May 25, 1941: On this very day, U.S. compromise at the expense of China has given rise to a new conspiracy—the “Eastern Munich” aimed at anti-communism and anti-resistance—which is now being hatched among Japan, the United States, and China.

(1) We must expose it and oppose it.  (1) The Japanese military offensive, whose ultimate goal is Chiang Kai-shek’s surrender, has now been declared over by Japan. What will follow inevitably is an effort to lure him into capitulation. “This is merely a reprise of the enemy’s time-honored policy of ‘strike first, then negotiate; strike again while negotiating.’” We must expose this and oppose it.

(3) Concurrent with the Japanese military offensive, a campaign of disinformation has also been launched—claims that the Eighth Route Army refuses to cooperate with the Nationalist forces, that it is seizing the opportunity to expand its territory, that it seeks to open up international communication routes, and so forth. All these are part of Japan’s treacherous scheme to sow discord between the Communists and the Nationalists in order to facilitate Chiang’s surrender. The official Kuomintang newspapers have simply parroted and disseminated these fabrications, even going so far as to echo Japan’s anti-communist propaganda. The ulterior motives behind such actions are highly suspect. We should expose them and oppose them.

(4) Although the New Fourth Army has been branded a “rebel force,” and although the Eighth Route Army has received neither a single bullet nor a single penny in pay from the central government, it has never ceased fighting the enemy. In the recent Jinan Campaign, the Eighth Route Army once again voluntarily cooperated with the Nationalist forces. Over the past two weeks, along all fronts in North China, Communist-led armed forces have been vigorously mobilizing the people. The Communist-led resistance has become the mainstay of the War of Resistance. All slanders against the Communist Party are designed to bring about the failure of the war and thus pave the way for surrender. We should extol the achievements of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army and resolutely oppose all defeatists and surrenderists.