--- Notes

1945, June 16. The Kuomintang government has decided to convene the so-called National Political Consultative Assembly on July 7 of this year; however, no one from the Communist Party will attend. This is because: (1) Since last September, the CPC, together with the China Democratic League and other broad democratic forces, have consistently demanded that the KMT government immediately abolish one-party dictatorship, convene a conference of representatives from all political parties and non-affiliated figures, establish a democratic, provisional coalition government, promulgate a democratic program, and carry out democratic reforms—so as to mobilize and unite the Chinese people’s anti-Japanese resistance, effectively coordinate with the Allied powers in defeating the Japanese aggressors, and, on the basis of such a coalition government founded upon democratic principles, hold free and untrammeled elections after the entire country has been liberated, convene a National Assembly, draft a constitution, and elect a regular government. This position genuinely reflects the common will of the vast majority of the Chinese people; yet, after several rounds of negotiations between our party’s representatives and those of the KMT, it has been rejected by the latter. As for even the most basic conditions necessary to restore unity and form a coalition government—such as rescinding laws that suppress civil liberties, dismantling the secret police apparatus, releasing all detained Communists and other patriots, recognizing the legal status of the CPC and other democratic parties, acknowledging the Chinese Liberated Areas, and withdrawing the troops encircling and attacking those areas—the KMT has not only refused to implement any of them but has instead intensified its reactionary measures aimed at undermining unity and sabotaging the war effort. (2) In calling this so-called new National Political Consultative Assembly, the KMT authorities neither consulted our party nor any other democratic organizations beforehand; as in the past, the entire affair remains entirely in the hands of the KMT. Under KMT legislation, the CPC and other democratic parties still lack legal standing. Even the members representing the CPC were appointed by the KMT authorities, rather than being elected by the CPC itself. Meanwhile, the anti-Japanese forces led by the CPC have now become the central force in defeating the national enemy and liberating the Chinese people. The KMT’s treatment of the CPC not only violates democratic principles but also fails to accord with the CPC’s actual role in the War of Resistance. (3) Most importantly, at its Sixth National Congress, disregarding the unanimous opposition of the Chinese people, the CPC, and other democratic parties, the KMT single-mindedly resolved to convene, on November 11 of this year, a preparatory “National Assembly” orchestrated solely by the KMT—a body designed to split the people and prepare for civil war. Moreover, at the forthcoming session of the National Political Consultative Assembly, the KMT intends to force the adoption of numerous concrete measures to implement its own reactionary resolutions. Should this occur, it would be a grave mistake, triggering a large-scale civil war that would be anti-national, anti-people, and anti-democratic. Clearly, the sole result would be to aid the Japanese aggressors. For these reasons, the CPC has decided not to participate in this meeting of the National Political Consultative Assembly as a protest.

Over the past century, and particularly during the fourteen years since the founding of the Communist Party, the Chinese people—democrats and communists alike—have waged a vigorous, successive struggle against the twin oppressions of foreign imperialism and domestic feudalism, striving to build a new China that is independent, free, democratic, unified, and prosperous. Countless revolutionary martyrs have sacrificed their lives in this great cause. All reactionaries have sought to crush the revolution through mass slaughter, believing that the more they kill, the weaker the revolution will become. Yet, contrary to this reactionary assumption, history has shown that the more the reactionaries kill, the stronger the revolutionary forces grow, and the sooner the reactionaries themselves are doomed. This is an irresistible law. The examples of Hitler, Mussolini, and Japanese fascism abroad, as well as the Qing dynasty and the Beiyang warlords in China, all bear witness to this truth. Despite the slaughter of hundreds of thousands or even millions of revolutionaries, ever larger numbers have risen up to continue the struggle; no one can truly compel the people to surrender. Today, the broad anti-Japanese democratic movement throughout China—the Liberated Areas inhabited by 100 million people, the People’s Anti-Japanese Army numbering one million, the 1.21 million members of the Communist Party, and the revolutionary program adopted at the Seventh National Congress of the CPC—are all products of the blood shed by hundreds of thousands of democratic martyrs and tens of thousands of communist martyrs, the fruit of their decades-long struggle. Now, the Chinese people have come to a deeper understanding of the importance of unity and collective action. China must belong to the people; China must defeat the Japanese aggressors and their collaborators, and forge a new China that is independent, free, democratic, unified, and prosperous. It is the sacred aspiration of all revolutionary martyrs over the past century—especially during the last fourteen years—that this goal shall ultimately be achieved victoriously.