal the bloody damage his cruel and vicious hands have inflicted on the revolution. This is something every revolutionary mass can recognize. As for offering rewards for arrests, every revolutionary fighter and worker-peasant mass, when they devote themselves to the revolution, has already had their lives registered on the counter-revolutionary arrest list; there is no need for the traitor Gu Shunzhang to publish such notices.

Class hatred has reached a life-and-death struggle. Those whom the Kuomintang counter-revolutionaries want to arrest are precisely those whom the broad masses of workers, peasants, and toiling people want to support. Conversely, vicious and cruel traitors like Gu Shunzhang, who are sheltered by the Kuomintang counter-revolutionaries, are precisely those whom the broad masses of workers, peasants, and toiling people want to eliminate. The counter-revolutionaries rely only on the landlord class, the bourgeoisie, the Kuomintang warlords, and bureaucrats—people who are heading toward their own dead end. The participants and supporters of the revolution, however, are the vast workers, peasants, urban poor, and all oppressed masses, and the victorious Soviet government and the CPC are leading them to strive for the nationwide victory of the revolution. As the revolutionary upsurge continues to rise, Chiang Kai-shek’s two to three hundred thousand troops have been defeated time and again by the workers’ and peasants’ Red Army, like dry weeds crushed and decayed. How can a single traitor like Gu Shunzhang and Chiang Kai-shek’s murderous KK organization possibly destroy the revolution? On the contrary, they will ultimately be submerged in the great tide of revolution!

Therefore, the Provisional Central Government of the Soviet Republic hereby issues a special order to all levels of Soviet governments, the Red Army, and Red Guards everywhere, and notifies the workers, peasants, and toiling people nationwide to strictly guard against the Kuomintang counter-revolutionaries’ schemes and to uniformly and rigorously arrest the traitor Gu Shunzhang. In the Soviet areas, if this traitor is encountered, he should be captured and handed over to the revolutionary court for trial. In the white-ruled areas, if this traitor is encountered, every revolutionary fighter and every worker, peasant, and poor person has the duty to eliminate him. Arresting and eliminating the traitor Gu Shunzhang is a conscious and honorable duty of every revolutionary fighter and worker-peasant mass. The rewards offered by the landlords, capitalists, and counter-revolutionary lackeys cannot be used to defile us, the exploited and oppressed masses.

Broad masses of workers, peasants, and toiling people!
Strengthen your own front, uniformly and rigorously arrest the traitor Gu Shunzhang!
Develop the revolutionary struggle, fundamentally eliminate Chiang Kai-shek’s murderous KK organization!

Chairman of the People’s Committee: Mao Zedong
Vice Chairmen: Xiang Ying, Zhang Guotao
December 10, 1931