The Southwest Incident and the Development of the Overall Situation[1]

(June 12, 1936)

The current situation has developed into a new stage. Japan has dispatched troops to North China, and the forces of Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang central authority have withdrawn from North China, bringing about tremendous changes throughout China’s interior. The imperialist world has also undergone changes. Britain, which originally supported Japan’s aggression against China, has now turned to opposing Japan’s aggression against China. The Northwest is the great base camp for resisting Japan, and the launching of the Southwest Incident has also had an effect on the Northwest. Our slogan, our central focus, is to resist Japan and to call upon Chiang to send troops, so as to sweep away the obstacles to resisting Japan. Chiang Kai-shek still exerts a deceptive influence among the masses. Our method is to resolutely refute the national reformist utterances of Hu Shih-chih[2], which are also those of Chiang Kai-shek, and to point out that Chiang Kai-shek’s policy is a policy of selling out the country. We must extensively propagate the convening of a National Assembly for Resisting Japan and Saving the Nation, so as to counter Chiang Kai-shek’s National Assembly. We must transform the Southwest from a situation of not arming the masses to resist Japan into one of arming the masses to resist Japan.

[1] The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China convened a Political Bureau meeting at Wayaobao to study the Southwest Incident and the development of the overall situation. This is part of Mao Zedong’s speech.

[2] Hu Shih-chih, then Dean and Professor of the College of Arts, Peking University.