To Zhou Enlai Concerning the Analysis of the
Situation of Chiang Kaishek Opposing the
Communist Party and Our Arrangements

(November 2, 1940)

The Central Committee has met several times, and each time reached the same
conclusion that the ongoing anti-Communist campaign is different from that of
the last time and it will greatly affect our future if it is not dealt with properly. So
the statement and instructions have been suspended even though they have already
been drafted. Today's conference discussed your proposition of the first of this
month and still advocated relaxation on the surface and resistance in actuality; it
was agreed that the statement is to be held up for a while and only a brief instruction is to be circulated within [the Party] as well as a reply to the "October 19"
telegram from He [Yingqin] and Bai [Chongxi]. The ongoing anti-Communist
campaign was instigated by the Guomindang and the danger of capitulation remains grave. Let the various middle-of-the-road elements talk, comment, and conjecture. We shall not put forward any positive proposals before the time is ripe, and
it will not hurt to wait a little bit before we speak. There are now twenty days to go
before the deadline set in the "October 19" telegram from He and Bai. We plan to
draft the reply telegram in the next few days and dispatch it around the 10th; there
is no need for an earlier reply. As to the statement on the current situation, although we have made a basic assessment of the situation and actually drafted the
resolution, we want to wait and see the developments following the Japan-USSR
negotiations and the American general elections, and the development of relations
between Japan and Chiang, before we decide to issue it. All the comrades [present
at the meeting] agreed without reservations with you and the South China Bureau
on deployments in the south and on matters such as propaganda and refutation. As
for military deployments in Central China and North China, maneuvers of small
numbers of troops will get started in the next few days, while those involving a
large number (150,000 as planned) is under discussion with Old Peng;¹ similarly
we deem it proper to go slow about it and do not see any reason for haste. If

Chiang Kaishek capitulates this time, the consequence will necessarily be the disintegration [of the nation]. We have under our command an army half a million
strong and enjoy the support of the people throughout the country, so we are able
to open up a new prospect despite numerous difficulties. On the matter of attacks
from Tang [Enbo] and Li [Pinxian], we are not going to be blocked by them and
must counterattack and penetrate to the rear of the anti-Communist armies: that is
the unanimous view of all the comrades in the Secretariat. We look forward to
hearing your opinions.

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 6, p. 181, where it is reproduced
from Wannan shibian.
1. Peng Dehuai.