The Current Stage of Development of the National and Domestic Contradictions

May 3, 1937

The shift from the Sino-Japanese contradiction to the primary contradiction, with the domestic contradiction relegated to a secondary and subordinate position, and the resulting changes in international relations and domestic class relations, have shaped the current stage of development of the situation.

China has long been in the throes of two intense, fundamental contradictions: the contradiction between imperialism and China, and the contradiction between the feudal system and the broad masses of the people. The betrayal of the revolution by the bourgeoisie in 1927, selling out national interests to imperialism, and the sharp opposition between the Soviet regime and the Kuomintang regime, created a situation where the national and democratic revolutionary tasks could not but be borne solely by the Communist Party.

The situation since the September 18th Incident and the North China Incident has brought about the following changes in these contradictions:

A. The contradiction between general imperialism and China has transformed into a particularly prominent and acute contradiction between Japanese imperialism and China, that is, Japanese imperialism has implemented and is implementing a predatory conquest policy of complete colonization and monopolization of China. This has pushed the contradictions between certain other imperialisms and China into a secondary position, while widening the cracks in the contradictions between these imperialisms and Japanese imperialism. Therefore, the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people are faced with the task of combining China's anti-Japanese national united front with the world's peace front. Our united front is anti-Japanese, not simultaneously against all imperialisms.

B. The Sino-Japanese contradiction has altered domestic class relations, causing the bourgeoisie and even warlords to face the question of their survival, and a process of changing political attitudes is taking place within them and their parties. This presents the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people with the task of establishing an anti-Japanese national united front. Our united front includes the bourgeoisie and all those who agree to defend the motherland, and it is a united national front against foreign aggression.

C. The Sino-Japanese contradiction has altered the situation and policies of the broad masses of the people, the proletariat, the peasantry, the petty bourgeoisie, and the Communist Party. The people are rising on a larger scale to fight for national salvation. The Communist Party, following the "September 18th" Incident, adopted a policy of concluding an anti-Japanese agreement with those within the Kuomintang who were willing to cooperate with us in resisting Japan, under the three conditions of ceasing attacks on the Soviets, granting the people freedom of speech, and arming the people, and elevated it to a policy of establishing a national anti-Japanese united front. This is the origin of our proposals and active efforts, such as the August 1st Declaration of 1935, the November Resolution, the abandonment of the slogan "Oppose Chiang" in the spring of 1936, the letter to the Kuomintang in August, the resolution on the Democratic Republic in September, the Xi'an Incident in November, and the telegram to the Third Plenary Session of the Kuomintang, and our insistence on a peaceful resolution.

D. The warlord separatism and warlord civil wars, stemming from the sphere of influence of imperialism and China's semi-colonial economic situation, have also undergone changes in the face of the Sino-Japanese contradiction. Japanese imperialism supports this separatism and civil war to facilitate its monopolization of China. Certain other imperialisms, for their own interests, support China's unity and peace. The Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people are making great efforts to oppose civil war and division, and to strive for peace and unity.

E. The development of the Sino-Japanese national contradiction has reduced the political weight of domestic class and group contradictions, making them secondary and subordinate. However, domestic class contradictions and group contradictions themselves still exist and have not diminished or disappeared. The same is true of the contradictions between China and imperialisms other than Japan. Therefore, the Chinese Communist Party and the people are faced with the following tasks: appropriately resolving the domestic and international contradictions that are currently possible and necessary to resolve, so as to make them suitable for the overall task of uniting against Japan. This is the origin of the various policies of peace and unity, democratic politics, improving people's lives, and peaceful negotiations with foreign countries.

The Third Plenary Session of the Kuomintang, due to the existence of pro-Japanese factions and wavering factions within it, did not express a clear and thorough transformation of its policies, and did not specifically resolve problems. However, due to the pressure of the people and the fact that the Kuomintang could not but start to move towards peace and anti-Japanese resistance, the Kuomintang's policy could not but start to transform in the direction of anti-Japanese national united front and democratic politics, and this was a mistake of ten years of wrong policies. The Third Plenary Session was the beginning of this transformation, and it was also the thorough transformation of the wavering and hesitant elements. This requires our people to develop a greater democratic anti-Japanese movement, to promote the transformation of the wavering and hesitant elements, to exclude and eliminate the pro-Japanese elements within the Kuomintang, and only then can the Kuomintang reach the stage of a necessary and huge transformation.

VI. Struggle for Democracy and Freedom

Japanese imperialism is stepping up its preparations for a war of aggression against mainland China. The conclusion of the Anti-Comintern Pact between Japan, Germany, and Italy, the passage of the 1.8 billion yuan budget, the dissolution of the parliament, and the strengthening of Manchukuo are all directed against China. The anti-Japanese national united front must be prepared at half-running speed in the current stage. The conditions for the "inevitable and rapid" aggression against China by Japanese imperialism are being prepared. The so-called "Eastward Advance" is a step-by-step plan for the economic and military conquest of China. We are not against preparation, but against unpreparedness, against the phenomenon of national subjugation where officials are complacent and soldiers are lax, and these are actually helping the enemy and must be quickly eliminated.

VII. Political, military, economic, and educational national defense preparations are all necessary conditions for resisting Japan and saving the nation, and none can be delayed. Striving for political democracy and freedom is the central link to ensure victory in the War of Resistance. The War of Resistance requires national peace and unity. Without democracy and freedom, it will not be possible to consolidate the peace that has been achieved and strengthen domestic unity. The War of Resistance requires the mobilization of the people. Without democracy and freedom, there is no way to carry out mobilization. Without consolidated peace and unity, and without the mobilization of the people, the future of the War of Resistance will follow in the footsteps of Abyssinia. Abyssinia failed mainly because the deep contradictions of the feudal system could not consolidate internal unity and could not mobilize the enthusiasm of the people. The establishment of a genuine and solid anti-Japanese national united front in China and the completion of its tasks are impossible without democracy.

VIII. China must immediately begin to implement the following two aspects of democratic reform.

The first aspect is to transform the one-party, one-class dictatorial and autocratic political system into a democratic political system of cooperation between all parties, factions, and classes. In this regard, we should start with changing the undemocratic methods of electing and convening the National Assembly, such as democratic elections and guaranteeing the freedom of the assembly, until the formulation of a genuine democratic constitution, the convening of a genuine democratic parliament, the election of a genuine democratic government, and the implementation of genuine democratic policies. Only in this way can we truly consolidate domestic peace, eliminate domestic opposition, and strengthen domestic unity, so as to unite and resist foreign enemies.

It is possible that before we complete the reform, the Japanese imperialist offensive will arrive. Therefore, in order to be able to resist the Japanese offensive at any time and thoroughly defeat it, we must carry out reforms quickly and prepare to advance to the degree of thorough reform in the process of the War of Resistance. The people of the whole country and the patriotic elements of all parties must abandon their past indifference to the issues of the National Assembly and the drafting of the constitution, and concentrate their efforts on this concrete National Assembly movement and constitutional movement with national defense significance! We must severely criticize, promote, and urge the ruling Kuomintang to abandon its one-party, one-class, undemocratic restrictions and adopt the opinions of the people. In the next few months, the whole country must launch a broad democratic movement, and the current goal of this movement is to complete the National Assembly and the constitution.

The second aspect is the people's freedom of speech, publication, and assembly. Without this freedom, it will not be possible to realize the democratic reform of the political system, and it will not be possible to mobilize the people to enter the War of Resistance and achieve the victory of defending the motherland and recovering lost territories. In the next few months, the democratic movement of the people of the whole country must strive to complete this task to a minimum extent, including the release of political prisoners, the lifting of the ban on political parties, and so on.

Democratic reform of the political system and the people's freedom of rights are an important part of the program of the anti-Japanese national united front, and at the same time, they are the necessary conditions for the anti-Japanese national united front to obtain a genuine and solid establishment.

IX. Our enemies, Japanese imperialism, Chinese traitors, pro-Japanese factions, and Trotskyites, are doing everything in their power to undermine every step we take towards China's peaceful unity, democratic freedom, and resistance to Japan. When we were striving for peaceful unity in the past, they tried their best to carry out civil war and division. When we are now and in the near future striving for democratic freedom, they will undoubtedly come to undermine our overall goal, which is to make our task of defending the motherland unsuccessful and to achieve their goal of destroying China through aggression. In the current struggle for democratic freedom, we must not only make efforts to publicize, agitate, and criticize the Kuomintang diehards and the backward elements of the people, but also expose and resolutely struggle against the conspiracies of Japanese imperialism and the pro-Japanese factions and Trotskyites who serve as running dogs of Japanese aggression against China.

X. For the sake of peace, democracy, and resistance to Japan, and for the sake of establishing an anti-Japanese national united front, the Chinese Communist Party guaranteed the following four items to the Kuomintang in its telegram to the Third Plenary Session of the Kuomintang: 1. The Soviet government will be reorganized into a special zone government of the Republic of China, and the Red Army will be reorganized into the National Revolutionary Army, under the guidance of the Nanjing Central Government and the Military Commission; 2. A thorough democratic system will be implemented in the Soviet area; 3. The policy of overthrowing the Kuomintang by force will be stopped; 4. The confiscation of landlords' land will be stopped. These guarantees are necessary and permissible, because only in this way can we unite and jointly resist the enemy, based on the changes in the political weight of national and domestic contradictions and the necessary change in the state of opposition between the two domestic regimes. This is a concession with principles and conditions, and we are using this concession to exchange for the peace, democracy, and resistance to Japan that the entire nation needs. However, the concession is limited. The preservation of the Communist Party's leadership in the Soviet area and the Red Army, and the preservation of the Communist Party's independence and freedom of criticism in the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, are the limits of the concession, and exceeding this limit is not permissible. The concession is a concession between the two parties. The Kuomintang abandons its policy of civil war, dictatorship, and non-resistance, and the Communist Party abandons its policy of opposition between the two regimes. We use the latter to exchange for the former, and jointly strive for national salvation. If it is said that this is the Communist Party's surrender, that is either absurd or malicious slander.

XI. Does the Communist Party agree with the Three People's Principles? Our answer is: yes. The Three People's Principles have their historical changes. Dr. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary Three People's Principles once gained the belief of the people and launched the victorious Great Revolution of 1924-1927 because of cooperation with the Communist Party and resolute implementation. It also led to the failure of the revolution and plunged the nation into a dangerous situation because of the exclusion of the Communist Party, the purge movement, and the implementation of the opposite policy. Now that the national crisis is extremely serious, the Kuomintang can no longer rule unchanged, and the people of the whole country and the patriotic elements of the Kuomintang have an urgent demand for cooperation between the two parties. Therefore, it is completely in line with the historical requirements of the Chinese revolution to reorganize the spirit of the Three People's Principles, to resolutely implement the Three People's Principles of national independence and liberation externally, democratic freedom internally, and the promotion of the people's happiness, and to have the two parties cooperate again and lead the people to resolutely implement them, and this should be clearly recognized by every Communist Party member. The Communist Party will never abandon its ideals of socialism and communism. They will reach the stage of socialism and communism through the stage of bourgeois democratic revolution. The Communist Party has its own program and policies. Its program is socialism and communism, which is different from the Three People's Principles. Its democratic revolutionary policies are also more thorough than those of any other party in the country. However, the program of the Three People's Principles announced by the Kuomintang's First and Second National Congresses is basically not in conflict with us. Therefore, we not only do not reject the Three People's Principles, but are willing to resolutely implement the Three People's Principles, and we also ask the Kuomintang to implement the Three People's Principles with us, and we call on the people of the whole country to implement the Three People's Principles, so that the Communist Party, the Kuomintang, and the people of the whole country can jointly strive for the three major goals of national independence, democratic freedom, and the people's happiness.

(XII) Was our past slogan of the Soviet wrong? It was not wrong. Since the bourgeoisie withdrew from the revolution and sided with imperialism and feudal forces, becoming enemies of the people, the revolutionary task was not completed and was betrayed, then only the proletariat, the peasantry, and the petty bourgeoisie remained in the revolutionary ranks, only the Communist Party remained as the revolutionary party, and the revolutionary responsibility had to fall on the shoulders of the Communist Party. Only the Communist Party could hold high the banner of revolution, maintain the revolutionary tradition, put forward the slogan of striving for a worker-peasant democratic republic, and struggle hard for it for many years. The worker-peasant republic is not contrary to the task of the bourgeois democratic revolution, but is resolutely implementing the task of the bourgeois democratic revolution. None of our policies in actual struggle are unsuitable for this task. Our policies, including the confiscation of landlords' land and the implementation of the eight-hour work system, have not exceeded the scope of the capitalist system of private property, and have not implemented socialism. What are the components included in the new democratic republic? It includes the proletariat, the peasantry, the petty bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie, and all domestic elements who agree with the national and democratic revolution, and it is an alliance of these classes for the national and democratic revolution. The characteristic here is that because the bourgeoisie has the possibility of rejoining the revolution in today's environment, the proletarian party should not reject them, but should actively recruit them, and restore the alliance for the advancement of the Chinese revolution. In order to eliminate domestic armed opposition, the Communist Party is willing to stop using the policy of confiscating landlords' land by force, and is prepared to solve the land problem in the process of the democratic republic through legislation and other appropriate methods. Whether Chinese land belongs to Japanese imperialism or to the Chinese people is the first problem to be solved. It is necessary to solve the peasants' land problem under the major premise of defending China, and to transition from the method of confiscation by riot to a new and appropriate method. The slogan of the Soviet, its past proposal and today's abandonment, are both correct.

XIII. In order to establish a national united front to jointly resist the enemy, certain domestic contradictions must be appropriately resolved, and the principle is to be conducive to strengthening and expanding the anti-Japanese national united front, rather than weakening or shrinking it. In the stage of democratic revolution, domestic contradictions and struggles between classes, parties, and groups are unavoidable, but they can and should stop those parts that are not conducive to uniting against the enemy (domestic war, party opposition, local separatism, one-sided feudal political and economic oppression, one-sided riot policies and economic conditions that are not conducive to resisting Japan, etc.), and preserve those parts that are conducive to uniting against the enemy (freedom of criticism, party independence, improvement of the people's political and economic conditions, etc.).

(XIV) Under the task of struggling for the anti-Japanese national united front and a unified democratic republic, the tasks of the Red Army and the Soviet are: 1. To elevate the Red Army to a new stage suitable for the anti-Japanese national revolutionary war, reorganize it into the National Revolutionary Army, and improve its military, political, and cultural education, creating a model corps in the national revolutionary war. 2. To reorganize the Soviet area into a component of the unified democratic republic, implement a new democratic system, reorganize the security forces, eliminate traitors and saboteurs, and create a model area for resisting Japan and democracy. 3. To implement planned economic construction in this area, and restore and improve the people's livelihood. 4. To implement planned cultural construction.

XV. Our Leadership Responsibility

In a certain historical environment, the Chinese bourgeoisie can participate in the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggle. However, from another point of view, the national bourgeoisie, due to its economic and political weakness, will waver and betray in another historical environment. This law has been proven in Chinese history. Therefore, history has determined that the task of China's anti-imperialist and semi-feudal bourgeois democratic revolution cannot be achieved under the leadership of the bourgeoisie, but must be achieved under the leadership of the proletariat. And only the proletariat's persistence and thoroughness in the democratic revolution can overcome the bourgeoisie's inherent wavering and incompleteness, and prevent the revolution from being aborted. Should the proletariat follow the bourgeoisie, or should the bourgeoisie follow the proletariat? This question of the leadership responsibility of the Chinese revolution is the key to the success or failure of the revolution. The experience of 1925-1927 proved how the revolution advanced when the bourgeoisie followed the political leadership of the proletariat, and how the revolution failed when the proletariat, through the proletarian party, became the tail of the bourgeoisie. This historical lesson should not be repeated today. Without the political leadership of the proletariat and its party, the anti-Japanese national united front cannot be established, the goals of peace, democracy, and resistance to Japan cannot be achieved, the motherland cannot be defended, and a unified democratic republic cannot be successful. Today, the bourgeoisie is even more passive and conservative, and the fact that it has long expressed its unwillingness to accept the anti-Japanese national united front initiated by the proletarian party is evidence of this. Therefore, this increases the political leadership responsibility of the proletariat and its party. The Communist Party has an unshirkable and unavoidable duty to serve as the general staff of the anti-Japanese national salvation.

XVI. How does the proletariat, through its party, realize political leadership over all strata of the country? First, it puts forward basic political slogans based on the course of historical development. In order to realize these slogans, it puts forward mobilization slogans for each stage of development and each major event. For example, we put forward the basic slogans of "Anti-Japanese National United Front" and "Unified Democratic Republic," and also put forward the slogans of "Stop the Civil War," "Strive for Democracy," and "Realize the War of Resistance" as the general goals and directions of national action. Without such goals and directions, there is no such thing as political leadership. Second, when acting nationally according to these goals and specific directions, the proletariat, as its vanguard, the Communist Party, should arouse its infinite enthusiasm and loyalty, and become a model for implementing these directions. When struggling for all the tasks of the anti-Japanese national united front and the democratic republic, Communist Party members should be the most far-sighted, the most sacrificial, the most steadfast, and the most able to humbly understand the situation, gain the love of the masses, and rely on the majority of the masses. Third, without losing the principle of definite political goals, establish appropriate relations with allies, and develop and consolidate this alliance. Fourth, the development of the Communist Party's ranks, the unity of thought, and the strictness of discipline. The Communist Party's political leadership over the whole country is carried out by realizing the above conditions. These conditions are the foundation for guaranteeing its political leadership, and they enable the revolution to advance to a thorough victory without being sacrificed by the wavering of allies.

XVII. After the realization of peace and the establishment of cooperation between the two parties, the past methods of struggle, organizational methods, and working methods of opposition between the two regimes should all be transformed to implement the anti-Japanese national united front and the democratic republic. The armed should be transformed to the peaceful, the illegal to the legal, and the separate to the cooperative with allies. It is not easy to carry out a complete transformation from such two fundamentally different things, but it must be learned. Training cadres becomes a major link.

XVIII. Regarding the nature and future of the democratic republic, many comrades have raised this question. Our answer can only be simple. The two articles, the first and the second, can only be done well if the first is done well. Resolutely leading the democratic revolution is a condition for striving for the victory of socialism. We are fighting for socialism, which is different from any revolutionary Three People's Principles. Today's efforts are towards a clear and great goal. Losing this great goal is not a Communist Party member. However, relaxing today's efforts is also not a Communist Party member. We are revolutionaries of transformation, advocating that the democratic revolution should be transformed in the direction of socialism. There will be several stages of development in the democratic revolution, all under the slogan of the democratic republic. From the bourgeoisie occupying the dominant position to the proletariat occupying the dominant position, this is a long process of struggle, a process of striving for leadership, relying on the Communist Party's improvement of the proletariat's awareness and organizational level, and the improvement of the organizational level of the peasantry and the petty bourgeoisie. The proletariat's firm ally is the peasantry, followed by the petty bourgeoisie. The one who competes with us for leadership is the bourgeoisie. Overcoming the bourgeoisie's wavering and incompleteness relies on the strength of the masses and correct policies. Otherwise, the revolution will be transformed, the leadership will be transformed, and the revolution will be transformed. The transformation of the class nature of the revolution is determined by the strength of the class. We oppose tailism, but we also oppose adventurism and impatience. Because of the bourgeoisie's temporality, we should not abandon the bourgeoisie. To abandon the revolution of uniting the bourgeoisie (in semi-colonies) is surrenderism, which is the theory of Trotskyism, and we cannot agree with it. Today's revolution of uniting the bourgeoisie is precisely the necessary bridge to socialism.

XIX. The struggle against both closed-doorism and adventurism, and at the same time against tailism, is a necessary condition for carrying out the Party's tasks. The Party has serious historical traditions of closed-doorism, arrogance, sectarianism, and adventurism in the mass movement. This is a bad tendency that hinders the Party from establishing an anti-Japanese national united front and winning the majority of the masses. It is necessary to eliminate this tendency in the work of each specific task. Our slogan is to rely on the majority and take the overall situation into account. The revival of Chen Duxiu's tailism cannot be tolerated. This is a reflection of bourgeois reformism in the proletarian ranks. Lowering the Party's position, blurring the Party's image, and sacrificing the interests of workers and peasants to suit the requirements of bourgeois reformism will inevitably lead the revolution to failure. Our slogan is to implement resolute revolutionary policies and strive for the thorough victory of the bourgeois democratic revolution. In order to achieve the goal of opposing bad tendencies, it is necessary to improve the theoretical level of Marxism-Leninism in the whole Party. Only this theory is the compass that guides the Chinese revolution to victory.

Comrades! Regarding my report on the tasks of the anti-Japanese national united front in the current stage, after these few days of discussion, everyone has basically agreed, except for a few comrades who have raised different opinions. However, these different opinions are quite important, so my conclusion will first answer their questions, and then touch on some other issues.

Our Party has been fighting for domestic peace for almost two years. After the Third Plenary Session of the Kuomintang, we said that peace has been achieved, that the "stage of striving for peace" has passed, and that the new task is to "consolidate peace," and pointed out that this is related to "striving for democracy," and that striving for democracy is to consolidate peace. According to the views of several comrades, this view of ours cannot be established. Their conclusion must be the opposite, or wavering between the two. Because they said: "Japan has retreated, Nanjing is even more wavering, the national contradiction has declined, and the domestic contradiction has risen." Based on this estimate, of course there is no such thing as a new stage or a new task. The situation has returned to the old stage, or even worse. I think this view is wrong. When we say that peace has been achieved, we do not mean that peace has been consolidated. On the contrary, we say that it is not consolidated. Achieving peace and consolidating peace are two different things. It is possible for history to temporarily go backwards, and it is possible for peace to have twists and turns. The reason lies in the existence of Japanese imperialism and traitors and pro-Japanese factions. However, peace after the Xi'an Incident is a fact. This situation was promoted by many factors: Japan's basic policy of aggression, the Soviet Union, Britain, the United States, and France supporting peace, the pressure of the Chinese people, the Communist Party's peaceful policy in the Xi'an Incident and its policy of abolishing the opposition between the two regimes, the differentiation of the bourgeoisie, the differentiation of the Kuomintang, etc. It cannot be decided and overthrown by Chiang Kai-shek alone. To overthrow peace, one must fight against many forces, and one must be close to Japanese imperialism and pro-Japanese factions in order to succeed. There is no doubt that Japan and pro-Japanese factions are still attempting to undermine China's internal peace. Peace has not been consolidated precisely because of this. Under these circumstances, our conclusion is not to return to the slogan of "Stop the civil war" or "Strive for peace," but to move forward and point out the slogan of "Strive for democracy," because only in this way can we consolidate peace, and only in this way can we realize the War of Resistance. Why put forward the slogan of "Consolidate peace," "Strive for democracy," and "Realize the War of Resistance" as a trinity? It is in order to push our revolutionary wheel forward, and it is because the situation has already allowed us to move forward. If we deny the new stage and the new task, deny the Kuomintang's "beginning of transformation," and the logical conclusion will also have to deny the achievements of all the forces that have been striving for peace for the past year and a half, then it is to stop oneself in the old position and not move forward a single step. Why make such an inappropriate estimate? The reason is that they do not start from the fundamental point of view, but start from many local and temporary phenomena: Sato diplomacy, the Suzhou trial, the suppression of strikes, the eastward transfer of the Northeast Army, Yang Hucheng going abroad, etc., forming a bleak picture. We say that the Kuomintang has begun to transform, but at the same time we say that the Kuomintang has not completely transformed. The Kuomintang's ten years of reactionary policies cannot be completely transformed without more and greater efforts from our people. Many so-called "left-leaning" people usually scold the Kuomintang. During the Xi'an Incident, they advocated killing Chiang and "fighting out of Tongguan." When peace was just realized and they discovered the Suzhou trial and other things, they asked in surprise: "Why did Chiang Kai-shek do this again?" These people should know that neither Communist Party members nor Chiang Kai-shek are gods, and they are not isolated individuals, but members of a party and a class. The Communist Party has the ability to gradually push the revolution forward, but it does not have the ability to remove all the bad things in the country in one morning. Chiang Kai-shek or the Kuomintang has begun their transformation, but without greater efforts from the people of the whole country, they will never be able to wash away their ten years of filth in one morning. We say that the direction of the movement is towards peace and resistance to Japan, but it does not mean that the old poison of internal dictatorship and non-resistance can be completely eliminated without effort. The old poison, the filth, certain twists and turns in the revolutionary process, and the possible return path can only be overcome through struggle and effort, and it requires long-term struggle and effort.

"They are determined to undermine us, they are always trying to undermine us." I fully acknowledge the correctness of this estimate. Not estimating this is tantamount to sleeping. But the question is whether the method of undermining has changed? I think it has changed. From a war policy to a reform policy, from a hard policy to a soft policy, from a military policy to a political policy. Why is there this change? The bourgeoisie has to find allies with the proletariat in the face of Japanese imperialism, just as we find allies with the bourgeoisie. The observation of the problem should start from this point. Internationally, the feud between France and the Soviet Union has turned into an alliance. The same is true. Our task must also change from military to political. We do not need conspiracy and trickery. Our goal is to unite the bourgeoisie and all Kuomintang members who sympathize with the anti-Japanese elements to jointly defeat Japanese imperialism.

The Question of Democracy

"Emphasizing democracy is wrong. We should only emphasize resistance to Japan. Without direct action against Japan, there can be no democratic movement. Most people only want resistance to Japan and do not want democracy. Another November 9th Incident is right." Let me first ask a question: In the past stage (from November 9th to the Third Plenary Session), did most people only want resistance to Japan and did not want peace? Was it wrong to emphasize peace in the past? Without direct action against Japan, there can be no peace movement? The Xi'an Incident and the Third Plenary Session were right after the end of the Suiyuan War. Now there is no Suiyuan War or November 9th Incident. Everyone knows that they want resistance to Japan and peace. Without peace, there can be no resistance to Japan. Peace is a condition for resistance to Japan. All direct and indirect anti-Japanese actions in the previous stage (from November 9th to the Third Plenary Session) revolved around striving for peace. Peace was the center of the previous stage. The anti-Japanese movement was the most essential thing in the previous stage. For the task of resisting Japan, democracy is also the most essential thing in the new stage. To strive for democracy is to strive for resistance to Japan. Resistance to Japan and democracy are mutually conditional, just like resistance to Japan and peace, and democracy and peace are mutually conditional. Democracy is the guarantee of resistance to Japan, and resistance to Japan can provide favorable conditions for the development of the democratic movement. In the new stage, we hope that there will be many direct and indirect anti-Japanese struggles. These will promote the War of Resistance against Japan and will also greatly help the democratic movement. However, the revolutionary task that history has given us, the central and essential thing, is to strive for democracy. Is "democracy and people's rights" wrong? I think it is not wrong.

"Japan has retreated, Britain is moving towards balance with Japan, and Nanjing is even more wavering." This is an inappropriate worry that does not conform to the laws of historical development. If Japan fundamentally retreats due to domestic revolution, this will help the Chinese revolution, which is what we hope for, and it is the beginning of the collapse of the world's aggressive front. Why worry? However, it is not yet the case. Sato's diplomacy is a preparation for a major war, and a major war is in front of us. Britain's wavering policy can only lead to no results. This is determined by the different interests of Britain and aggression. If Nanjing is wavering for a long time, it will become an enemy of the people of the whole country, which is not allowed by Nanjing's interests. Temporary retreat phenomena cannot replace the general laws of history. Therefore, we cannot deny the new stage, nor can we deny the proposal of the democratic task. Moreover, no matter what the situation, the slogan of democracy can adapt. Democracy is lacking rather than superfluous for the Chinese people, which is clear to everyone. What's more, the actual situation has shown that pointing out the new stage and proposing the democratic task is a step closer to the War of Resistance. The situation has already advanced. Don't pull it backwards.

"Why emphasize the National Assembly?" Because it is something that may involve all aspects of life, because it is a bridge from dictatorship to democracy, because it has national defense significance, and because it is legal. Recovering eastern Hebei and northern Chahar, opposing smuggling, opposing economic encroachment, etc., as proposed by the comrades, are all very correct, but this does not contradict the democratic task and the National Assembly at all. The two are precisely mutually completing each other, but the central thing is the National Assembly and the people's freedom. Daily anti-Japanese struggles and people's livelihood struggles should be coordinated with the democratic movement. This is completely correct, and there is no dispute at all. But in the current stage, the central and essential thing is democracy and freedom.

The Question of the Revolutionary Future

Several comrades have raised this question. My answer can only be simple. The two articles, the first and the second, can only be done well if the first is done well. Resolutely leading the democratic revolution is a condition for striving for the victory of socialism. We are fighting for socialism, which is different from any revolutionary Three People's Principles. Today's efforts are towards a clear and great goal. Losing this great goal is not a Communist Party member. However, relaxing today's efforts is also not a Communist Party member. We are revolutionaries of transformation, advocating that the democratic revolution should be transformed in the direction of socialism. There will be several stages of development in the democratic revolution, all under the slogan of the democratic republic. From the bourgeoisie occupying the dominant position to the proletariat occupying the dominant position, this is a long process of struggle, a process of striving for leadership, relying on the Communist Party's improvement of the proletariat's awareness and organizational level, and the improvement of the organizational level of the peasantry and the petty bourgeoisie. The proletariat's firm ally is the peasantry, followed by the petty bourgeoisie. The one who competes with us for leadership is the bourgeoisie. Overcoming the bourgeoisie's wavering and

--- Notes

(I) The first stage of the new period of the Chinese revolution, which began on November 9, 1935, ended with the Third Plenary Session of the Kuomintang in February 1937. The major events in this stage were the national salvation movements in student circles, cultural circles, and public opinion circles, the Red Army's entry into the Northwest, the widespread propaganda and organizational work of the Communist Party's anti-Japanese national united front policy, the anti-Japanese strikes in Shanghai and Qingdao, the British policy of tending towards relative toughness towards Japan, the Two Guangxi Incident, the Suiyuan War and the support-Suiyuan movement, Nanjing's relatively tough attitude in Sino-Japanese negotiations, the Xi'an Incident, and finally the Third Plenary Session of the Kuomintang in Nanjing. All these events revolved around the fundamental contradiction between China and Japan, and were directly centered on the historical demand of establishing an anti-Japanese national united front. The basic task of the revolution in this stage was to strive for domestic peace and eliminate domestic opposition, so as to unite and jointly resist the enemy. The Party put forward the correct mobilization slogan in this stage, which was "Stop the civil war and unite to resist Japan." This task has been basically completed, which constitutes the first necessary condition for the actual formation of the anti-Japanese national united front.


(II) The current stage is the second stage of the new period of the Chinese revolution, that is, the transitional stage from the Third Plenary Session of the Kuomintang to the nationwide anti-Japanese armed resistance. If the main task of the previous stage was to strive for peace, then the main task of this stage is to strive for democracy. If peace was the first necessary condition for the united front in the previous stage, then the achievement of democracy in this stage will constitute the first necessary condition for the establishment of the national united front. While striving to establish a genuine and solid anti-Japanese national united front for the overall goal of resisting Japan and saving the nation, and only when it is achieved can the task of defending the motherland be achieved, it must be known that without domestic peace, it is certainly impossible, and without domestic democracy, it is also impossible. Therefore, striving for democracy is the central link of the revolutionary task in the current stage of development. If we do not see the importance of the democratic task and reduce our efforts to strive for democracy, we will not be able to achieve the establishment of a genuine and solid anti-Japanese national united front, the realization of the War of Resistance, and the achievement of a thorough victory to defend China and recover lost territories, which will become impossible.