December 28, 1936

In Sian Chiang Kai-shek accepted the demand for resistance to Japan put forward
by Generals Chang Hsueh-liang and Yang Hu-cheng and the people of the Northwest
and, as an initial step, he has ordered his civil war troops to withdraw
from the provinces of Shensi and Kansu. This marks the beginning of Chiang's
reversal of his wrong policy in the past decade.[1] It
is a blow to the intrigues conducted by the Japanese imperialists and the
Chinese "punitive" group [2] to stage-manage a civil war,
foment splits and get Chiang killed in the Sian Incident. Their disappointment
is already apparent. The indication that Chiang Kai-shek is beginning to
wake up may be considered a sign of the Kuomintang's willingness to end the
wrong policy it has pursued for ten years.

On December 26 Chiang Kai-shek issued a statement in Loyang, the so-called
"Admonition to Chang Hsueh-liang and Yang Hucheng", which is so ambiguous
and evasive as to be an interesting specimen among China's political documents.
If Chiang really wants to draw a serious lesson from the incident and try
to revitalize the Kuomintang, and if he wants to end his consistently wrong
policy of compromise in foreign affairs and of civil war and oppression at
home, so that the Kuomintang will no longer stand opposed to the wishes of
the people, then as a token of good faith he should have produced a better
piece of writing, repenting his political past and setting a new course for
the future. The statement of December 26 cannot meet the demands of the Chinese
masses.

However, it does contain one praiseworthy passage, in which Chiang asserts
that "promises must be kept and action must be resolute". This means that,
although he did not sign the terms set forth by Chang and Yang in Sian, he
is willing to accept such demands as are beneficial to the state and the
nation and will not break his word on the grounds that he did not sign. We
shall see whether, after he has withdrawn his troops, Chiang will act in
good faith and carry out the terms he has accepted. The terms are:

(1) to reorganize the Kuomintang and the National Government, expel the
pro-Japanese group and admit anti-Japanese elements;

(2) to release the patriotic leaders in Shanghai [3] and
all other political prisoners, and guarantee the freedoms and rights of the
people;

(3) to end the policy of "suppressing the Communists" and enter into an alliance
with the Red Army to resist Japan;

(4) to convene a national salvation conference, representing all parties,
groups, sections of the population and armies, to decide on the policy of
resisting Japan and saving the nation;

(5) to enter into co-operation with countries sympathetic to China's resistance
to Japan; and

(6) to adopt other specific ways and means to save the nation.

The fulfilment of these terms requires above all good faith, and also some
courage. We shall judge Chiang by his future actions.

But his statement contains the remark that the Sian Incident was brought
about under the pressure of "reactionaries". It is a pity that he did not
explain what kind of people he meant by "reactionaries", nor is it clear
how the word "reactionary" is defined in Chiang's dictionary. However, what
is certain is that the Sian Incident took place under the influence of the
following forces:

(1) the mounting indignation against Japan among the troops of Generals Chang
and Yang and among the revolutionary people of the Northwest;

(2) the mounting indignation against Japan among the people of the whole
country;

(3) the growth of the Left forces in the Kuomintang;

(4) the demand by the groups in power in various provinces for resistance
to Japan and for the salvation of the nation;

(5) the stand taken by the Communist Party for a national united front against
Japan; and

(6) the development of the world peace front.

All these are indisputable facts. It is just these forces that Chiang calls
"reactionary"; while other people call them revolutionary, Chiang calls them
"reactionary"--that is all. Since he declared in Sian that he would fight
Japan in earnest, presumably he will not resume violent attacks on the
revolutionary forces immediately after leaving Sian; not only does his own
political life and that of his group hang upon his good faith, but they now
have confronting them and obstructing their political path a force which
has expanded to their detriment-- the "punitive" group which tried to get
him killed in the Sian Incident. We therefore advise Chiang Kai-shek to revise
his political dictionary, changing the word "reactionary" to "revolutionary",
for it is better to use terms corresponding to the facts.

Chiang should remember that he owes his safe departure from Sian to the mediation
of the Communist Party, as well as to the efforts of Generals Chang and Yang,
the leaders in the Sian Incident. Throughout the incident, the Communist
Party stood for a peaceful settlement and made every effort to that end,
acting solely in the interests of national survival. Had the civil war spread
and had Chang and Yang kept Chiang Kai-shek in custody for long, the incident
could only have developed in favour of the Japanese imperialists and the
Chinese "punitive" group. It was in these circumstances that the Communist
Party firmly exposed the intrigues of the Japanese imperialists and of Wang
Ching-wei,[4] Ho Ying- chin [5] and
other members of the Chinese "punitive" group, and firmly advocated a peaceful
settlement, which happened to coincide with the views of Generals Chang
Hsueh-liang and Yang Hu-cheng and such members of the Kuomintang as T.V.
Soong.[6] This is exactly what the people throughout the
country call for, because they bitterly detest the present civil war.

Chiang was set free upon his acceptance of the Sian terms. From now on the
question is whether he will carry out to the letter his pledge that "promises
must be kept and action must be resolute", and strictly fulfil all the terms
for saving the nation. The nation will not permit any further hesitation
on his part or allow him any discount in fulfilling the terms. If he wavers
on the issue of resisting Japan or delays in fulfilling his pledge, then
the nation-wide revolutionary tide will sweep him away. Chiang and his group
should bear in mind the old saying: "If a man does not keep his word, what
is he good for?"

If Chiang can clean up the dirt created by the Kuomintang's reactionary policy
over the past ten years, thoroughly correct his fundamental errors of compromise
in foreign affairs and of civil war and oppression at home, immediately join
the anti-Japanese front uniting all parties and groups and really take the
military and political measures that can save the nation, then of course
the Communist Party will support him. As early as August 25, the Communist
Party promised such support to Chiang and the Kuomintang in its letter to
the Kuomintang.[7] The people throughout the country have
known for fifteen years that the Communist Party observes the maxim, "Promises
must be kept and action must be resolute." They undoubtedly have more confidence
in the words and deeds of the Communist Party than in those of any other
party or group in China.

NOTES

1. Under the influence of the Chinese Red Army and the
people's anti-Japanese movement, the Kuomintang's Northeastern Army headed
by Chang Hsueh-liang and the Kuomintang's 17th Route Army headed by Yang
Hu-cheng agreed to the anti-Japanese national united front proposed by the
Communist Party of China and demanded that Chiang Kai-shek should unite with
the Communist Party to resist Japan. He refused, became still more active
in his military preparations for the "suppression of the Communists" and
massacred young people in Sian who were anti-Japanese. Chang Hsueh-liang
and Yang Hu-cheng took joint action and arrested Chiang Kai-shek. This was
the famous Sian Incident of December 12, 1936. He was forced to accept the
terms of unity with the Communist Party and resistance to Japan, and was
then set free to return to Nanking.
2. The Chinese "punitive" group consisted of the pro-Japanese
elements in the Kuomintang government in Nanking who tried to wrest power
from Chiang Kai-shek during the Sian Incident. With Wang Ching-wei and Ho
Ying-chin as their leaders, they advocated a "punitive expedition" against
Chang Hsueh-liang and Yang Hu-cheng. Availing themselves of the incident,
they prepared to start large-scale civil war in order to clear the way for
the Japanese invaders and wrest political power from Chiang Kai-shek.
3. Seven leaders of the patriotic anti-Japanese movement
in Shanghai had been arrested by Chiang Kai-shek's government in November
1936. They were Shen Chun-ju, Chang Nai-chi, Tsou Tao-fen, Li Kung-pu, Sha
Chien-li, Shih Liang and Wang Tsao-shih. They were kept in prison till July
1937.
4. Wang Ching-wei was the head of the pro-Japanese group
in the Kuomintang. He had stood for compromise with the Japanese imperialists
ever since their invasion of the Northeast in 1931. In December 1938 he left
Chungking, openly capitulated to the Japanese invaders, and set up a puppet
government in Nanking.
5. Ho Ying-chin, a Kuomintang warlord, was another leader
of the pro-Japanese group. During the Sian Incident he actively plotted civil
war by deploying Kuomintang troops for an attack on Shensi along the Lunghai
Railway. He planned to kill Chiang Kai-shek by bombing Sian, in order to
take over Chiang's position.
6. T.V. Soong was a pro-American member of the Kuomintang.
Championing U.S. interests he, too, favoured a peaceful settlement of the
Sian Incident, because U.S. imperialism was at loggerheads with Japanese
imperialism with which it was then contending for supremacy in the Far East.
7. This letter sternly criticized the Kuomintang's reactionary
rule and the decisions of the Second Plenary Session of its Central Executive
Committee. It also set out the Communist Party's policy of forming an
anti-Japanese national united front and renewing its co-operation with the
Kuomintang. The main part of the letter reads:

  In talking about "centralization and unification", the Second Plenary Session
  of the Central Executive Committee of your party is really confusing cause
  and effect. It must be emphasized that the civil war and disunity of the
  last ten years have been entirely caused by the disastrous policy of dependence
  on imperialism pursued by your party and your party's government, and especially
  the policy of non-resistance to Japan persisted in ever since the Incident
  of September 18, 1931. Under the slogan of "Internal pacification before
  resistance to foreign invasion", your party and your party's government have
  been carrying on incessant civil war and launching numerous encirclement
  campaigns against the Red Army, and have spared no effort in suppressing
  the patriotic and democratic movements of the people throughout the country.
  Being blind to the fact that Japanese imperialism is China's deadliest enemy,
  you have had no qualms even in recent months about abandoning northeastern
  and northern China, you have used all your strength to fight the Red Army
  and wage factional struggles within your own party, you have blocked the
  Red Army on its way to fight the Japanese and harassed its rear, you have
  ignored the nationwide demand for resistance to Japan and have deprived the
  people of their freedoms and rights. Patriotism is penalized and innocent
  people are in jail everywhere; treason is rewarded and traitors are jubilant
  over their new appointments and honours. To seek centralization and unification
  by means of this wrong policy is like "climbing a tree to seek fish" and
  will produce exactly the opposite results. We wish to warn you gentlemen
  that if you do not make a fundamental change in your erroneous policy, and
  if you do not direct your hatred against the Japanese imperialists but continue
  to direct it against your own countrymen, you will find it impossible
  even to maintain the status quo and any talk about centralization,
  unification and a so-called "modern state" will remain idle chatter. What
  the whole nation demands is centralization and unification for fighting Japan
  and saving the nation, not for fawning on the foreigners and persecuting
  our own people. The people are now eagerly demanding a government that can
  really save their country and themselves, a really democratic republic. They
  demand a democratic republican government which will serve their interests.
  The programme of such a government must principally provide for: first,
  resistance to foreign aggression; second, democratic rights for the people;
  and third, development of the national economy and elimination, or at least
  alleviation, of the people's sufferings. If there is any sense in your talk
  about a "modern state", this is the only programme genuinely meeting the
  needs of colonial and semi-colonial China in the present era. With eager
  hopes and firm determination the people are struggling for the realization
  of these objectives. But your party and your party's government are pursuing
  a policy that runs counter to their hopes and you will never win their
  confidence. The Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Red Army hereby solemnly
  declare: we stand for the setting up of a unified democratic republic for
  the whole country and the convening of a parliament elected by universal
  suffrage, and we support an anti-Japanese national salvation congress
  representative of all the people and all the anti-Japanese armed forces in
  the country, and a unified national defence government for the whole country.
  We hereby declare: as soon as a unified democratic republic is set up for
  the whole of China, the Red areas will become one of its component parts,
  the representatives of the people of the Red areas will attend the all-China
  parliament, and the same democratic system will be set up in the Red areas
  as in other parts of China. We hold that the national defence council, which
  the Second Plenary Session of the Central Executive Committee of your party
  has decided to organize, and the national assembly, which your party and
  your party's government are in process of convening, cannot achieve
  centralization and unification for resisting Japan and saving the nation.
  According to the regulations of the national defence council passed by the
  Second Plenary Session of the Central Executive Committee of your party,
  this council will be confined to a few officials who hold power in your party
  and your party's government, and its task is merely to serve as an advisory
  body to that government. It is only too clear that such a council cannot achieve
  anything or win any confidence among the people. The same applies to the
  national assembly which you gentlemen propose to convene; according to the
  "Draft Constitution of the Republic of China" and the "Organic Law and Election
  Law of the National Assembly" passed by your party's government, this assembly
  will be merely an organ manipulated by a few officials of your party and
  your party's government, it will be nothing but an appendage for them, or
  a piece of ornamentation. A national defence council and a national assembly
  of this kind have nothing at all in common with the all-China congress for
  resistance to Japan and for national salvation--the national defence council--and
  the Chinese democratic republic and its parliament which our Party has proposed.
  We hold that a national defence council for resistance to Japan and national
  salvation must include representatives of all the political parties and groups,
  all walks of life and all the armed forces, and must constitute a real organ
  of authority to decide the major policies for resisting Japan and saving the
  nation, and that a unified national defence government must be formed from
  this council. The national assembly must be a parliament elected by universal
  suffrage and the supreme organ of authority of the democratic republic of
  China. Only such a national defence council and such an all-China parliament
  will win the approval, support and participation of the people of the whole
  country and place the great cause of saving the nation and the people on
  a firm, unshakable foundation. Mere fine words are useless and will not win
  the people's approval. The failure of the various conferences held by your
  party and your party's government is the best proof of this. The declaration
  of the Second Plenary Session of the Central Executive Committee of your
  party stated, "Dangers and obstacles are only to be expected; but we will
  never, because of the difficulties and troubles that beset the nation, relax
  in the fulfilment of our duty." And again, "As to the survival of the nation,
  naturally our party will work for it persistently, body and soul." True enough,
  being the ruling party in the largest part of China, your party must bear
  the political responsibility for all past deeds. In view of the fact that
  the Kuomintang government is a one-party dictatorship, your party can never
  escape this responsibility. In particular, you can never shift onto others
  your responsibility for the loss of almost half of China, resulting from
  the absolutely wrong policy which your party has pursued since the September
  18th Incident against the wishes of all the people and the interests of the
  whole nation. As we and all the people see it, since half of China has been
  abandoned by your party, it certainly cannot evade its duty of recovering
  the territory and restoring China's sovereignty. At the same time, even within
  your party many men of conscience are now clearly awake to the horrors of
  national subjugation and the inviolability of the people's will, they are
  beginning to turn in a new direction and feel indignant and dissatisfied
  with those in their midst who have brought disaster both to their party and
  to the nation. The Chinese Communist Party has full sympathy with this new
  turn and warmly applauds the noble spirit and awakening of these patriotic
  and conscientious members of the Kuomintang, their readiness to make sacrifices
  in the struggle, and their courage to introduce reforms when the nation is
  on the brink of ruin. We know that the number of awakened and patriotic people
  is increasing daily in your party's central and provincial headquarters,
  in its central and provincial governments, in educational, scientific, artistic,
  journalistic and industrial circles, among the women and in religious and
  medical circles, within the police service, among all kinds of popular
  organizations, and in particular among the broad ranks of the army and among
  both old and new Kuomintang members as well as Kuomintang leaders at various
  levels; this is very heartening. The Chinese Communist Party is always ready
  to join hands with these members of the Kuomintang and form a solid national
  united front with them to fight the nation's deadliest enemy, Japanese
  imperialism. We hope that they will speedily grow into a dominant force in
  the Kuomintang and prevail over those wicked and shameless members who have
  ignored the interests of the nation and virtually become Japanese agents
  and collaborators--members who are a disgrace to Dr. Sun Yat-sen's memory--and
  we hope that they will thus be able to revive the spirit of Dr. Sun's
  revolutionary Three People's Principles, reaffirm his Three Great Policies
  of alliance with Russia, co-operation with the Communist Party and assistance
  to the peasants and workers, and "work persistently, body and soul" for the
  realization of the revolutionary Three People's Principles, of the Three
  Great Policies and of Dr. Sun's revolutionary Testament. We hope that, together
  with the patriotic leaders of all political parties and groups and of all
  walks of life and together with all patriotic people, they will resolutely
  shoulder the responsibility of continuing Dr. Sun's revolutionary cause and
  will throw themselves into the struggle to drive out the Japanese imperialists
  and save the Chinese nation from subjugation, to win democratic rights for
  the people, to develop China's national economy and free the vast majority
  of its people from their sufferings, and to bring into being the democratic
  republic of China with a democratic parliament and democratic government.
  The Chinese Communist Party hereby declares to all members of the Kuomintang:
  if you really do this, we shall resolutely support you and are ready to form
  with you a solid revolutionary united front like that of the great revolutionary
  period of 1924-27 against imperialist and feudal oppression, for this is
  the only correct way today to save the nation from subjugation and ensure
  its survival.

Transcription by the Maoist Documentation Project.

A Statement on
Chiang Kaishek’s Proclamation of the 26th

(December 28, 1936)

According to a telegram of the 30th from the Hongse Zhonghua agency, yesterday the Communist Party organ, Douzheng, published a statement by Comrade Mao Zedong commenting on the proclamation made by Chiang Kaishek in Luoyang on the 26th (that is, the so-called admonition to Zhang and Yang), the main idea of which is as follows:

In Xi’an Mr. Chiang Kaishek accepted the demand for resistance to Japan put forward by Zhang [Xueliang] and Yang [Hucheng] and the people of the Northwest, and he has ordered his troops conducting the civil war to withdraw from the provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu. This marks the beginning of Mr. Chiang’s reversal of his erroneous policy of the past decade. It is an initial blow to the intrigues conducted by Japan and the Chinese “punitive group” to stage-manage a civil war, foment splits, and get Chiang killed in the course of this incident. The disappointment of Japan and the Chinese “punitive group” is already apparent. The indication that Chiang Kaishek is beginning to wake up, if analyzed objectively, actually may be considered a sign of the Guomindang’s willingness to end the wrong policy that it has pursued for ten years, and if in future it continues to develop along the lines that meet the hopes of the popular masses in general, this would be a victory not only for the masses of the Chinese people but for those all over the world on the peace front who oppose aggressors.
Chiang Kaishek’s proclamation of the 26th1 is so ambiguous and evasive as to be a truly interesting masterpiece among China’s political documents. If Mr. Chiang really wants to draw a serious lesson from this incident and try to revitalize the Guomindang, and if he wants to end his consistently wrong policy of compromise in foreign affairs and of civil war and oppression at home, so that the Guomindang will no longer stand opposed to the wishes of the people, then, as a token of good faith, he should have produced a better piece of writing, repenting his political past and setting a new course for the future. The proclama-

This document was first published in Douzheng on December 29, 1936. We have translated it from Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 5, pp. 45–49, where it is reproduced from a copy on display in the Museum of the History of the Revolution.
1. Chiang Kaishek’s proclamation of the 26th → On December 26 Chiang Kaishek issued a statement in Luoyang, the so-called “Admonition to Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng”