An Appraisal of the Guomindang-Communist Relationship
(July 31, 1942)
Comrade Hu Fu:1
I received your June 25 telegram on July 22. Here is my reply:
1. At present, Great Britain and the United States do not want a civil war in
China. The United States has made it clear that the aid of arms and ammunition
to China cannot be used against the Communists, and the congratulatory
telegram that [Winston] Churchill sent to Chiang Kaishek on July 7 mentioned
that the five years of the War of Resistance Against Japan was the result of
upholding the United Front. This is one of the reasons for the recent
improvement in the Guomindang attitude. This improvement is likely to grow,
and I am trying hard to achieve it. The Guomindang-Communist relationship,
however, is an internal Chinese affair, and Britain, the United States, and the
Soviet Union cannot openly mediate it. Instead, they can only secretly persuade
and openly express through public opinion their hopes for Chinese unity. This
will also happen in the future, and I am trying to achieve it now as well.
2. We are now indicating to the Guomindang that after the war or during the
counteroffensive stage, when there is a possibility of moving to the north, our
troops to the south of the Yellow River may march to the north of the Yellow
River. When the Guomindang’s change in attitude becomes more certain, I will
again request that they order their troops in Shandong and Central China to stop
clashing with us. This possibility also exists.
3. As regards the Guomindang-Communist relationship, in the past some
people in the Guomindang preferred to resolve things by force, but these things never came to a resolution. Because the domestic and international situations
have now changed and we are upholding a policy of cooperation, they have
expressed a willingness to resolve things politically. The recent talks between
[Zhou] Enlai and Chiang went fairly well. Chiang has again appointed Zhang
Zhizhong and Liu Weizhang to negotiate with us.2 In addition, he has appointed
Bu Shiqi as the daily liaison, and Chiang’s liaison staff officer will continue to
come to Yan’an. These are all signs of improvement, but we cannot be too eager.
4. Our Party’s July 7 Manifesto3 and the movement for rectification of the
Three Work Styles in three fields have made a very good impression in all areas.
5. Have you received my telegram sent on July 6?
Mao Zedong
Notes
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Notes

Our source for this text is Zhonggong zhongyang wenxian yanjiushi, ed., Wenxian he yanjiu, 1985 huibian
ben (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1986), pp. 172–73.

--- Notes

1. Hu Fu is the nom de guerre for Liu Shaoqi. See Mao’s telegram to him under this name in Vol. VI, text
of September 24, 1937, p. 55.

2. These were representatives of the Guomindang during the negotiations with the Chinese Communist
Party. Zhang Zhizhong was the head of the Political Department of the Military Commission of the
Guomindang government, of which Liu Weizhang was a member. See also the text of May 21, 1944. Bu
Shiqi, an early Chinese Communist Party member, studied in Moscow and interpreted for Borodin. He was
arrested by the Guomindang in 1933 and thereafter changed his allegiance and joined the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China.

3. See above, note 2 to the text of July 6, 1942.