January 20, 1941


ORDER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY MILITARY COMMISSION OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
  OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA

Yenan, January 20, 1941

The New Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army has won fame both
at home and abroad by its distinguished service in the War of Resistance.
Commander Yeh Ting has an outstanding record in leading the army against
the enemy. Recently, however, while it was moving northward in accordance
with instructions, this army was treacherously attacked by the pro-Japanese
clique, and Commander Yeh, wounded and exhausted in the fighting, was thrown
into jail. Informed of the whole course of the Southern Anhwei Incident by
telegrams from Chen Yi, the Commander of the First Detachment of the army,
and Chang Yun-yi, the army's Chief of Staff, the Commission expresses its
great wrath and its deep solicitude for our comrades. In addition to the
adoption of measures to deal with the towering crime of the pro-Japanese
clique in sabotaging the War of Resistance, attacking the people's armed
forces and launching civil war, the Commission hereby appoints Chen Yi as
Acting Commander of the New Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army,
Chang Yun-yi as Deputy Commander, Lai Chuan-chu as Chief of Staff, and Teng
Tzu-hui as Director of the Political Department. Acting Commander Chen Yi
and his associates are hereby instructed to devote their efforts to strengthening
the army, reinforcing unity within its ranks, ensuring good relations with
the people, carrying out the Three People's Principles, adhering to the Testament
of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and consolidating and expanding the Anti-Japanese National
United Front in the struggle to defend our people and our country, to carry
the War of Resistance forward to the end and to guard against attacks
by the pro-Japanese clique.

STATEMENT BY THE SPOKESMAN OF THE REVOLUTIONARY MILITARY COMMISSION OF
  THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA TO A CORRESPONDENT
  OF THE HSINHUA NEWS AGENCY

January 22, 1941

The recent anti-Communist Southern Anhwei Incident had been brewing for a
long time. Present developments are but the opening phase of a national
emergency. Since the formation of their triple alliance
[1] with Germany and Italy, the Japanese aggressors
have redoubled their efforts to engineer changes within China so as to find
a quick solution to the Sino-Japanese war. Their purpose is to use the Chinese
themselves to suppress the anti-Japanese movement and consolidate the rear
for Japan's southward drive, so that she will be free to drive south in
co-ordination with Hitler's offensive against Britain. A considerable number
of ringleaders from the pro-Japanese clique have long entrenched themselves
in the party, government and army organizations of the Kuomintang and have
been carrying on agitation day and night. The preparations for their plot
were completed by the end of last year. The attack on the New Fourth Army
units in southern Anhwei and the reactionary Order of January 17
[2] are only the first open signs of this plot.
Incidents of the gravest nature will now be staged one after another. What
are the details of the plot of the Japanese aggressors and the pro-Japanese
clique? They are as follows:

(1) To publish the two telegrams of October 19 and December
8 [3] to Chu Teh, Peng Teh-huai, Yeh Ting and Hsiang
Ying over the signatures of Ho Ying-chin and Pai Chung-hsi, in order to arouse
public opinion.

(2) To start a press campaign on the importance of observing military
discipline and military orders in preparation for launching civil war.

(3) To wipe out the New Fourth Army units in southern Anhwei.

(4) To declare that the New Fourth Army has "mutinied" and cancel its official
designation.

These four steps have already been taken.

(5) To appoint Tang En-po, Li Pin-hsien, Wang Chung-lien and Han Teh-chin
as "Communist suppression" commanders of the various route armies in central
China, with Li Tsung-jen as supreme commander, in order to attack the New
Fourth Army units under Peng Hsuchfeng, Chang Yun-yi and Li Hsien-nien and,
if this comes off, to make further attacks on the Eighth Route Army and the
New Fourth Army units in Shantung and northern Kiangsu, with the Japanese
troops acting in close co-ordination.

This step is now being taken.

(6) To find a pretext to declare that the Eighth Route Army has "mutinied",
cancel its official designation, and order the arrest of Chu Teh and Peng
Teh-huai.

This move is now in preparation.

(7) To close down the liaison offices of the Eighth Route Army in Chungking,
Sian and Kweilin, and arrest Chou En-lai, Yeh Chienying, Tung Pi-wu and Teng
Ying-chao.

This move has begun with the closing down of the liaison office in Kweilin.

(8) To close down the New China Daily.

(9) To launch attacks on the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region and seize
Yenan.

(10) To make wholesale arrests of prominent people favouring resistance to
Japan and suppress the anti-Japanese movement in Chungking and in the provinces.

(11) To destroy Communist Party organizations in all provinces and make wholesale
arrests of Communists.

(12) To proclaim "the recovery of lost territories" by the Kuomintang
government upon the withdrawal of Japanese troops from central and southern
China, and at the same time to carry out propaganda on the necessity of
concluding a so-called "peace with honour".

(13) Japan to launch most ferocious attacks on the Eighth Route
Army by bringing up her troops from central and southern China as reinforcements
to the north, and to co-operate with the Kuomintang forces in order to annihilate
the whole Eighth Route and New Fourth Armies.

(14) The Kuomintang to continue last year's state of cease-fire with Japan
on all fronts in order to turn it into one of general truce and peace
negotiations while ceaselessly attacking the Eighth Route Army and the New
Fourth Army.

(15) The Kuomintang government to sign a peace treaty with Japan and join
the triple alliance.

Active preparations are now being made for these moves.

Such in general outline is the treacherous plot of Japan and the pro-Japanese
clique. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China pointed out
in its Manifesto of July 7, 1939: "Capitulation presents the greatest danger
in the current situation, and anti-communism is the preparatory step to
capitulation." Its Manifesto of July 7, 1940 stated: "The danger of capitulation
has never been so serious and the difficulties in the war have never been
so great as they are today." Chu Teh, Peng Teh-huai, Yeh Ting and Hsiang
Ying pointed this out even more concretely in their telegram of November
9 of last year:

  Certain people at home are engineering a new anti-Communist onslaught in
  an attempt to clear the way for capitulation.... They want to put an end
  to the War of Resistance by what they call Sino-Japanese co-operation in
  "suppressing the Communists". They want to substitute civil war for the War
  of Resistance, capitulation for independence, a split for unity and darkness
  for light. Their activities are sinister and their designs pernicious. People
  are telling each other the news and are horrified. Indeed, the situation
  has never been so critical as it is today.


Thus the Southern Anhwei Incident and the Order of January 17 of the Military
Council in Chungking are merely the beginning of a series of incidents. The
Order of January 17 in particular is full of grave political implications.
The fact that those who issued this counterrevolutionary order dared to do
so openly, risking universal condemnation, shows that they must have determined
upon a complete split and out-and-out capitulation. For without their
wire-pulling masters the political representatives of the flabby class of
big landlords and big bourgeoisie in China cannot move an inch, let alone
embark on an undertaking such as this which has shocked the whole world.
In the present circumstances, it seems very difficult to make those who issued
the order change their minds and it will probably be impossible to do so
without emergency action by the whole nation and strong diplomatic pressure
from abroad. Hence the urgent task of the whole nation now is to watch
developments with the utmost vigilance and prepare itself against any sinister
eventuality that the reactionaries may precipitate; there must not be the
slightest negligence. As for China's future, the matter is quite clear. Even
if the Japanese aggressors and the pro-Japanese clique are able to succeed
in their plots, we Chinese Communists and the people will never allow them
to keep up their tyranny indefinitely; not only are we duty bound to step
forward and take control of the situation, we are also confident of our ability
to do so. However dark the situation, however thorny the road, and whatever
the price that road exacts (the loss of the New Fourth Army units in southern
Anhwei is part of that price), the Japanese aggressors and the pro-Japanese
clique are certainly doomed. The reasons are as follows:

(1) The Communist Party of China can no longer be easily deceived and crushed,
as it was in 1927. It is now a major party standing firmly on its own feet.

(2) Many members of other parties and groups (including the Kuomintang) who
are apprehensive of the disaster of national subjugation certainly have no
wish to capitulate and fight a civil war. Some of them are hoodwinked for
the moment, but they may come to their senses in due course.

(3) The same is true of the troops. Most of them oppose the Communist Party
under compulsion.

(4) The vast majority of the Chinese people have no desire to be colonial
slaves.

(5) The imperialist war is on the eve of a great change. However rampant
they may be for the moment, the parasites who depend on imperialism will
soon find out that their bosses are not reliable. The whole situation will
change when the tree falls and the monkeys scatter.

(6) The outbreak of revolution in many countries is only a question of time,
and it is certain that these revolutions and the Chinese revolution will
support one another in the joint struggle for victory.

(7) The Soviet Union is the strongest force in the world and will definitely
help China fight the War of Resistance to the very end.

For all these reasons we hope that those who are playing with fire will not
get too dizzy. We now serve them with this formal warning: Better be careful.
This fire is not a plaything. Look out for your own skins ! If you calm down
and give the matter some thought, you will have to take the following steps
promptly and in earnest:

(1) Rein in on the brink of the precipice and stop your provocations.

(2) Rescind the reactionary order of January 17 and publicly admit that you
have been completely wrong.

(3) Punish Ho Ying-chin, Ku Chu-tung and Shangkuan Yun-hsiang the chief culprits
in the Southern Anhwei Incident.

(4) Release Yeh Ting and reinstate him as Commander of the New Fourth Army.

(5) Return all the men and arms captured in southern Anhwei to the New Fourth
Army.

(6) Compensate all the officers and men of the New Fourth Army who were wounded
and the families of those who were killed in southern Anhwei.

(7) Withdraw the troops sent to central China for "Communist suppression".

(8) Demolish the blockade line in the
Northwest.[4]

(9) Release all patriotic political prisoners.

(10) Abolish the one-party dictatorship and introduce democratic government.

(11) Carry out the Three People's Principles and observe Dr. Sun Yat-sen's
Testament.

(12) Arrest the ringleaders of the pro-Japanese clique and bring them to
trial in accordance with the law of the land.

There will, of course, be a return to normal if these twelve points are put
into effect, and we Communists and the whole people will certainly not push
matters to extremes. Otherwise, "Chi Sun's troubles, I am afraid, will not
come from Chuanyu but will arise at home"; [5]
in other words, the reactionaries will be lifting a rock only to drop it
on their own toes, and then we will not be able to help them even if we would
like to. We value co-operation, but they ought to set store by it, too. To
be frank, there is a limit to our concessions; the stage of concessions is
over as far as we are concerned. They have inflicted the first gash, and
a very deep one at that. If they still care for their own future, they should
come forward of their own accord and dress the wound. "It is not too late
to mend the fold even after some of the sheep have been lost." It is a matter
of life and death for them, and we feel obliged to give them this final piece
of advice. But if they remain impenitent and keep up their wrongdoing, the
people of China, having reached the end of their forbearance, will dump them
on the muck heap and then it will be too late for repentance. As for the
New Fourth Army, the Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of China issued an order on January 20, appointing
Chen Yi as Acting Commander, Chang Yun-yi as Deputy Commander, Lai Chuan-chu
as Chief of Staff and Teng Tzu-hui as Director of the Political Department.
With more than 90,000 troops remaining in central China and the southern
part of Kiangsu, the New Fourth Army, though subjected to pincer attacks
by the Japanese aggressors and the anti-Communist troops, will certainly
fight on despite all hardships and will never cease to render loyal service
to the nation. Meanwhile, the units of its brother army, the Eighth Route
Army, will not sit by and watch it suffer these pincer attacks, but will
certainly take steps to give the necessary assistance-- this I can say bluntly.
As for the statement made by the spokesman of the Military Council in Chungking,
the only possible comment is that it is self-contradictory. While the Chungking
Military Council stated in its order that the New Fourth Army had "mutinied",
the spokesman said that its aim was to move into the Nanking-Shanghai-Hangchow
triangle in order to establish a base there. Now, suppose we accept what
he says. Can a move into the Nanking-Shanghai-Hangchow triangle be regarded
as a "mutiny"? That blockhead of a Chungking spokesman did not stop to think.
Against whom would the New Fourth Army be mutinying in that area? Is it not
an area under Japanese occupation? Then why should you prevent the New Fourth
Army from moving into that area and try to wipe it out while it was still
in southern Anhwei? Ah, of course! After all that is what loyal servants
of Japanese imperialism would do. Hence their plan to mass seven divisions
in an annihilation campaign, hence their Order of January 17, and hence their
trial of Yeh Ting. However, I still say that the Chungking spokesman is an
idiot, for without being pressed he has let the cat out of the bag and revealed
the plans of Japanese imperialism to the whole people.

NOTES


1. The triple alliance refers to the tripartite pact between
Germany, Italy and Japan signed in Berlin on September 27, 1940.

2. The counter-revolutionary Order of January 17 for the
disbandment of the New Fourth Army was issued by Chiang Kai-shek in the name
of the Military Council of the National Government.

3. These two notorious telegrams were sent late in 1940
by Chiang Kai-shek when he launched the second anti-Communist onslaught,
and they were signed by Ho Ying-chin and Pai Chung-hsi, Chief and Deputy
Chief of the General Staff of the Military Council of the Kuomintang government.
The telegram of October 19 contained outrageous calumnies against the Eighth
Route Army and the New Fourth Army which were fighting in the enemy-occupied
areas and peremptorily ordered their units operating against the Japanese
south of the Yellow River to be shifted to the north by a specified date.
In the interest of unity for armed resistance, Comrades Chu Teh, Peng Teh-huai,
Yeh Ting and Hsiang Ying, in a joint reply on November 9 consented to shift
the troops in southern Anhwei to the north, at the same time rebutting the
slanders. The telegram of December 8 signed by Ho Ying-chin and Pai Chung-hsi,
which was a reply to the telegram of November 9, represented a further attempt
to turn public opinion against the Communists.

4. The blockade line in the Northwest was built by the
Kuomintang reactionaries around the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region. From
1939 onward they pressed the local people into service and built five lines
of blockhouses, stone walls and trenches. The line started from Ningsia in
the west, ran along the Chingshui River in the south and terminated at the
Yellow River in the east. On the eve of the Southern Anhwei Incident the
Kuomintang troops surrounding the Border Region were increased to more than
200,000.

5. The quotation is from Confucian Analects, Book
XVI, Chapter I. Confucius made this remark when Chi Sun, minister of the
state of Lu, was about to attack Chuanyu, a small neighbouring state.


Transcription by the Maoist Documentation Project.