THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WAR OF
RESISTANCE AND FOREIGN AID
—PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
OF ON PROTRACTED WAR
(January 20, 1939)


Friends in Shanghai are translating my On Protracted War into English,
news that certainly pleases me, because China's great War of Resistance is a
matter of concern not only to China and the East, but also to the whole world.
The peoples of democratic countries, such as Britain, the United States and
France, including progressives in all walks of life, have every sympathy for
China's War of Resistance and oppose the Japanese imperialists' invasion of
China; only some diehard cabals oppose China's fighting the war. Some of
these diehards are just obstinate by nature, having taken the side of the
Japanese warlords from the very beginning; others are too pessimistic to
support China, misunderstanding the inexorable law that governs China's War
of Resistance, a law under which Japan is doomed to lose and China is bound
to win after an arduous course. There are probably many such people. It is, of
course, my hope that my book may clarify the truth of this matter for them.


As for the majority who sympathize with China's War of Resistance, perhaps
some of them are still similarly unclear about the true state of the war, and
although they sympathize with us, they feel depressed. Such depression
mingled with sympathy particularly calls for our careful explanation. This
little book of mine, written in May 1938, is meant to last for a long time, as
its arguments cover the whole span of the Sino-Japanese war. As for the
credibility of the arguments in the book, they have been proved true by all
our past experiences during the War of Resistance and will be proved to be so
again by future experience.

Since the fall of Wuhan and Guangzhou the war
has been proceeding toward a new stage—favorable to China but not to Japan
—a stage that can be regarded as a stalemate between the enemy and us. A
new situation is about to appear, in which the enemy is forced to end its
strategic offensive and shift to strategic consolidation, while we, having
persisted in resistance and grown in strength, conclude our strategic retreat
(that is, of the main force, not the guerrillas) and move to a strategic parity.


In this new stage our one and only task is to prepare for our counteroffensive,
a time-consuming preparation perhaps, but to this we are to devote all our
courage and energy, for we will and assuredly can throw the Japanese
imperialists out of China.

In the great War of Resistance, China must basically
rely on herself to defeat the enemy, and there is no doubt that the forces in
China, now that they are called into action, will not only become invincible,
but also subdue the enemy and drive him away.

In the meantime, however,
we need the assistance of foreign aid. Our enemy is the whole world's enemy,
China's War of Resistance is the world's war of resistance. The view of an
isolated war has been proved wrong by history.

There are still some people in
democratic countries, such as Britain and the United States, who hold an
isolationist view. They do not know that Britain, the United States and other
countries would not be able to rest in peace if China were defeated. Their
wrong view is most inappropriate.

At present the hard truth is that aiding
China means aiding themselves. So I hope this book will evoke some sympathy
in English-speaking countries, for both the interests of China and the interests
of the whole world.

China is waging the war with much difficulty, yet the
flames of war are threatening these world powers, so not a single country is
able to stand clear of them.

We agree to President Roosevelt's call to safeguard
democracy, but firmly oppose Chamberlain's policy of concessions to the
fascist countries of the West. Toward Japan, too. Chamberlain has so far
shown a cowardly attitude.

I hope the citizens of Britain and the United States
will stir themselves and urge their governments to adopt a new policy against
the war of aggression, for the sake of both China and their own countries.
(From Selected Writings of Mao Zedong, Vol. II)