DECLARATION OF THE CCP CENTRAL COMMITTEE ON THE CURRENT SITUATION IN
COMMEMORATION OF THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR OF RESISTANCE

7 July 1940

[Text] Fellow countrymen, officers and men of the armed forces, and
anti-Japanese comrades of all political parties!

On this great third anniversary of the war of resistance, the CCP Central
Committee, with the utmost sincerity and the utmost enthusiasm, extends
our national revolutionary salutation to our countrymen, officers and
men on the front, and anti-Japanese comrades of all political parties;
our deep sorrow for the martyrs who have given their lives to their
country in the last 3 years; and our deep concern for our wounded officers and men of the armed forces and our wounded countrymen.

The 3 years of war of resistance prove that Japanese imperialism is
bound to collapse, China will never perish, and final victory will certainly belong to the Chinese nation, because Japanese imperialism has
been greatly weakened during our 3 years of heroic resistance, a will to
fight to the end has been fostered in the heart of the entire nation,
and current changes in the international situation are basically favorable to China.

However, we also face a period of unprecedented difficulty for our war
of resistance. Japanese imperialism is stepping up its attack on China
and has declared its Eastern Monroe Doctrine. Some people on China's
anti-Japanese front are wavering. As far as international conspiracy
is concerned, it is quite possible that the peace mediation policy of
Germany and Italy will take the place of the Eastern Munich policy of
Great Britain, the United States and France.

The accelerated Japanese imperialist attack on China and the artillery
and fighter-bombers of Hitler and Mussolini are echoing each other in
an attempt to achieve the objective of their imperialist war--redivision
of the world and enslavement of all the people of the world. The suicidal
policy of Great Britain, the United States and France, characterized by

their consistent hostility to the Soviet Union and yielding to Germany
and Italy, has caused the tragic loss of France, serious setbacks to
Great Britain, and a threat to U.S. interests in the Atlantic and the
Pacific. The imperialist war has developed to a new stage, but the conflict among the imperialists has not come to an end. The economic and
political crises caused by the war of imperialism are threatening the
survival of mankind and will inevitably lead to the explosion of a world
revolution. This revolution is brewing among all oppressed peoples and
nations. We are in a new era between war and revolution. All wars of
imperialism are wars for slaughtering people. Only the great, prosperous
socialist Soviet Union, not involved in the vortex ot imperialist wars,
is the real helper of all oppressed peoples and nations. The only reliable friends of China during its war of resistance are the Soviet Union
and all the people of the world.

In the present international situation, Japanese imperialism, under the
pressure of both internal and external crisis, is embarking upon its last
adventure, attempting to block China's lines of communication with the
outside world, imposing increasing pressure and increasing difficulties
on China by launching frontal attacks and aerial bombardment in order to
split China and force it to surrender. Under this increasing pressure
and difficulty, the wavering elements in China will become more wavering
and eventually will stumble onto the road of surrender. These people are
confused in their mind, weak in their will, unable to endure hardships,
and unable to see the future of the war of resistance. Once they are confronted with crisis or difficulty, they waver. They are the most dangerous
people on the anti-Japanese front.

Fellow countrymen, officers and men, and anti-Japanese comrades of all
parties! We are now in a stage fraught with unprecedented danger of
surrender and unprecedented difficulties to our war of resistance. We
should not hide this danger and difficulty. The Chinese Communist Party
considers it its duty to remind our countrymen of this danger and difficulty and to point out that the entire country should be further unified
to overcome this danger and difficulty.

Wang Ching-wei's capitulation is now bankrupt. He and his cohorts have
become the meanest toys in the hands of Japanese imperialism. The capitulation of the French bourgeois class has turned all French people into
slaves of Hitler. Surrender is absolutely not a solution. The Chinese
Communist Party is entirely sympathetic to the fate of the French people.
The Chinese Communist Party is firmly convinced that, under the strong
leadership of the French Communist Party, the great French nation will
not perish. The struggle of the French people will be coordinated with
the struggle of the Chinese people to defeat their external oppressors.

Fellow countrymen, officers and men, and anti-Japanese comrades of all
political parties! We must resist any enemy attack, overcome any
difficulty, oppose any conspiracy to surrender, and struggle to the end

against all capitulationist elements. The entire nation must be further
unified; internal friction must be eliminated; Kuomintang-Chinese Com-munist Party relationships must be readjusted; the danger of a civil war
must be avoided; the Anti-Japanese National United Front must be consolidated; all the people of the country must carry out the war of
resistance to the end under the leadership of Mr Chiang Kai-shek; and
the promises of all political parties and factions must be fulfilled.

To our fellow countrymen and comrades of our friendly political parties,
the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee announces: We always
carry out our promises. In our 22 September 1937 declaration we said
that we would struggle for the thorough realization of the Three People's
Principles, call off our land revolution, discard our policy of violence,
rename the Red Army as the National Revolutionary Army, and change the
name "soviet" to local democratic government. We have earnestly carried
out all these promises without reneging. All the policies we have carried
out in the Shensi-Kansu-Ninghsia border region, behind the enemy lines
and in all anti-Japanese bases, are entirely in conformity with the Three
People's Principles. We now declare again: During the entire period of
the anti-Japanese war and the period of establishing a democratic republic, we will always implement the Three People's Principles. Any statement accusing the Chinese Communist Party of failure to carry out its
promises is ill-intentioned slander. On this problem we demand that the
Kuomintang also honor its promises and earnestly carry out all political
promises and promises regarding certain problems made to the people and
our party so as to benefit national unity and the war of resistance.

The Chinese Communist Party Central Committee announces: During the
period of national unity for the war of resistance and Kuomintang-Chinese
Communist Party cooperation, it is absolutely forbidden to implement any
policy of violence or sabotage within the country. We have always supported Mr Chiang Kai-shek and the National Government's policy of carrying the war of resistance to the end, and we have always kept our promise
of nonviolence and nonsabotage. All the hearsay that the Chinese Communist
Party will again adopt the old policy of violence and sabotage is nothing
but rumors fabricated by traitors. At the same time, we ask the Kuomintang
to forego its policy of sabotage toward the Chinese Communist Party in
order to insure the unity and long-term cooperation between the two parties.

The Chinese Communist Party Central Committee announces: We shall
restrain the anti-Japanese armed units under our leadership and limit
their activities within the designated war zone, behind the enemy lines,
and within the 23 counties in the Shensi-Kansu-Ninghsia border region;
we shall not take any action in other areas that might cause conflict
with our friendly armed units. Within the designated war zone and behind
the enemy lines, our armed units will cooperate with all friendly anti-
Japanese forces in the war against the enemy. However, we demand that
all friendly anti-Japanese units also restrain their subordinates from
taking any action toward the 8th Route Army and the New 4th Army that

might cause any conflict so as to insure unity on the anti-Japanese
front. At the same time, we demand that the National Government give
all possible assistance to the 8th Route Army, the New 4th Army and all
anti-Japanese guerrilla units, because they are on the forefront of our
national defense. In the last 3 years the 8th Route Army and the New
4th Army have heroically engaged the enemy in more than 10,000 large
and small battles, persisted in the war of resistance over vast areas
behind the enemy's frontlines, and tied down 40-50 percent of the total
enemy forces in China. They are situated in the most dangerous positions.
They live under the most difficult conditions. They suffer the worst
shortage of ammunition.

The Chinese Communist Party Central Committee announces: We continue to
carry out the resolution adopted in November 1938 at the Sixth Plenary
Session of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, namely, "We
shall not develop our party organization in the friendly armed units."
Those local party headquarters which have not yet strictly carried out
this resolution should take corrective action. Our party's policy
toward all friendly anti-Japanese armed units is to unite with them and
strengthen them, not to split or destroy them. However, we demand that
the Kuomintang and all other anti-Japanese armed units adopt the same
policy toward the 8th Route Army and the New 4th Army in order to eliminate mutual suspicion, conduct the war of resistance with one heart, and
enable all armed units under the same supreme commander to fulfill their
mission in fighting the enemy.

The colleagues of our party think: In order to overcome unprecedented
danger of capitulation and the unprecedented difficulties in the war of
resistance, the existing "anticommunism," "restrict communism," "absorb
communism," "prevent communism," and "control communism" policies must be
eliminated, because the implementation of these policies has the serious
effect of weakening our strength against Japan and causes unrest in
people's minds. We should never adopt any policy for the war of
resistance that will call for two wars--one against the enemy within
and another against the enemy without. This kind of policy is suicidal.
China should take the anticommunist policy of the Daladier government
in France as a warning.

The colleagues of our party think: In order to overcome the unprecedented
danger of capitulation and the unprecedented difficulties in the war of
resistance, we must change many of our methods. We must implement freedom of speech, the press, assembly and association. We must release all
arrested Communist Party members and patriotic elements. We must recognize the right to legitimate existence of all anti-Japanese political
parties. We must convene a democratic National Congress. We must
abolish the harmful secret service-like working style. We must change
all unsuitable financial and economic policies, cultural and educational
policies, and the draft policy for the armed forces. We must emphasize
self-reliance instead of reliance on unreliable foreign aid.

Fellow countrymen, officers and men of the armed forces, and anti-
Japanese comrades of all political parties! The unprecedented danger of
surrender and the unprecedented difficulties for the war of resistance
are upon us. We must overcome these dangers and difficulties. The
Chinese Communist Party is firmly convinced that these dangers and
difficulties are entirely conquerable. China is equipped with all the
necessary conditions to overcome any danger and any difficulty if the
Chinese Government and people will use these favorable conditions. China
is a country with a vast territory, abundant resources and a large population. China should never be compared with Abyssinia or Spain, not to
mention Holland or Belgium. China should not even be compared with
France. Japan is far inferior to Germany. China still has a large army
with several million men. It is strengthened by the unity among the
Kuomintang, the Chinese Communist Party and the majority of the Chinese
people. It can take advantage of the internal contradictions among the
imperialists. It has the support of a strong Soviet Union and the world
revolution. Since the Opium War, China in the last 100 years has gone
through numerous crises and obtained rich experiences. Dr Sun Yat-sen's
heroic struggle especially deserves to be the model for our nation. During this serious national crisis we must carry out the great teachings
bequeathed by Dr Sun Yat-sen, his revolutionary Three People's Principles,
his policy of uniting with the Soviet Union, his Three Great Policies
for helping the peasants and workers, and his Testament. We must do away
with pessimistic, wavering and helpless feelings and continue to struggle
unyieldingly. Then the danger of surrender will be overcome, the war of
resistance will be won, the task of national reconstruction will succeed,
and the future of China as a nation will be boundlessly glorious!

Down with Japanese imperialism!

Carry the war of resistance to the end!

Be united to the end!

Long live Chinese national liberation!

Central Committee, Chinese Communist Party

O "Reference Materials on the History of the Chinese Revolution," Vol 4,

* "Reference Materials on the History of the Chinese Communist Party"

Δ HSIN-CHUNG HUA-PAO, 5 July 1940

Δ CHIEH-FANG, No 111