Expand the National Salvation Front and Strengthen the Anti-Japanese Forces*
(December 1, 1936)

To the Nanjing National Government of the Chinese Kuomintang, all newspaper offices, organizations, parties, circles, armed forces, and the people of the whole nation:

The outpost battles of the Japanese and puppet bandit troops attacking Shanxi and Suiyuan have already begun, and a large-scale war of aggression is about to break out. At this critical moment of life and death for the Chinese nation, it is impossible to defeat the Japanese bandits unless the military, human, and financial resources of the entire country are mobilized for the War of Resistance. Therefore, we demand that the Nanjing government immediately implement the following measures:

1. Assemble large forces to reinforce the Shanxi-Suiyuan front and mobilize all the naval, land, and air forces of China to prepare for a nationwide war of resistance.
2. Stop the attacks on the Red Army and bring about a cessation of the civil war so as to resist Japan in unity.
3. Allow the people's anti-Japanese and national salvation movement to develop, implement the democratic rights of speech, assembly, and association, and immediately release political prisoners and the patriotic leaders of Shanghai.
4. Convene an Anti-Japanese National Salvation Congress or a National Defense Conference of all parties, circles, and armed forces to discuss the grand plan for saving the nation.

We once again demand that the Nanjing government immediately abandon its policy of compromise with Japan, cease Sino-Japanese negotiations, and carry out the above urgent demands. If it continues to procrastinate and delay, sits idle while General Fu Zuoyi and others fight locally without succor, and still concentrates on suppressing the people's anti-Japanese national salvation movement and attacking the Anti-Japanese Red Army, the result will not only cause irreparable losses to the nation and the state, but the Nanjing authorities will also cut themselves off from the Chinese people.

In order to realize a nationwide war of resistance, we further call upon the people of all China, regardless of party affiliation, class, or occupation, to unite more closely, urge the Nanjing government to realize our proposals, overcome all difficulties, and spontaneously organize various national salvation organizations and armed forces, such as national salvation associations, support associations, volunteer armies, propaganda teams, medical teams, comfort teams, and fundraising teams, and strive to expand the national salvation front, strengthen the anti-Japanese forces, and support the heroic soldiers now resolutely fighting in Suiyuan. Anti-Japanese national salvation is the bounden duty of every Chinese. Only the great power of the Chinese people can compel the Nanjing government to resolve to resist Japan and deal the Japanese bandits a fatal blow.

For the past year, the People's Red Army led by the Communist Party of China has struggled arduously, advancing eastward into Shanxi and westward into Ningxia, with no other purpose than to find a path to resist Japan in order to safeguard the territorial and sovereign integrity of China. However, the Nanjing authorities have never shown understanding, and have repeatedly obstructed the Red Army's way to fight Japan. At this critical moment for Shanxi and Suiyuan, when the people of the whole nation are willing to lay down their lives on the battlefield to fight for the survival of the nation, the Nanjing authorities are instead dispatching large forces to attack the Anti-Japanese Red Army. This is truly baffling. The recent destruction of a part of Hu Zongnan's forces by the Red Army at Shanchengbao was an unavoidable act of self-defense, and a slight warning to those who advocate compromise with the foreign enemy and militarism at home. We hold that continuing the civil war today is indeed a criminal act against the nation and the state, tantamount in practice to carrying out the mission of Japanese imperialism, and will bring endless calamity to the nation and the country.

We now declare to the people of all China: The main forces of the Red Army, the First, Second, and Fourth Front Armies, have now completed their concentration. As long as we are given a path to resist Japan, we are prepared to set out immediately for the Shanxi-Suiyuan front, assume designated positions on the anti-Japanese front, and are willing to accept the command of the supreme command organ of all anti-Japanese forces, in order to resist the onslaught of the Japanese and puppet bandit troops, and to fight to the last drop of blood for the defense of Shanxi and Suiyuan, of North China, and of China. We hope that the Nanjing government will immediately recognize our demands, and hope that the people of the whole nation will support and endorse our demands. We have full confidence in the ultimate victory of the Chinese people!

Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic
December 1, 1936