To the head supervisor of the General Office of the Hong Men Society¹ of North
America in New York, U.S.A., Mr. Situ Meitang, Mr. Ruan Benwan, and the department chief, Mr. Lü Chaoran, for the perusal of these three gentlemen, and to
be transmitted for the perusal of all our fellow countrymen in America:
We have received and have respectfully read your telegram of January 8, and
we are full of admiration for the concern for the motherland and the appeal for
unity therein. Today, China definitely cannot fight two wars at the same time, one
domestic and one external. It is necessary to abolish completely the anti-Communist
schemes of the Guomindang authorities, banish the pro-Japanese elements, unite
all forces, and engage in combat with the Japanese bandits before we can hope to
win the War of Resistance. But cooperation between the Guomindang and the
Communist Party has encountered a serious crisis since Chiang Kaishek ordered
the extermination of the New Fourth Army and issued the counterrevolutionary
order on January 17 declaring the New Fourth Army mutinous, revoking that army's
designation, and handing over said army's commander, Ye Ting, for trial in court.
The rampages of the pro-Japanese and anti-Communist elements within the
Guomindang have inflicted direct and tremendous damage to the national War of
Resistance. At this critical moment, when the nation is being threatened with extinction, unless the pro-Japanese elements are banished, unless the anti-Communist elements give up their plan to fight two wars at the same time, unless the
one-party system is eliminated, unless political democracy is exercised, unless the
Three People's Principles are put into practice, and unless the will of the Director
General is carried out, then the future of the Chinese nation will be ruined in the
hands of such people. The Chinese Communist Party has consistently put the interests of the nation above all else and has stuck to its policy of a national united
front without the slightest deviation, only it is forced to seek a way to punish the
monstrous crime of the pro-Japanese and the anti-Communist elements of sabotaging the War of Resistance, and so proposed to the government authorities measures for the aftermath of the current situation as well as temporary measures, each
containing twelve articles. We beg that you gentlemen come to unanimous agreement and give your support, in the hope that these measures will be put into effect
quickly so as to benefit unity and benefit the War of Resistance.

Mao Zedong

--- Notes

1. The reference is to the secret society of this name.