Speech at the Symposium of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee[1]

(August 27, 1937)

The political and organizational level of the proletariat is higher than that of the bourgeoisie, therefore the united front is proposed by the proletariat. Under the conditions of joint resistance to Japan, it is necessary to link the national revolution with the social revolution. In the long-term process of the united front, the Kuomintang is systematically influencing and drawing in the Communist Party and the Red Army from all sides. We must heighten our political vigilance and ensure that the peasantry and the petty bourgeoisie follow our Party. There are some within the Kuomintang who waver between the two parties, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party; this is advantageous for us in drawing in the Kuomintang, and the conditions for the Communist Party to draw in the Kuomintang exist. The question of the two parties drawing in each other must be resolved through struggle. After the united front succeeds, the main danger will be Right opportunism, and attention must be paid to strengthening education within the Party.

[1] On August 27, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a symposium in Luochuan, at which Mao Zedong delivered an important speech. This is a part of that speech.