(April 1934)

Since the Foreign Ministry of the Japanese imperialists issued a diplomatic
note on its China policy to the Powers on April 17, all the imperialists have
expressed their dissenting views from the perspective of their own spheres of
influence in China.1 The Guomindang government in Nanjing also issued
some most shameful, traitorous remarks immediately.
In order to seek the views on this issue of the Central Government of the
Chinese Soviet Republic, the correspondent of this newspaper specially interviewed Comrade Mao Zedong, who said:

The recent diplomatic note by the Japanese Foreign Ministry is the most obvious
expression of the Japanese imperialists' intention to occupy China. In this diplomatic
note, the Japanese imperialists have already publicly affirmed that China is Japan's
protectorate and directly stated that Japan will use force to maintain Japan's military,
political, and economic monopoly in China. What the Japanese imperialists intend to
do during the process of completely colonizing China by Japan alone is to use their
own force to suppress the Chinese revolution directly and build a consolidated
rear-area defense for launching a war against the Soviet Union.

This intention of the Japanese imperialists has been opposed by other imperialists, but the actual meaning of their opposition is their reluctance to let
Japan alone occupy China. They want China to be carved up by international
imperialism and to become a public colony with an "open door." As for directly
suppressing the Chinese revolution and reinforcing the rear-area defense for
launching a war against the Soviet Union, all the other imperialists and Japan are
in complete agreement.

This text was first published in Hongse Zhonghua, no. 181, April 28, 1934. We have
translated it from Mao Zedong ji, Vol. 4, pp. 359-61, which reproduces this version.
1. The Japanese note of April 17, 1934, referred to here was issued by Amō Eiji, head
of the information division of the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Referred to by the Western
press as the "Monroe Doctrine for Asia," this statement read in part: "We oppose . . . any
attempt on the part of China to avail herself of the influence of any other country in order
to resist Japan. We also oppose any action taken by China, calculated to play one power
against another. Any joint operations undertaken by foreign powers even in the name of
technical or financial assistance at this particular moment after the Manchurian and
Shanghai Incidents are bound to acquire political significance." See Coble, Facing
Japan, p. 154.


Here it is the Guomindang government, which has sold out China, that appears most shameful and pitiful. The spokesman of the Guomindang government
in Nanjing issued a statement on April 19 which is as disgusting as one made by
a prostitute.² The statement says that the Guomindang government "encourages
international cooperation and promotes international peace and security," which
is to say that it is the "obligation" of the Guomindang government to encourage
the international imperialists to carve up China together, and that it will guarantee the security of the interests in China of the international imperialists.
Naturally, the Guomindang has indeed "no intention of attacking other countries
or disturbing the peace in East Asia." What's more, the Guomindang cautiously
explains to the Japanese that it is "purchasing military supplies (such as military
airplanes, etc.) or hiring foreign military instructors or experts merely for national
defense needs and mainly for maintaining domestic order and tranquility."
Indeed, the facts have proved that this is the case. From the money borrowed
and arms purchased from Britain, France, Germany, the United States, and Italy,
not even half a copper or a single bullet has been used by the Guomindang to
resist the Japanese imperialist invasion in Manchuria and North China, or to
oppose the savage acts of the British and French imperialists in occupying Tibet
and Xikang by force. The Guomindang has been constantly surrendering and
compromising in the face of imperialist aggression. There has been no question
of national defense.
On the other hand, the Guomindang's so-called "maintaining domestic order
and tranquility" actually means the suppression of the revolutionary movement
of the Chinese workers and peasants. In particular, it means attacks on the soviet
areas and the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. The arch-criminal who is
selling out the country, Chiang Kaishek, has mobilized 70 percent of the national
regular army to carry out the Fifth "Encirclement and Suppression" in Jiangxi.
This truly demonstrates the Guomindang's loyalty to the imperialists, and its role
in clearing the way for the imperialists to carve up China.
The Guomindang has raised this point with particular emphasis in its statement to Japan. The Guomindang has gone even farther, stating that the
Guomindang's attitudes toward Japan "can be corrected if there is any element
of inequality, thereby bringing about an improvement in Sino-Japanese relations,
so as to meet the common desires of the two countries." This has fully shown the
slavishness of the Guomindang as a running dog. The Guomindang, fearful that
it may not perfectly fulfill its duty as a running dog, and cannot win favor from

2. The Guomindang government statement of April 19 reads in part: "No state has the
right to claim the exclusive responsibility for maintaining international peace in any designated part of the world. Being a member of the League of Nations, China feels it her duty
to promote international cooperation and achieve international peace and security. In her
endeavour to attain these ends, she has never harboured any intention of injuring the
interests of any particular country, far less causing a disturbance of the peace in the Far
East." See Coble, Facing Japan, p. 155.

every one of its masters, has made such a shameless plea to Japan alone, like a
dog wagging its tail.
On behalf of the workers, peasants, and toiling masses of the whole country,
and of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, the Central Soviet Government
strongly opposes the Japanese imperialists' intention to monopolize China. The
Central Soviet Government also wants to expose the Guomindang's scheme for
leading the imperialists to carve up China together. The masses of Chinese
workers and peasants wish to pursue national and social independence, freedom,
and liberation. Only when we all rise up together under the leadership of the
soviet régime and smash the Fifth "Encirclement and Suppression" against the
Soviet Red Army by the imperialist Guomindang can we prevent China from
becoming totally colonized and can we strive for the victory of a new Soviet
China.