Mass Work Is the Decisive Condition for Overcoming the Danger of Capitulation[1]

(November 1, 1939)

The Party has grown considerably and maintains good ties with the masses, yet there also exists within the Party the phenomenon of detachment from the masses. Many Communists do not realize that detachment from the masses is a kind of crime. The decision must elucidate the following: 1. The Party must rely further on the masses. At present, overcoming the danger of capitulation requires even more the mobilization of the masses. 2. In the Party’s mass work in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, it is necessary to unite with left-wing figures of the Kuomintang, proceed step by step, and have long-term and far-reaching plans. The quality of mass work should be taken as the main condition for judging the quality of the Party’s work. 3. In the mass work in areas where the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army operate, it is necessary to implement the reduction of rent and interest rates, reduce taxes, and abolish usury; mass organizations must adhere to the principles of taking care of the overwhelming majority and promoting democracy; the political commissars and political organs of the army must assist in local mass work. 4. Mass work is the decisive condition for overcoming the danger of capitulation.

--- Notes

[1] On November 1, 1939, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China convened a meeting to discuss and adopt the "Central Committee’s Decision on Deepening Mass Work." This is part of Mao Zedong’s remarks during the discussion of this issue.