Proclamation by the Central Government of the
Chinese Soviet Republic in Support of the
Struggles of the Striking Workers in the
America-Asia Silk Factory in Shanghai
(April 16, 1934)
Dear worker friends all over the country! Laboring masses!
On April 10, a tragedy happened in Shanghai when the imperialists and the
Guomindang fascists massacred a thousand workers in an unprecedentedly cruel
way.l
The brave fighters of the working class, the striking workers of the Shanghai
America-Asia Silk Factory, have shed their blood under the knives of the
Guomindang butchers. One hundred workers were killed and nine hundred were
wounded. Cold and hungry on a night accompanied by wind and rain, several
thousand workers of the Shanghai America-Asia Silk Factory had been fighting
hand-to-hand with the police and security forces of the Guomindang for twenty-three hours. They were struggling and resisting the bloody and cruel attack by
the Guomindang fascists.
Workers of the whole country! This is how the Guomindang fascists have
attempted to use the most cruel and bloody massacre to suppress the struggle of
the working class.
But no matter how the butcher Chiang Kaishek and his henchmen have colluded with the imperialists in using cruel violence against the working class, the
This proclamation was first published in Hongse Zhonghua, no. 178, April 21,
1934. Our source is MaoZedongji. Bujuan, Vol. 4, pp. 211-12, where it is reprinted from
this version.
I. Founded in 1920, by 1927 the America-Asia (Meiya) Silk Company had become
China's largest silk-weaving company; in 1934, its one thousand looms were half of the
silk-weaving looms used in Shanghai. Weavers of the company had formed a union and
frequently went on strike. The strike ofMarch-Aprill934 mentioned here was sparked by a
wage cut, and involved 4,500 workers of all ten of the firm's Shanghai factories. The strike
was unsuccessful and led to the dismissal of 143 workers. The confrontation between police
and strikers on April 10-11 evoked here was a turning point in the strike. A great many
people were injured, but Mao's figure on deaths may well be exaggerated. See Elizabeth
Perry, Shanghai on Strike (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1993), pp. 182-201.

APRIL 1934
courageous struggles of the working class, from the joint strike of workers in
the five mines in Tangshan to the bloody battle by the workers of the Shanghai America-Asia Silk factory against the fascists, have not been suppressed.
They have instead reached a higher stage at which the workers are fighting
hand-to-hand with the Guomindang military police. The struggle by the workers
of the Shanghai America-Asia Silk Factory further shows the strikingly brave
and staunch character of our working-class fighters. It is precisely because of our
bravery that our struggles have aroused extreme hatred on the part of the
Guomindang fascists and have encountered their extremely barbarous violence.
The Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic and the Red Army have
always most resolutely opposed the murderous policy of the Guomindang fascism
and have always been on the side of all the workers in the country in their struggles.
That is why the imperialists and the Guomindang have mobilized all their troops in
carrying out the most cruel Fifth "Encirclement and Suppression" against the Soviet
Area and the Red Army. At the same time, we are assembling all our forces for a
victorious offensive against the enemies in order to support workers all over the
country in their struggles. We are determined to wipe out the imperialist
Guomindang in this decisive battle of smashing the Fifth "Encirclement and Suppression." Meanwhile, we must point out that only by overthrowing the rule of the
imperialist Guomindang can we wipe out the White tenor of the fascists, establish
the soviet regime, and help the working class achieve complete liberation.
After hearing the news that our worker friends of the Shanghai America-Asia
Silk Factory had been killed, the broad masses of the people and Red Army soldiers
in our Soviet Area have already expressed at various meetings their indignation at
the cruel violence by the Guomindang fascists. They have sworn to fight to the death
to overthrow the imperialist Guomindang. In the meantime, they are raising money
and getting donations everywhere to help the striking workers of the Shanghai
America-Asia Silk Factory and the families of the victims. We also want to call on
all the workers in the country and all the toiling masses to rise up as one. support the
workers of the Shanghai America-Asia Silk Factory, and encourage them to persist
in their struggle until they achieve final victory.
Worker friends of the whole country! We are persuaded that every economic
struggle and every' strike by you is a most powerful aid to the soviets and the Red
Army. In order to strive for a great victory of the soviets and achieve the thorough
liberation of the working class, let the strike struggles by the workers all over the
country and the bloody battle of the soviets and Red Army to smash the Fifth
"Encirclement and Suppression" unite most closely! Oppose the cruel exploitation
by the capitalists! Oppose the bloody massacre by the Guomindang fascists! Down
with imperialism! Down with the Guomindang! Overthrow the fascist rule of the
imperialist Guomindang!
Chairman
Mao Zedong