COMRADE MAO TSE-TUNG ADDRESSES EASTERN ANTIFASCIST MEETING, CALLING ON ALL
NATIONS TO STRENGTHEN UNITY

30 October 1941

[Text] The central agenda for the 4th and 5th days of the Antifascist
Nationality Conference called for the delegates to continue making reports
and analyses for members of their respective nationalities. The meeting of
the 29th consisted of the reports of Vietnamese delegate Hoang Than Quang,
Tibetan delegate (Sang Yueh-hsi), Taiwan delegate Ts'ai Ch'ien, Mongolian
delegate We Lan-fu, Moslem delegate (Ma Yen), Northeast delegate Yu Ping-jan,
and Dutch Indonesian delegate (A-li-a-han). The 30th was the last day for
special reports. After reading the congratulatory cables from various
sources, the Overseas Chinese League delegate first made his report. He
gave a concrete account of the distribution of Overseas Chinese in East
Asia, their economic situation, and their great contributions in labor
production. "They took the risk of leaving their father country and courageously wandered to all areas, and they struggle continuously for their
own livelihood and the glory of their father country. Currently, when the
fascist wild tide sweeps over the whole world, the Overseas Chinese will
form antifascist strongholds in all areas!" He ended the report by substantiating his conclusion with concrete facts. Thai delegate (Ma-na) was
the second person to make a statement: "Thailand is currently under the
sword of Japanese aggression. Japan has now completely discarded the false
friendship of the past. The false friend of the past is the true enemy of
today." When he discussed current conditions in Thailand, he revealed the
conspiracies carried out by Japan, such as "corrupting the bureaucrats,
provoking the feelings of the government and the people, disrupting relations between the Thais and the Chinese, creating animosity between the
Thais and the British and American residents, inducing Thai students to
study in Japan, and instigating Thailand to attack Vietnam." Finally, he
enumerated the desires of the Thai people: "Internally, they wish to unite
all minorities and all classes to resist Japan, rally the foreign residents
in Thailand, especially the Chinese, and build an antifascist front. Ex-
ternally, they wish to unite all nations in the East for joint struggles,
participate in the world antifascist front, and render aid to the Soviet
Union." There followed the reports of Miao delegate (Sha-wa-chi-kai) and
Yi delegate (Mo-han). Old worker Chu Pao-t'ing congratulated the meeting

on behalf of the Staff and Workers Association. He pointed out that the
path of Japan's workers and peasants was to overthrow fascism together!
He then said that old workers in the Soviet Union did not ask for old-age
benefits or holidays but worked at a high intensity, that the British
workers were making more tanks, that the American workers were intensifying
national defense production, and that the Chinese workers also disregarded
all difficulties and toiled incessantly. "I advocate building a great workers' antifascist alliance, a great peasants' antifascist alliance, a
merchants', a students'...." His story-telling style of reporting made
everyone roar with laughter.

During the rest period, Comrade Mao Tse-tung braved a fine rain and arrived
suddenly. He was cheered wildly by the entire meeting. Full of energy and
very alert, he strode to the rostrum after a few words with the reporters
and addressed the meeting:

"This meeting will be successful. The reports and discussions today will
be very productive. That the various nationalities can unite, rise, and
jointly handle Japanese imperialism is an excellent phenomenon. I feel
that the main goal of the meeting is unity, promoting the unity of the
nationalities and smashing fascism together. That Japan and Hitler can succeed for a time is because they seize upon our weak point. Our weak point
is disunity, which exists in China, in East Asia, and in the whole world."

After making a profound explanation of the history of the past, he pointed out:

"Currently, because China is united, it is able to wage the resistance war.
But our unity is still inadequate, because some people make a show of resisting Japan while sabotaging unity behind the scenes. Those of another
type fight the war and cause friction at the same time. These two types
of people are different: The former consists of traitors; the latter includes those ignorant of the general situation. Yenan is a place where unity
is stressed. Here there are Moslem temples, associations to promote Mon-golian culture, minority academies... Here it is possible to hold an
antifascist nationality meeting."

He then discussed the situation in the future:

"Hereafter there will be bigger battles to fight. The fascists have great
ambitions, still possess the strength, and will launch more insane aggressions. Hitler lashes out indiscriminately in face of the great unity of
England, America, and the Soviet Union. Naturally, difficulties always
exist in war. Therefore, there will still be a difficult period in the
struggles against fascism. This point must be clearly realized by all. Now
the difficulties are only 50 or 60 percent; 100-percent difficulty is still
to come. This meeting is very meaningful. Meetings are going on in Moscow
and the Far East. Our meeting is also for the purpose of overcoming the
difficulties, while the fascists are utilizing them. In my view, the more
areas the fascists occupy, the greater will be the danger they run, just

as it was for Napoleon, Alexander of Macedonia, Mongolia.... Today, as
long as we unite, it will not be difficult to tear off the arms and legs
of fascism. Japan wants to invade the north and the south. Most likely it
will come.... Currently we have three united fronts: China's Anti-Japanese
National United Front, the ABCD front in the East, and the concerted action
of England, America, and the Soviet Union. With these three united fronts,
fascism will be smashed. We must understand the conditions and overcome
the difficulties, fearless and confident. The revolutionary people are live;
they have life in history. Fascism will perish. The struggles of the masses
must undergo difficulties before victory.

In conclusion, he informed everyone:

"Fascism will soon die. Our people are in the period of youth and vigor.
Today the struggle against fascism throughout the world requires practical
work, studying the problems, intensifying learning.... Even planting a
little more millet will help. Fascism has no soul, but we do. By holding
hands tightly, uniting, and aiding one another, we will squeeze fascism
to death. I wish the meeting success, stressing equality and friendly
unity."

After some 15 minutes, Comrade Mao Tse-tung concluded his speech amidst a
standing ovation.

Finally, Jewish delegate Miss (Yeh-hua Sang-po-ko-lan-te) made a statement.
She said:

"The 20 million Jewish people in the world all recognize Hitler as their
sworn enemy. We wish, by our firm struggles, to eliminate this group of
pests to mankind!"

° CHIEH-FANG JIH-PAO, 31 October 1941