Behold, Whose World Is This Today?[1]

(May 18, 1941)

Those who assess the movements of Japanese imperialism often proceed solely from the subjective needs of the Japanese faction that advocates a radical policy toward the United States, namely the fascist faction, forgetting the objective factors that exist and are the primary determinants of Japan's course of action. After the Tripartite Pact, this was the case with the Kuomintang members, and it was also the case with some others.

At present, there are three main characteristics in the international situation: first, Germany's great victories; second, the developing War of Resistance Against Japan in China; and third, the Soviet Union's policy of peace. In assessing international issues generally, and Japanese issues in particular, we cannot disregard these three characteristics. Those who turn a blind eye to these three major characteristics, or who underestimate their importance, will inevitably draw incorrect or largely incorrect conclusions.

German imperialism has already conquered all of Europe except the Soviet Union, is expanding toward Africa and the Near East, continues large-scale bombing of the British Isles, and is extending its submarine warfare into the Atlantic. This indicates that German imperialism has a tendency to seize world hegemony. Britain and the United States, which contend with it for this hegemony, cannot but rise up and fight desperately. The rapid preparation of the United States for war is the result of this situation. Under these circumstances, the imperialist plan of Britain and the United States is to concentrate their forces against Germany. They estimate that as long as the British Isles can hold their ground, they can utilize their maritime superiority and regain air supremacy, forcing Hitler's flames to burn eastward, causing them to clash and grind against the Soviet Union. If heaven complies with their wishes, one day they might stir up the anti-Soviet faction within Germany, triggering a German-Soviet

[1] This is an editorial written by Mao Zedong for *Liberation Daily*.

war, and their "plan" would then "succeed." Preventing Hitler from turning westward, preventing the Soviet Union from staying out of the fray, and staging another European Munich—this is their general policy. In the Far East, they exploit the internal contradictions of the Tripartite Pact to dismantle the Tokyo-Berlin axis, bribe Japan, pull Japan into their own embrace, and once again stage a Far Eastern Munich. They exploit the Sino-Japanese contradictions and the Soviet-Japanese contradictions to force Japan westward and northward, coordinating with their Western policy of forcing Germany eastward. All of this constitutes the "cunning schemes" of the Anglo-American imperialists. The more Germany triumphs, the more it compels the Anglo-American gentlemen to rack their brains in search of Germany's and Japan's weaknesses, and all their schemes aim to shift the burden onto the Soviet Union. Every time the Anglo-American gentlemen face a crisis, they always try to find a way out by making designs on the Soviet Union. This is a law they invented long ago. As for Japan, Germany's victories encourage the entire Japanese ruling class to seize opportunities for gain, because they draw Anglo-American energy increasingly toward the Atlantic rather than the Pacific. On this issue, the three factions among Japan's rulers (the pro-German-Italian fascist faction, the pro-Anglo-American status-quo faction, and the intermediate faction between the two), although each seeks to exploit every unfavorable turn in the international situation for the opposing faction in the struggle for political power to achieve its own aims, are unanimous in their goal of exploiting Western contradictions (the Anglo-German, American-German, and Soviet-German contradictions) to achieve Japan's expansion. They can thus be unified on this point. They consider it more advantageous to let Hitler bear the heavy burden of Britain and the United States, let Hitler divert Soviet attention to the West, while they themselves sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, then seize the opportunity to reap great profits. Unlike Italy, which acts entirely as Hitler's lackey, Japan possesses a semi-independent nature within the Tripartite Pact. Orders that merely align with Hitler's wishes but contradict Japan's own desires, such as the immediate outbreak of a Pacific war, cannot be obeyed by Japan. Japan's war against China, Japan's national strength, and the contradictions within Japan's ruling circles do not permit him to do so. This fact has produced several comedic episodes of mutual dalliance between Japan and the Anglo-American powers in recent months, particularly in the past week. Such comedies can only be explained by the fact that both the Anglo-American side and the Japanese side are willing to temporarily (not permanently) avoid a Pacific war. The only difference is that one side does so to concentrate forces against Germany, while the other does so to concentrate forces against China and to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight in the West, so as

to seize opportunities for gain in the future. But for certain ruling figures in the Chinese Kuomintang, this is a dousing of cold water, for after the Tripartite Pact, they had been daily hoping for a Japanese-American war to save their skins. Their Roosevelt was unwilling to take pity on their pleas, and Japan's intentions also ran counter to their wishes. We believe this is how the changes in the international situation revolving around Germany's victories should be viewed.

Many people greatly underestimate China's developing War of Resistance Against Japan. Some even feel as if Japan could disregard China, single-mindedly advance southward, and trigger a Japanese-American war. Little do they realize that the exact opposite is true: it is precisely China that fundamentally determines Japan's course of action—this China that stands towering before Japan, increasingly awakened and increasingly powerful in its resistance. China today is a great blaze of national revolution, where the torch is held high by hundreds of millions, and the Communist Party stands at the very forefront of this torch-bearing procession. Since the occupation of Wuhan, for over two and a half years, Japan's rulers have pursued a policy of concentrating attacks on the Communists while relaxing pressure on the Kuomintang to lure them into surrender. But this policy has failed: the Communists have grown more consolidated the more they are attacked, and the Kuomintang, though inclined to surrender, has not yet surrendered. What is regrettable is that the ruling figures among our friendly party, instead of improving governance and strengthening unity during this period, have launched two anti-Communist upsurges in these two and a half years, copying the Japanese approach by concentrating on anti-Communism while relaxing efforts against Japan. Their implication seems to be: "We are using all our strength to fight the Communists; you Japanese can feel free to go start a war with America, and don't attack us anymore." But Japanese imperialism does not listen to such words. What it wants is all of China. It not only wants to "oppose the Communists" but also to "exterminate the Party." The Japanese say: "For me not to advance, you must either surrender, or a full-scale Kuomintang-Communist war must break out. The Southern Anhui Incident alone is not enough." Indeed, after the Southern Anhui Incident, the Japanese truly exerted tremendous efforts to instigate a Kuomintang-Communist war. However, because the Central Committee of the Communist Party exerted every effort to uphold the larger interest, and because the main leading figures of the Kuomintang were also unwilling to fall into Japan's trap, Japan's instigating tricks went bankrupt, forcing it to redeploy its military forces for an adventurous offensive it was unwilling to undertake. This is the origin of the suddenly intensified war situation in recent days. We can state with certainty: Because of Kuomintang-Communist unity and the ever-growing people's War of Resistance, the flames opposing Japanese imperialism will only burn higher and higher. Japanese

imperialism will bury itself in the great conflagration of China. Naturally, this has greatly helped Britain and the United States by pinning down Japan's southward advance and facilitating their concentration of forces against Germany. But they do not cherish China; they are imperialists who profit at others' expense. As long as Japan does not start a Pacific war, they are willing to give Japan many things—rubber, oil, cotton, machinery, everything one could wish for—and that is only secondary. They would even sacrifice China and the Dutch East Indies, which are also tucked away in the cunning schemes of Roosevelt and Churchill. The new danger of a Far Eastern Munich is by no means an entirely impossible, overly nervous speculation. Yet, as long as China exerts herself and holds on, even if Japan's banner points westward, our torch will be hurled eastward in great numbers. By waging a great decisive struggle, there is every way to defeat Japan. Great China has entangled Japan, forcing him to temporarily avoid a Pacific war. It is China that fundamentally determines Japan's course of action, just as it is Japan that fundamentally determines China's course of action—these are merely two sides of the same coin.

As for the Soviet Union's policy of peace, it can be said that this is the brake on the entire world. Its strength will defeat all the schemes of the imperialist reactionaries. Whether it is the Anglo-American fantasy of Hitler's flames burning eastward, or any other anti-Soviet intrigue, one day people will see them as a pile of shattered scrap metal. Hess's flight proves that the latest grand Anglo-American conspiracy has failed again, that a new German-Soviet understanding has been reached, and that the danger of a new European Munich has been broken once more. This is a victory achieved by Stalin summoning the "East Wind." As in the West, so in the East. Even if Britain and the United States concoct some new Far Eastern Munich and mobilize all their disciples and followers in Japan and China, it will be of no avail. The Monkey King cannot leap out of the palm of the Buddha. It is also impossible for Britain and the United States to sabotage the stage of the War of Resistance. China's torch of resistance has Stalin himself to fuel it, and it can be relied upon that he will. If Japanese imperialism recklessly blunders and crashes toward China's western borders, it can be relied upon to get its head battered and face scorched, for China not only has an unbroken Kuomintang-Communist cooperation but also an ever-growing Sino-Soviet cooperation. To turn a blind eye to the Soviet Union's peace policy, or to underestimate it, is also definitely incorrect.

So, will Japan not advance southward? It will. But at present, its first priority is to advance westward; it

delusionally seeks to resolve the China problem first. It wants to exploit the current moment, letting Hitler fiercely attack Britain and the United States while it fiercely attacks China. It attempts to sever China's two communication routes in the northwest and southwest and to break through the Beiping-Hankou Railway line. After a bout of fierce attacks, it will surely follow with a bout of soft offensive, mobilizing its fifth column (the He Yingqin types) to extensively employ co-opting tactics to achieve the goal of luring surrender. One strike, one pull—these remain Japan's two great magic weapons. Estimating that at some opportune moment, another surrender crisis might arise, we must be vigilant now. Japan's wishful calculation is probably this: to resolve, or largely resolve, the China problem within a not very long period, and then, when Britain and the United States are even less able to attend to the East, either they will readily hand over the Pacific to me, or I will draw my sword and gun against them. In any case, by then I will have things "as I wish." The subjective calculations of all imperialists must never be regarded as the outcome. Between their subjective calculations and the final result, there is either fundamental opposition or a vast discrepancy. The calculations of Japanese imperialism should be viewed in the same way. So it wants to "resolve us first" again—let it try once more. Its so-called "plans" for China have failed countless times; let it fail once more. This is entirely possible. All reactionaries in the world are incapable of estimating the growth of revolutionary forces; this is the fatal weakness decreed for reactionaries.

Whose world is the world, after all? The imperialist robbers say it must be their world, while the people say it must be the people's world. Whose China is China, after all? The Japanese imperialists say it must be their China, while we say it must be the Chinese people's China. "Behold, whose world is this today?" Only the people, only we, can correctly answer this question. Yes, the correct answer will only come from the people, only from us, and absolutely not from the enemy, not from them.

Let the people of the whole nation unite to oppose the offensive of Japanese imperialism; we have every assurance of victory.