The Situation and Tasks in the Stage of
Mutual Support¹

Speech delivered at a mass rally in Yan'an to denounce Wang
[Jingwei] and support Chiang [Kaishek]

(February 1, 1940)

Comrades, why have we, people from all walks of life in Yan'an, come here today
to hold a big meeting? To denounce Wang [Jingwei] and support Chiang [Kaishek]²
and to fight Japan and save the country.³ Recently Wang Jingwei signed a treaty
with Japan that totally sells out China. We had been fighting Japan for two and a
half years and had achieved a breakthrough. The enemy went crazy and did a deal
with Wang Jingwei, who sold out the country. Now the situation is different in
several ways, and now we have several new tasks, which are what I want to talk
about today. The weather is so cold today, yet so many people are here. We are not
afraid of the cold, we want to clear up a number of things.

I. Japan wants to turn China into a colony, and Wang Jingwei, the representative
of China's big bourgeoisie, has knelt down before Japan

We Communists have repeatedly pointed out that it is the fixed policy of Japanese
imperialism to destroy China. No matter what cabinet changes there may be in
Japan, its basic policy of destroying China's independence and turning China into
a colony will definitely not change, because if this policy were to change, then
Japan's militarist capitalist government would fall. Frightened out of his wits by
this fact, Wang Jingwei, the political representative of the pro-Japanese faction of
the Chinese big bourgeoisie, grovels on both knees before his Japanese masters, ⁴ signs the traitorous Japan-Wang treaty that sells out the whole of China to Japanese imperialism. He also wants to set up a puppet government, in opposition to
the anti-Japanese government. He also wants to set up a puppet army, in opposition to the anti-Japanese army. He also has a puppet Guomindang, in opposition
to the anti-Japanese Guomindang. His policy has three main principles: pro-Japanese, anti-Chiang, and anti-Communist. Pro-Japanese means kneeling down before the Japanese masters and giving the Chinese people, from the hair on their
heads to the soles of their feet, to the Japanese masters. Recently he has said little
about opposing Chiang and is said to have shifted to "alliance with Chiang," in an
attempt to pull Mr. Chiang into the water. But Mr. Chiang sees through it, realizing
that this is simply a Japanese ruse to stop the anti-Japanese war, to split the
Guomindang, to overthrow Mr. Chiang. Mr. Chiang is an intelligent man who
understands all this. In the past he sharply rejected the [Wang] Jingwei declaration, and now he has also sharply rejected the Japan-Wang agreement and, moreover, has called upon the popular masses to fight to the end against Japan, advising
those who harbor illusions of peace to hurry up and look around. As for anticommunism, that is one plot within the plot of the Japanese masters and this fellow
Wang Jingwei.⁵ They know that within the borders of China it is the Communist
Party that is the most thorough anti-Japanese force and that cooperation between
the Guomindang and the Communist Party is the fundamental condition⁶ for the
resistance against Japan, so they are making every effort to split the Guomindang-Communist cooperation, to separate the two parties, or better yet, to get the two
parties to fight each other. Thus they have used a small faction of diehards within
the Guomindang to create disturbances everywhere. In Hunan they perpetrated
the Pingjiang massacre; in Henan they perpetrated the Queshan massacre; in Shanxi
the old army attacked the new army; in Hebei Zhang Yinwu attacked the Eighth
Route Army; in Shandong Qin Qirong attacked the guerrillas; in eastern Hubei
Cheng Ruhuai massacred six hundred⁸ Communists; and in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, the diehards are trying to set up a spy network from within,
and a "blockade" from without, and are preparing an armed attack. In addition,
they are manufacturing thousands of pieces of intelligence to deceive Mr. Chiang,
have arrested a large number of young people, and have put them in concentration
camps. They have also hired metaphysics wizards such as Zhang Junmai and others to make the proposal⁹ to eliminate the Communist Party, the border region,¹⁰ the Eighth Route Army, and the New Fourth Army. They have hired Trotskyites
such as Ye Qing and others to write articles roundly condemning the Communist
Party. All such rubbish has¹¹ the sole purpose of splitting the unity of the war of
resistance and turning the Chinese people into slaves without a country. All of this,
in a word, is the plot of the Japanese and of those among the Chinese big bourgeoisie who are capitulationists or are preparing to join the capitulationists and to
destroy China. We are holding this great meeting today precisely to oppose this
plot, to expose this plot. This meeting of ours is called a denounce-Wang support-Chiang meeting, which shows what our orientation is. We have no other orientation than that of opposing the treasonous capitulation of Wang Jingwei and of
supporting Mr. Chiang to fight Japan to the end.

II. Strive to turn the situation around and oppose pessimism and despair

Here I want to say a little more about the situation as it is now. Everyone understands that the Wang Jingwei traitors are in cahoots with the diehard faction,
working together from the inside and the outside to create pandemonium. This
situation has confused¹² large numbers of people within the country who think that
the times can only go against us, that the future cannot be turned around for the
better.¹³ I believe that such a view is totally wrong. The Central Committee of our
Communist Party has from the beginning pointed out that¹⁴ although both the
destruction and the revival of the state, both a future that turns against us and a
future that turns for the better, exist and are possibilities, domestic conditions and
international conditions all determine that China can revive, that the times can
turn around for the better. This is definitely not a time for sad laments or cries of
despair. I wrote a small volume¹⁵ last June entitled "On Protracted War," and last
November I wrote another small volume entitled "On the New Stage," both of
which adamantly rejected the theory of national destruction and the theory of a
quick victory. Regarding the Guomindang, I have stated firmly that there is a bright
future for most of its members, that it is only a small portion of them for whom the
future is black. These are the views of the Central Committee of the Communist

Party; they are not just my personal views. They are also the views of the great
majority of the people of the entire nation; they are not the views of just the Communist Party. Just look at how the great majority of the people throughout the
nation have welcomed the proposals of the Communist Party and you will understand. But not everyone agrees with our views. There are some who do not understand the bigger picture. It is they who do not agree with us. When we came out
with these two pamphlets, there were quite a few people who were skeptical of
these views of ours. There are some who are still skeptical of our views. This is
specially because the diehard faction of the Guomindang everywhere stirs up provocative strange things such as "the means for dealing with the activities of other
parties," "the means for dealing with the problem of other parties," "the plan for
dealing effectively with the problem of other parties," which, added to the fact that
an atmosphere of domestic peace is brewing everywhere, really confuse a lot of
people. They do not know how to distinguish the minority from the majority, and
they do not know that, in dealing with the minority of bad eggs, we must use a
policy different from that used to deal with the majority of anti-Japanese elements.
There is no question but that, with regard to those conscienceless scoundrels who
had the audacity to shoot from behind at the Eighth Route Army and the New
Fourth Army, to perpetrate the Pingjiang and Queshan massacres, to disrupt the
border areas, and to attack progressive armies, progressive organizations, and progressive individuals, these scoundrels must not be tolerated but must be dealt counterblows; any concession to them is out of the question. Otherwise, unity will be
broken, resistance against Japan will fail, and China will perish. For such scoundrels have become so utterly devoid of conscience that they are even creating
friction, perpetrating massacres, and causing splits at a time when our national
enemy has penetrated deep into our territory and the nation and its people face a
life-and-death crisis. Whatever they may think subjectively, their actions actually
help the enemy¹⁶ and Wang Jingwei, they are actually subverting the national
policy of a unified War of Resistance, serving as good friends to the Chinese traitors, and some of them have been undercover traitors from the very beginning.
Our failure to punish these people, and our failure to strike the necessary blows
against those who have dared to attack the progressive anti-Japanese forces, would
be a crime;¹⁷ it would be an encouragement to the Chinese traitors and collaborators; it would be disloyalty to the national War of Resistance and to our native
land. It would be a failure to maintain the united front firmly and an invitation to
the scoundrels to disrupt the united front. It would be a violation of the Party's
policy. But the sole reason for striking back at these capitulationists, anti-Communists, and diehards is to keep up the War of Resistance, to maintain unity and
sustain forward progress, all of which is to safeguard the anti-Japanese united
front. Therefore, toward the great majority of people who are loyal to resistance against Japan, toward all those who are not capitulators or anticommunists or diehards, and toward the great majority of the members of the Guomindang, we should
always express goodwill and do our utmost to unite with them and do our utmost
to respect them, and be willing to continue our long-term cooperation with them
so as to put the country in order. Whoever does otherwise is not staunchly defending the anti-Japanese united front and is also violating the policy of the Party.
Here are our Party's two great policies. On the one hand, to unite the progressive forces and all those loyal to the resistance against Japan-this is one policy.
On the other hand, to oppose all the heartless scoundrels, all capitulators, anti-Communists, and diehards--this is another policy. Such policies of our Party have
a single objective, which is to bring about a turn for the better so as to defeat
Japan, and this objective can be achieved.
Why is it that the object of striving to bring about a turn for the better in order
to defeat Japan can be achieved? We have many domestic and international conditions. Which conditions? The first one is the existence of the Eighth Route Army
and the New Fourth Army. Whoever wants to revolt, whoever wants to capitulate we first of all will not accept it, and we will definitely struggle with them to the end.
The second condition is the great majority of Guomindang members who also
oppose capitulating to Japan, who are in favor of the War of Resistance, and who
agree with unity and being progressive. This is true of everyone in the Guomindang
except the capitulationists, the anti-Communists, and the diehards. The third condition is the anti-Japanese progressive elements among the people of every party
and every faction throughout China, who also oppose capitulation, divisiveness,
and retreat. The three items above are the domestic conditions. The fourth condition is the fact that the Japanese plan to destroy China is extremely rigid. The
Japanese militarists and capitalists have laid out two paths before the Chinese
people and told us to choose one of them. These two paths are either the nation will
be destroyed or it will be liberated. There is no middle road. The fifth condition is
that today there is still no way to resolve the contradiction between Japan and
Britain, the United States, and France. Since the outbreak of the European Great
War, the situation has changed greatly. One of the important changes has been the
reduction in the position of Britain and France in the Far East. As a result, the Far
Eastern Munich conference that they wanted to convene very soon has become
impossible. Unavoidably this has greatly disappointed a certain number of people.
There were some who in the first half of last year were still suggesting that the
nine-nation treaty conference be used to solve the China question. With the outbreak of the European war, they had no choice but to change their tune to propose
that the China question could be solved only along with the European war. The
United States is still sitting on the mountain watching the tigers fight. It still wants
to make Japan and China fight it out. It is now holding the Pacific Conference.
Since Japan is not attending, the United States too is reluctant. Although the United
States has annulled the trade treaty with Japan, it still wants to do business, which
means giving Japan the resources to wage war that will allow it to fight well. At the
same time, it may still give China a tiny bit of material assistance. As I see it, the plan of the U.S. capitalists is to prepare to come forth and intervene sometime in
the second half of this year or next year and order Japan to cough up a portion of
the booty, in the name of the "Open Door Policy." The United States will share the
booty with Japan because the United States believes that Japan's economic strength
cannot hold out beyond the second half of this year or the first half of next year or
the second half of next year. This wishful thinking of the American capitalists is the
same as the wishful thinking of the Chinese pro-European pro-American faction
(which is different from the pro-Japanese big bourgeoisie). The two are singing a
duet. Thus the danger of a peaceful compromise has certainly not been eliminated,
and the fact that at present they are not singing the peace song is strictly temporary. In the future they will return to strumming the old melody again. But, just for
the present, there is a rather serious contradiction between Japan and Britain, the
United States, and France, and this is one condition that may turn the situation
around for China. The sixth condition is the strength of the Soviet Union and its
policy of actively assisting China. Everyone understands this quite clearly. Anyone
who thinks that he can bypass the Soviet Union and covertly go on to solve the
European question is definitely mistaken. Anyone who thinks that he can bypass
the Soviet Union and covertly go on to solve the Far Eastern question is also
mistaken. Even though there are still those wishful thinkers both in China and
abroad who are still thinking of ignoring the Soviet Union or are even thinking of
preparing to stir up some anti-Soviet magic, this is nothing but wishful fantasy.
This too is an important condition that may make it possible to turn the situation in
China around. Generally speaking, the three domestic conditions, the adherence
to an anti-Japanese stance by the Communist Party, the Guomindang, and the
people, and the three international conditions, the strength and rigidity of Japan,
the situation of Britain, the United States, and France, and the Soviet Union's
assistance to China-all these conditions are creating a tendency for the situation
to turn around for the better. The task of our Communist Party and of the people is
to concentrate all the anti-Japanese progressive forces to resist all the forces of
capitulation and retrogression and fight hard to turn the times around for the better,
to save the times from turning back. This is our basic policy. Seen in this way, what
basis is there for pessimism or despair? Clearly there is none. We are surely not
pessimistic or in despair. We are optimistic. We are not afraid of any attacks by the
capitulators, anti-Communists, or diehards. We definitely must smash them, and
we definitely can smash them. The national liberation of China is certain. China
definitely will not perish. The progress of China is certain, and retrogression is
only a temporary phenomenon.

III. Emphasize Unity and Progress, and Kick Out Japanese Imperialism

In our meeting today we also want to make clear to the whole Party and the whole
country 18 a certain stance, which is that we shall loudly proclaim that given the top against Japan, toward all those who are not capitulators or anticommunists or diehards, and toward the great majority of the members of the Guomindang, we should
always express goodwill and do our utmost to unite with them and do our utmost
to respect them, and be willing to continue our long-term cooperation with them
so as to put the country in order. Whoever does otherwise is not staunchly defending the anti-Japanese united front and is also violating the policy of the Party.
Here are our Party's two great policies. On the one hand, to unite the progressive forces and all those loyal to the resistance against Japan-this is one policy.
On the other hand, to oppose all the heartless scoundrels, all capitulators, anti-Communists, and diehards-this is another policy. Such policies of our Party have
a single objective, which is to bring about a turn for the better so as to defeat
Japan, and this objective can be achieved.
Why is it that the object of striving to bring about a turn for the better in order
to defeat Japan can be achieved? We have many domestic and international conditions. Which conditions? The first one is the existence of the Eighth Route Army
and the New Fourth Army. Whoever wants to revolt, whoever wants to capitulate we first of all will not accept it, and we will definitely struggle with them to the end.
The second condition is the great majority of Guomindang members who also
oppose capitulating to Japan, who are in favor of the War of Resistance, and who
agree with unity and being progressive. This is true of everyone in the Guomindang
except the capitulationists, the anti-Communists, and the diehards. The third condition is the anti-Japanese progressive elements among the people of every party
and every faction throughout China, who also oppose capitulation, divisiveness,
and retreat. The three items above are the domestic conditions. The fourth condition is the fact that the Japanese plan to destroy China is extremely rigid. The
Japanese militarists and capitalists have laid out two paths before the Chinese
people and told us to choose one of them. These two paths are either the nation will
be destroyed or it will be liberated. There is no middle road. The fifth condition is
that today there is still no way to resolve the contradiction between Japan and
Britain, the United States, and France. Since the outbreak of the European Great
War, the situation has changed greatly. One of the important changes has been the
reduction in the position of Britain and France in the Far East. As a result, the Far
Eastern Munich conference that they wanted to convene very soon has become
impossible. Unavoidably this has greatly disappointed a certain number of people.
There were some who in the first half of last year were still suggesting that the
nine-nation treaty conference be used to solve the China question. With the outbreak of the European war, they had no choice but to change their tune to propose
that the China question could be solved only along with the European war. The
United States is still sitting on the mountain watching the tigers fight. It still wants
to make Japan and China fight it out. It is now holding the Pacific Conference.
Since Japan is not attending, the United States too is reluctant. Although the United
States has annulled the trade treaty with Japan, it still wants to do business, which
means giving Japan the resources to wage war that will allow it to fight well. At the
same time, it may still give China a tiny bit of material assistance. As I see it, the
plan of the U.S. capitalists is to prepare to come forth and intervene sometime in
the second half of this year or next year and order Japan to cough up a portion of
the booty, in the name of the "Open Door Policy." The United States will share the
booty with Japan because the United States believes that Japan's economic strength
cannot hold out beyond the second half of this year or the first half of next year or
the second half of next year. This wishful thinking of the American capitalists is the
same as the wishful thinking of the Chinese pro-European pro-American faction
(which is different from the pro-Japanese big bourgeoisie). The two are singing a
duet. Thus the danger of a peaceful compromise has certainly not been eliminated,
and the fact that at present they are not singing the peace song is strictly temporary. In the future they will return to strumming the old melody again. But, just for
the present, there is a rather serious contradiction between Japan and Britain, the
United States, and France, and this is one condition that may turn the situation
around for China. The sixth condition is the strength of the Soviet Union and its
policy of actively assisting China. Everyone understands this quite clearly. Anyone
who thinks that he can bypass the Soviet Union and covertly go on to solve the
European question is definitely mistaken. Anyone who thinks that he can bypass
the Soviet Union and covertly go on to solve the Far Eastern question is also
mistaken. Even though there are still those wishful thinkers both in China and
abroad who are still thinking of ignoring the Soviet Union or are even thinking of
preparing to stir up some anti-Soviet magic, this is nothing but wishful fantasy.
This too is an important condition that may make it possible to turn the situation in
China around. Generally speaking, the three domestic conditions, the adherence
to an anti-Japanese stance by the Communist Party, the Guomindang, and the
people, and the three international conditions, the strength and rigidity of Japan,
the situation of Britain, the United States, and France, and the Soviet Union's
assistance to China-all these conditions are creating a tendency for the situation
to turn around for the better. The task of our Communist Party and of the people is
to concentrate all the anti-Japanese progressive forces to resist all the forces of
capitulation and retrogression and fight hard to turn the times around for the better,
to save the times from turning back. This is our basic policy. Seen in this way, what
basis is there for pessimism or despair? Clearly there is none. We are surely not
pessimistic or in despair. We are optimistic. We are not afraid of any attacks by the
capitulators, anti-Communists, or diehards. We definitely must smash them, and
we definitely can smash them. The national liberation of China is certain. China
definitely will not perish. The progress of China is certain, and retrogression is
only a temporary phenomenon.

III. Emphasize Unity and Progress, and Kick Out Japanese Imperialism

In our meeting today we also want to make clear to the whole Party and the whole
country 18 a certain stance, which is that we shall loudly proclaim that given the top priority of resistance against Japan, 19 unity also comes first, as does progress.20
Some people have emphasized the War of Resistance21 but are reluctant to emphasize unity and progress, and even fail to mention them. This is wrong. Without
genuine and firm unity, without rapid and solid progress, how can we persist in
resisting Japan; how can we overthrow Wang Jingwei; how can we drive out Japanese imperialism? That would be an utterly impossible pipe dream. The diehards22
within the Guomindang (I am talking about the diehards) emphasize unification,
but their so-called "unification" is a sort of fake unification, not a genuine unification. It is a sort of irrational, rather than a rational, unification. It is a unification in
form rather than in substance. Why is this? They clamor about unification, but
what they really want is to liquidate the Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army,
the New Fourth Army, and the border region23 on the pretext that China will not
be unified as long as the Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth
Army, and the border region exist. They want to turn everything over to the
Guomindang and not merely to continue their system of one-party dictatorship but
to extend this system. If this were the case, however, what unification would there
be? In truth, if in the past the Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army, the New
Fourth Army, and the Border Region24 had not stepped forth and sincerely advocated ending the civil war and uniting in resistance against Japan, there would
have been nobody to initiate the Anti-Japanese National United Front or to take
the lead in the peaceful settlement of the Xi'an Incident, and there would have
been no way at all to carry out resistance against Japan. And if today the Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the border areas25
did not step forth and sincerely sustain the resistance against Japan and combat the
dangerous tendencies toward capitulation, fragmentation, and retrogression, the
situation would be a terrible mess. The several hundred thousand troops of the
Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army are holding in check two-fifths of
the enemy forces, engaging in battle seventeen out of the forty [enemy] divisions.
Yet they have received only 730,000 yuan in pay. The Eighth Route Army got
600,000, the New Fourth Army 130,000, which makes a total of 730,000, but with
devaluation of the currency by 75 percent, each person received less than 1 yuan
per month, so why should they be disbanded? The border areas 26 are the most
progressive places in the country, they are democratic anti-Japanese base areas.

Here there are, first, no corrupt officials; second, no local bullies and bad gentry;
third, no gambling; fourth, no prostitutes; fifth, no concubines; sixth, no beggars;
seventh, no narrow self-seeking cliques; eighth, no atmosphere of dejection and
laxity; ninth, no professional friction-mongers; and tenth, no war profiteers. So
why should they be abolished? Only people with no shame could say something
so shameful. What right have the diehards to breathe a word against us? Comrades, it is not so. What needs to be done is not to abolish the border areas but,
rather, to have the whole country follow their example; not to disband the Eighth
Route Army and the New Fourth Army but, rather, to have the whole country
emulate them; not to liquidate the Communist Party but, rather, to have the whole
country follow its example; not to have progressives fall back to the level of those
who are backward but, rather, to have the latter catch up with the former. We
Communists are the staunchest advocates of unification. We initiated the united
front, we maintained the united front, and we put forward the slogan for a unified
democratic republic. Who else could have proposed all this? Who else could have
put all this into effect? Who else would accept pay of only 5 yuan [a month]? Who
else could create such a clean, incorruptible government? There is unification and
unification. The capitulationists have their idea of unification, which is for us to
unify into capitulating; the anti-Communists and diehards have their idea of unification, which is to have us unify into fragmentation and retrogression. Could we
ever accept these ideas? Could unification not based upon resistance, unity, and
progress be considered genuine unification? Or rational unification? Or real unification? What a pipe dream! We are meeting here today to put forward our own
idea of unification. Our idea of unification is that of the people of the whole country, that of every single person with a conscience. This idea of unification is based
upon three things: resistance, unity, and progress. Only through progress can unity
be achieved, only through unity can there be a War of Resistance, and only through
progress, unity, and a War of Resistance can there be unification. This is our idea
of unification, a genuine unification, a rational unification, a real unification. The
idea of a fake, irrational, and formalistic unification is one of national subjugation
and extermination, one of those utterly devoid of conscience. They want to destroy the Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and
the base areas, 27 to wipe out all local anti-Japanese forces, so as to achieve unification under one party and one faction. 28 This is a form of a plot, a way of carrying
out autocratic rule under the guise of unification, of selling the dogmeat of their
one-party dictatorship under the label of the sheep's head of unification, a plot of
brazen-faced braggarts who are lost to all sense of shame. We meet today precisely to punch holes in this paper tiger of theirs. Let us relentlessly combat the
diehards.29

IV. The Communist Party's Ten Major Tasks
We shall resolutely combat the diehards, firmly unite with the progressives, and
use these two policies to reach our overall goal of gaining an improvement in the
situation so as to triumph over the Japanese bandits. There is much work for us to
do toward this end. Just a few days ago, the Central Committee of the Communist
Party held a meeting and decided upon ten major tasks to gain an improvement in
the situation. What are these ten major tasks? I shall now read to you comrades the
Communist Party Central Committee's resolution:
"To strive toward an improvement in the situation and overcome the danger of
its deterioration, it is essential to emphasize resistance, unity, and progress-all
three without exception-and upon this basis to carry out resolutely the following
ten major tasks:
"First is to expand greatly the propaganda against Wang [Jingwei] and the
Chinese traitors, to expose firmly all plots to capitulate and cause splits, and combat the capitulationists and the anti-Communists ideologically and politically.
Firmly, clearly, and concretely prove that anticommunism is a counterrevolutionary step taken by the capitulationists in preparation for capitulation.
"Second is to develop vigorously a nationwide united front in the arenas of the
Party, the government, the military, the masses, and education, to organize the
progressive forces, and to collaborate closely with the majority in the Guomindang,
for the purpose of opposing the capitulationists and the anti-Communists.
"Third is to unfold broadly the constitutional movement and work hard for
democratic politics. Without a democratic political process, victory in resisting
Japan is no more than a fantasy.
"Fourth is to defend against all attacks from the capitulationist anti-Communist forces. Any attack from capitulationists, anti-Communists, and diehards must
be firmly resisted on the principle of self-defense and the principle of 'we will not
attack unless we are attacked; if we are attacked, we will certainly counterattack.'
Otherwise, if they are allowed to run rampant, then the united front will be smashed
and the War of Resistance Against Japan will end in defeat.
"Fifth is to develop greatly the popular mass movement to resist Japan, unite
all anti-Japanese intellectuals, and cause the intellectuals to cooperate with the
anti-Japanese popular mass movement and anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare. Otherwise there will not be sufficient power to fight the capitulationists, anti-Communists, and diehards.
"Sixth is to carry out earnestly reduction in rents, interest, and taxes and improvement in the workers' lives. Only by giving economic assistance to the popular masses can their enthusiasm for resisting Japan be aroused; otherwise it is
impossible.
"Seventh is to consolidate and expand each anti-Japanese base area and, entirely by popular election, establish in these base areas anti-Japanese democratic
régimes without the participation of any capitulationist or anti-Communist elements. Such a régime would not be one of the workers, peasants, and petty bourgeoisie but, rather, a régime of all people who advocate resistance against Japan
and also advocate democracy, a régime of the Anti-Japanese National United Front,
and a democratic dictatorship of the several combined revolutionary classes. All
plots to sabotage the anti-Japanese base areas must be resolutely fought against.
All Chinese traitors and anti-Communist elements hidden within the anti-Japanese
armed forces, the anti-Japanese régimes, and the anti-Japanese organizations must
be purged.
"Eighth is to consolidate and expand the progressive armed forces. Without
such armed forces, China will become subjugated.
"Ninth is to develop broadly an anti-Japanese cultural movement so as to raise
the cultural and theoretical level of the anti-Japanese people, the anti-Japanese
armed forces, and the anti-Japanese cadres. It is also impossible to triumph in
resistance against Japan without a struggle on the anti-Japanese cultural front to
coordinate efforts with the overall anti-Japanese struggle.
"Tenth is to consolidate the organization of the Communist Party and to develop a Communist Party organization in places where there is none or where the
Party is weak. Without a strong and powerful Communist Party, it is impossible to
solve any important problems in resistance against Japan and saving the nation.
"If these ten major tasks can be resolutely, concretely, and correctly carried
out, then the anti-Japanese progressive forces can surely be strengthened, the
capitulationist and retrogressive forces be overcome, an improvement in the situation can be gained, its worsening can be avoided, and the plots of the big bourgeois elements to sabotage the War of Resistance and the united front can be
smashed."
Comrades, these are the ten major tasks recently decided upon by the Central
Committee of the Communist Party. Do you believe that these ten major tasks are
appropriate ones? These ten tasks constitute a suitable remedy for our ills; they
are bound to snatch the patient from the jaws of death and to drive out Japanese
imperialism. The ten major tasks were put forth by the Communist Party, but when
it comes to undertaking them, it cannot be done by the Communist Party alone; it
has to be done by the people of the whole nation. This is not something that concerns only the Communist Party as a single party but, rather, something that concerns the people of the whole country. It is something of concern to all those with
a conscience who wish to save the nation. Of course, Japanese imperialism is not
happy about these ten major tasks, and nor is Wang Jingwei, nor are the anti-Communists, nor are the diehards. That they are unhappy is as it should be; there
is no need for us to try to please them. Let them be displeased about this. We are
holding this meeting today because we wish to shout out our cry to all people,
parties, and groups nationwide, to save our motherland, which is in peril, to create a new China, to drive out Japanese imperialism, to bring down Wang Jingwei,
and to bring down that bunch of anti-Communist "heroes." We wish to proclaim
loudly the following slogans:

Support the national policy of carrying out the War of Resistance to the end, and oppose Wang Jingwei's traitorous agreement;
People of the whole nation, unite to support Chairman Chiang and bring down the Chinese traitor Wang Jingwei;
Support the National Government and bring down Wang Jingwei's puppet Central Committee;
Support Guomindang-Communist cooperation, down with Wang Jingwei's policy of anticommunism;
Anticommunism is Wang Jingwei's plot to split the united front; down with all anti-Communist Chinese traitors;
Strengthen national unity; eliminate internal friction;
Reform domestic affairs, carry forward the constitutional movement, and establish democratic politics;
Liberalize bans on parties, and legalize the existence of anti-Japanese parties and organizations;
The people have the right to freedom of speech, publication, assembly, and association in order to resist Japan and save the nation;
Develop the movement of the popular masses, and bring about reduction in rents, interest, and taxes, and improvement of workers' lives;
Consolidate the anti-Japanese base areas; combat the plot of the Chinese traitors, anti-Communists, and diehards to sabotage them;
Support the troops with a fine record of service in resistance against Japan, and give ample material assistance to the front;
Develop a culture of the War of Resistance Against Japan, protect progressive youth, and suppress the expression of opinion by Chinese traitors;
Long live the liberation of the Chinese nation!

---

Notes

This speech was originally published in Jiefang, no. 98/99, February 20, 1940. We have
translated it from Mao Zedong ji, Vol. 7, pp. 209-22, where it is reproduced from the 1944
edition of Mao's works.
1. The title in the Selected Works is "Unite All Anti-Japanese Forces and Combat the
Anti-Communist Diehards."
2. Denounce Wang and support Chiang → Denounce the traitor Wang Jingwei
3. And to fight Japan and save the country → And also to unite all anti-Japanese forces
and to combat the anti-Communist diehards
4. His Japanese masters → Japan
5. As for anticommunism, that is one plot within the plot of the Japanese masters and
this fellow Wang Jingwei → Anticommunism is the main objective of both Japan and Wang
Jingwei
6. Is the fundamental condition → Means greater strength
7. Regarding the Pingjiang massacre of June 12, 1939, see above, the note to the text of
August 1, 1939.
8. Six hundred → Five or six hundred
9. The proposal → The reactionary proposal
11. All such rubbish has → All such activities have
12. Confused → Infuriated
13. The Selected Works text inserts here: "and that members of the Guomindang are all
scoundrels who ought to be opposed."
14. The Central Committee of our Communist Party has from the beginning pointed out
→ We must point out that their fury is altogether justified, for how could anybody help
becoming infuriated in the face of such a grave situation? But resistance to Japan is not
finished and done for, nor are all Guomindang members scoundrels. Different policies should
be adopted toward the different sections of the Guomindang.
15. The term employed here, xiao shu, has the meaning of a child's primer, but Mao
uses it to indicate that these two reports (both translated in Volume VI) were slim or modest
works, later published separately.
18. The whole Party and the whole country → The people of the whole country
23. Border region → Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region
24. Border region → Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region
29. Diehards → Anti-Communist diehards

--- Notes

16. The enemy → Japan

17. A crime → A mistake

18. The whole Party and the whole country → The people of the whole country

19. Given the top priority of → In order to wage

20. Unity also comes first → The unity and progress of the people of the whole country
are essential

21. The War of Resistance → Only resistance against Japan

22. Diehards → Anti-Communist diehards

10. Border region → Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region

25. And the border areas → The Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region and the various
anti-Japanese democratic base areas

26. Border areas → Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region

27. Base areas → Anti-Japanese democratic base areas

28. One party and one faction → The Guomindang