193.612.27 Chiang Kai-shek’s acceptance of the anti-Japanese stance and his subsequent release marked the beginning of a new stage in the nation’s unified effort to end the civil war and unite in the resistance against Japan. However, to thoroughly accomplish the task of resisting Japan, it will still be necessary to overcome numerous difficulties—a protracted and arduous process. In practical terms, this process constitutes the fierce struggle between China’s anti-Japanese faction and its pro-Japanese faction; it is also part of the broader confrontation between the international peace camp and the international aggression camp. Through this struggle, the centrist elements within the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek, will be compelled to abandon their vacillating position and resolutely embark on the path of domestic reform and all-out resistance to Japan. The pace of this process will be determined primarily by the strengthening of the anti-Japanese forces. Therefore, at present we must: (1) publicize the victory of this peaceful settlement and the failure of the Japanese aggressors and the pro-Japanese clique’s plot to stir up civil war; call upon the people of the entire country, as well as all parties, factions, social groups, and military units, to unite closely and carry out reforms of domestic politics while waging war against Japan; (2) continue to urge and press Chiang Kai-shek to fulfill the conditions he himself has pledged—namely, to end the civil war, reorganize the National Government and the Kuomintang, release political prisoners, guarantee democratic rights, discontinue the policy of suppressing the Communists, form a united front with the Communist Party, convene a National Salvation Conference, collaborate with nations sympathetic to China’s resistance, and launch a full-scale war against Japan; (3) consolidate the gains of the Xi’an Incident, strengthen the unity of the Northeast Army, the Northwest Army, and the Red Army; support Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng in transforming the Northeast and Northwest Armies into the finest anti-Japanese forces; mobilize and organize the masses in the Northwest, forge alliances with the ethnic minorities there, expand and fortify the Red Army, and make Shaanxi and Gansu provinces the first anti-Japanese base areas and launching pads for the national resistance; (4) continue to encourage local warlords and regional powers to join the movement for resistance against Japan and for democracy at home, and to cooperate with the democratic and anti-Japanese forces in the Northwest, so as to promote reform and the initiation of the war effort in Nanjing; within the Nanjing government, we should advance the left wing, win over the middle ranks, oppose the right wing, and push for a reorganization of the central government; (5) strive to broaden the nationwide anti-Japanese salvation movement, draw in broad sections of the lower classes, and eliminate the serious weakness of insufficient organization that still persists; (6) develop and consolidate the Communist Party’s organizational structure on the existing foundation; (7) the Party should prepare to implement all necessary political and organizational changes required to adapt to the new situation created by the establishment of the national united front.