missar of the central Hebei Military District.

At the Eastern Anti-Fascist Congress,
Comrade Mao Zedong Calls Upon All the
Nationalities to Strengthen Their Unity
(October 30, 1941)

(Special to this paper) The central agenda of the fourth and fifth days of the Congress of the
Nationalities Against Fascism was to have all the representatives continue to give presentations and analyses of their nationalities. At the meeting on the 29th, there were reports by
the Vietnamese representative, Huang Zhengguang; the Korean representative, Li Xiang;
the Tibetan representative, Cai Qian; the Mongolian representative, Ulanfu; the Muslim
representative, Ma Ying; the representative of the northeast, Yu Bingran; and the representative of the Dutch East Indies, Aliahan. The 30th was the last day for special reports. After
congratulatory telegrams from various quarters had been read aloud, first a representative
from the Overseas Chinese Association gave a report. He explained in concrete terms the
distribution of overseas Chinese in East Asia, their economic status, and their great contributions to labor and productivity. “They took risks to leave their motherland, bravely wandering all over to struggle ceaselessly for their own livelihoods and for the glory of their
motherland. At the present time, when the world has been assaulted by violent waves of
fascism, the overseas Chinese will form antifascist fighting fortresses all over!” At the end
he confirmed this conclusion with concrete facts and evidence. The representative from
Thailand, Ma Na, was the second person to speak: “Thailand is right now under the gun of
Japanese aggression. At this point the trickster Japan has completely forsaken its false
friendship of days gone by. The false friend of the past is in truth today’s sworn enemy.”
When he spoke about the current situation in Thailand, he unmasked the conspiracies that
Japan has perpetrated. For example: “buying bureaucrats, sowing dissention between the
government and the people, fomenting emotional discord between the Thais and the overseas Chinese, creating an antagonistic atmosphere between the Thais and the foreign nationals of Britain and America, inducing Thai students to study in Japan, instigating Thai-land to attack Vietnam, and so on and so forth.” At the end he stated to the gathering the
wishes of the Thai people: “Internally, to unite all smaller nationalities and all classes within
the country against Japan, and to ally with foreign nationals living in Thailand, especially
the overseas Chinese, to form a united front against fascism. Externally, to ally with all
Eastern nations to fight as one, join the world front against fascism, and support the Soviet
Union.” Following this were reports by the representative of the Miao nationality,
Shawajiegai, and by the representative of the Yi nationality, Mohan. Veteran worker Zhu
Baoting conveyed greetings to the meeting on behalf of his employees’ union. He pointed
out that the way for the Japanese workers and farmers is to join us in overthrowing fascism!

This article was first published in Jiefang ribao, October 31, 1941. We have translated it
from Mao Zedong ji, Vol. 8, pp. 29–31, which reproduces this version.
He went on to speak of older workers in the Soviet Union who are now giving up their
pensions and working with fervor on their days off, British workers who are stepping up
their production of tanks, American workers who are intensifying their national defense
production, and the Chinese workers who are also working without stop despite all hardships. “I advocate the establishment of an antifascist alliance of workers, an antifascist
alliance of peasants, of merchants, of students . . .” Comrade Zhu Baoting’s talk, which was
akin to storytelling, several times aroused hearty laughter from the entire audience.
During a break, Comrade Mao Zedong arrived suddenly, having braved a drizzling rain,
at which point the whole audience broke out in jubilation. He was full of vitality, glowing
with health and radiating vigor. After asking the news reporters a few questions, he strode
forcefully to the podium and addressed the crowd.

This conference must certainly be going very well, and today’s reports and discussions are certain to have contributed a great deal. That all nationalities are able to
unite and rise up in unison to deal with Japanese imperialism is a very good thing.
I think that the main goal of the congress is unity; to promote unity among all
nations to overthrow fascism together. Japan and Hitler have been able to act as
contemptible wretches making trouble and to run rampant for a time precisely
because they seized upon our weakness, which is disunity. This weakness has
been present in China, in East Asia, and all over the world.

At this point, after providing a deep explanation of past history, he went on to point out:

Now, precisely because China is united, it is able to wage a war of resistance.
But this unity is still sorely inadequate, as there are some people who, on the
surface, appear to be fighting Japan but are sabotaging the unity behind the scenes.
There is another sort of person who is fighting the War of Resistance, on the one
hand, but creating friction, on the other. These two kinds of people are different.
The former are Chinese traitors, and the latter are those who fail to understand the
overall train of events. Yan’an is a place where unity is particularly emphasized.
Here there is a mosque, a Society for the Promotion of Mongolian Culture, a Na-
tionalities Institute . . . Here a congress of the nationalities against fascism can be
held.

He then went on to expound upon the situation in the future:

There is an even bigger battle to fight in the future. The fascists have tremendous ambition; they still have more strength, and they will go in for more frenzied
aggression. Hitler is striking wildly all over the place in the face of the solidarity
among Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Difficulties exist, naturally, in the midst of war. Therefore, there will be a period of difficulty in the
struggle against fascism. Everyone should be clear on this point. At present we
face only 50 or 60 percent difficulties; 100 percent difficulties are yet to come.
This meeting is of great significance. Moscow and the Far East are both holding
meetings. This meeting of ours is also for the purpose of overcoming difficulties,
and the fascists are taking advantage of these difficulties. In my view, the more
territory the fascists occupy, the greater the danger [for them]. It is like with Napo-leon, or the Macedonian Emperor Alexander, or Mongolia . . . And now as long as
we are united, it will not be hard to tear the fascists limb from limb. Japan is about
to make incursions northward and southward; it will happen one way or another.
At present we have three united fronts. One is China’s Anti-Japanese National
United Front. Another is the Eastern ABCD front. The third one is the allied actions of Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. In the face of these three
united fronts, fascism will certainly be defeated. We need to acquaint ourselves
with the circumstances and overcome difficulties. We need not be afraid; rather
we must have confidence. The revolutionary people are vital; historically they
have life force. Fascism will die. The struggle of the popular masses must necessarily undergo difficulties before it can lead to victory.

At the end he told all those assembled:

Fascism is on its last legs, and we, the people, are in the prime of youth. Today,
what is needed in the fight against fascism the world over is practical work, study
of the problems, intensified study . . . Even growing a bit more millet is a good
thing. We should not indulge ourselves in exaggerations. Fascism has no soul, but
we have souls. If we join hands tightly, unite together, love and help each other,
then we will squeeze the fascists to their very death. I congratulate the congress for
its success, for stressing equality, for emphasizing love and unity.

After a quarter of an hour, Comrade Mao Zedong ended his speech, surrounded by the
audience, which rose and cheered.

Finally, the Jewish representative, Miss Yehua Sommergland, spoke as follows: “The 20 million Jewish people all over the world have recognized that Hitler
is the deadly enemy of the Jewish people. We want to fight with determination to
exterminate this plague upon the human race!”
In Refutation of the Third “Left” Line
(Selected Extracts)¹
(1941)

I

According to what has always been our way of thinking, that which is called an
estimation of a situation is the internal association with regard to objective circumstances that is reflected in our brain after investigation and study have been applied to actual situations that exist independently outside the subjectivity of human beings, and we can neither recognize nor deny them at will. Whether they
are of benefit to us or harmful to us, or whether they can mobilize the masses or not, we have no choice but to investigate
them, consider them, and pay attention to them. If we wish to go further and change
objective circumstances, then we can set guidelines for action according to this
kind of estimation that accurately reflects the internal association with regard to
objective circumstances and, in turn, influence the objective situation and transform it. At this time, if objective circumstances are favorable to our going forward,
we will say to the masses, “Go forward!” If they are unfavorable to our advance,
we will say to the masses, “Call a temporary halt.” (This is close to “attentisme”),
or we will say, “You should retreat (which smacks very much of “opportunism”)!
To my way of thinking, this can be called Marxism’s minimum point of view!

II

It must be understood that in all areas where the Japanese and the Guomindang
have consolidated their rule (and such areas constitute more than nine-tenths of all
regions in the country), the form of bloody armed struggle absolutely cannot be
adopted; rather, only a form of bloodless, peaceful struggle can be employed.
Peaceful struggle, in turn, falls into two categories. One kind is lawful and open
struggle, and the other is unlawful and secret struggle, but both take the form of
bloodless, nonviolent, unarmed struggle. Unifying these two is the strategic line
for areas under enemy rule.
It is necessary to adopt lawful and open forms of struggle in all regions where
the Japanese and the Guomindang have consolidated rule. Even though China is
not a democratic country ruled by law, the people have no political freedom, and
oppression of the people is especially severe in the regions under Japanese rule,
there are still many aspects of governmental law and social customs that can be
made use of, and there are many contradictions, gaps, and loopholes that we can
take advantage of. It is necessary to adopt all sorts of legal forms of struggle that
can be carried out openly in order to have people participate, to avoid, on the
whole, arrest and dispersal by the government, and to preserve and build up our
own strength. The Provisional Central [Politburo],² on the other hand, strenuously
opposes such forms of struggle. There are many kinds of struggle that are originally unlawful, but have the possibility of victory only if carried out through the
use of open and lawful means. Take the labor strike, for example, which is unlawful. If we want to achieve victory and avoid failure, then we must make use of
various sorts of economic, political, and social conditions of the time and place,
and if it is possible to strike we proceed, abandon the strike if not, and call a halt to
it if we strike and fail to win victory. Only by doing things in a rational and reasonable way and carrying out the principles of legitimacy, gain, and moderation can
we survive and be victorious. Ignoring all such realities, however, the Provisional
Central [Politburo] just went ahead and gave orders to “use all forces to organize
anti-Japanese strikes.” Take resistance to Japan as another example. It is against
the law, but certain work still can be carried out by making use of public opinion in
society and all kinds of political spaces or gaps. Yet all the Provisional Central
[Politburo] did was make a lot of loud noise and lash out at random, with the result

These extracts are taken from a long article written by Mao in 1941, probably in October or
November. Our source for this text is _Mao Zedong wenji_, Vol. 2, pp. 339–48.
1. This text appears between two May 1941 texts in _Mao Zedong wenji_, but according to
_Nianpu_ Mao wrote the long article from which these passages have been excerpted sometime after the Enlarged Plenum of the Politburo, which met from September 10 to October
22, 1941. This inconsistency is perplexing, but the clear and detailed statement in _Nianpu_
must be regarded as more authoritative. As can be seen from Mao’s address to the Septem-ber 10 meeting of the Politburo, translated above, one of the main topics of discussion was
the “Third Left Line,” which had prevailed in the Chinese Communist Party from Septem-ber 1931 to January 1935. Mao drafted the resolution on this subject adopted by the plenum. He then proceeded to compose a nine-part article on the same topic, of which this is
the most complete text available. The complete article was not published or even circulated
within the Party at the time it was written. In a revised version, which he prepared
in May 1965, Mao indicated that in 1941 in Yan’an, he had sent it only to Liu Shaoqi and
Ren Bishi, and had not even shown it to other members of the Central Committee. The
reason for this, he added, “was probably that this article was couched in excessively sharp
terms and was not conducive to uniting with comrades who had committed mistakes.” (See
_Nianpu_, Vol. 2, pp. 349–51.)

2. Refers to the Provisional Central Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, established in September 1931 at the suggestion of the Comintern’s Far Eastern Bureau.