Speech at the Meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China[1]

(April 29, 1940)

The achievements of the Guangdong Provincial Committee in its past work are: it developed the progressive forces, that is, it developed the Party; it won over the middle forces, mainly in the military sphere; and it also achieved results in the struggle against the diehard forces. However, the failure to vigorously develop armed forces under the Party’s leadership is a shortcoming. The future work policy should make the development of armed forces under the Party’s leadership the center of developing the progressive forces, and should place the focus of work on armed work and work in the war zones. Should we now go up the mountains or go down into the waters? Now all remote places have become areas under the Kuomintang. We should not go up the mountains, but should go down into the waters, penetrating deep behind enemy lines to carry out activities. As for the assessment of the current situation, we must prepare for the worst-case scenario and arrange our work on the basis of the worst point.