LETTER OF REPLY FROM THE SEVEN POLITICAL COUNCIL MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNIST
PARTY TO THE POLITICAL COUNCIL REITERATING WHY THEY ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND
THE CURRENT SESSION

8 March 1941

[Text] Hsin-hua Press, Yenan, 9 March--The second session of the People's
Political Council convened in Chungking on 1 March. None of the seven
council members of the Communist Party attended. Their reasons for not
attending the meeting were explained in the 5 February wire from the
seven council members and the 2 March official letter from Tung Pi-wu
and Teng Yin-ch'ao, two of the council members, to the Political Council.
The Political Council wired the seven council members on 6 March urging
their attendance. Upon receipt of the wire, the seven council members
replied on 8 March, explaining in detail their reasons for not attending
the meeting. The original text of the wire is as follows:

Secretariat of the People's Political Council and the entire council
membership:

We received your wire of "yu," and we are most grateful for your concern.
That the Chinese Communist Party members have exhausted their minds and
bodies to continue the national resistance war and safeguard domestic
unity in the past 4 years has long been publicly recognized by the
people of the country; that the Political Council members of the Chinese
Communist Party attended every council meeting is also known to you all.
Nevertheless, for this session of the Political Council there are those
who block our attendance. The council members of the Chinese Communist
Party were invited by the government. Yet recently the government has
been regarding the Chinese Communist Party almost as an enemy, exterminating the troops it leads, arresting and killing its members, and
interdicting its newspapers. The southern Anhwei incident and the
17 January order, especially, were momentous matters since the advent
of the resistance war and were seriously detrimental to domestic unity.
After the issuance of the 17 January order, the enemy and the bogus
government applauded, while the people of the country seethed with anger.
[words illegible] All felt that a split between the Kuomintang and the

Communist Party was imminent. In view of this dangerous situation, the
Chinese Communist Party Central had no choice but to take appropriate
steps to avert the danger and protect unity. It proposed 12 articles
of remedial measures. After an entire month there has been no reply,
while the political oppression and military attacks have become more
aggravated than ever before. The New 4th Army has become a rebel army;
the 8th Route Army is branded as bandit troops; the Communist Party is
called a cabal. Meanwhile, such alarming slogans as "knock down the
Communist Party on the Yenan-Chungking road," "resisting Japan and
exterminating the bandits are of equal importance," and "exterminating
the bandits is not civil war" are written in large letters on the walls
by the government and the regular troops. If this situation is not
changed, even if we want to come to the meeting, it is impossible for
us to do so. We expressed our feelings in a wire to the Secretariat
of the Political Council, and we trust you understood them. Subsequently,
many Political Council members tried to mediate, and we were grateful for
their sincerity. In consideration of the overall situation, Tung Pi-wu
and Teng Yin-ch'ao, our council members in Chungking, proposed 12 articles
of provisional measures for action by the government, so that the council
members of our party could attend the meeting. Our idea was transmitted
to the Secretariat of the Political Council, but we have not been favored
with a reply. The remedial and provisional measures we proposed were
conditions presented to the government, which invited us to serve as
members of the Political Council, for its action, which would serve as
the criterion to determine whether we should attend the meeting. As the
government has the freedom to act or not to act, we also have the freedom to attend or not to attend. Our support of the Political Council
remains unchanged. If, by your effort during this session and the
decisive action of the gentlemen in the government, our measures are
adopted, and if there are a resolution to that effect and a guarantee
of performance, then, even if it is toward the end of the session, our
council members in Chungking will follow your orders and attend. Other-wise, we will have to wait until the issues are resolved. That we
accepted the invitations of the government was for the sake of unity and
resistance war. As long as the deep gash inflicted by the southern
Anhwei incident is not mended, it will be difficult for us to attend any
conference called by the government. This is the reason why our current
situation is not entirely identical with yours. We respectfully express
our feelings, and we hope for your understanding.

Mao Tse-tung, Ch'en Shao-yu, Ch'in Pang-hsien, Lin Tsu-han, Wu Yu-chang,
Tung Pi-wu, Teng Yin-ch'ao, Political Council members in the Chinese
Communist Party

0 HSIN-CHUNG HUA-PAO, 13 March 1941

"Reference Materials on the History of China's Revolution," Vol 4,
China People's University, 1957