Talk While Meeting with the Delegation
of Chinese and Foreign Reporters
Visiting the Northwest
(June 12, 1944)
I. Introductory remarks
I wholeheartedly welcome you to Yan’an. We have a common goal, which is to
overthrow the Japanese warlords and to defeat all Fascists. China and the entire
world are united on this common basis.
Your arrival in Yan’an coincides with the opening of the second front in
Europe.1 We greatly celebrate this fact. The impact of the second front is not
restricted to Europe; it will extend to the Pacific and China as well. China will
move forward, and the world will move forward. We must achieve the ultimate
victory.
The opening of the second front is the result of developments long in the
making and is the consequence of progress made during the Moscow Conference
and the Tehran Conference.2 It was at these conferences that the decision was
made to attack the enemy from the east, west, and south. The second battlefield
has been realized; the plan to attack the enemy from three directions has been
actualized. We sincerely wish President [Franklin] Roosevelt, Prime Minister
[Winston] Churchill, and Marshal [Joseph] Stalin good health!
All the participants in the War of Resistance throughout China should focus on
the objective, work hard, coordinate with the decisive battle in Europe, and
overthrow the Japanese warlords. Opportunities abound for us now.
As for the domestic situation in China, you are very concerned about it, so I

must elaborate here. With regard to the relationship between the Guomindang
and the Communists, the attitude of the Chinese Communist Party is evident in
the proclamations and newspapers of the Chinese Communist Party Central
Committee. Today, I will take the opportunity of your visit again to make the
following explanation: we support Chairman Chiang [Kaishek], adhere to the
cooperation between the Guomindang and the Communists and the cooperation
of the people of the entire nation, and we struggle to overthrow Japanese
imperialism and to build an independent and democratic China. All along, these
policies of the Chinese Communist Party have not changed. It was the case in the
early period of the War of Resistance and in the middle of the War of Resistance,
and it remains true today because this is what all Chinese people expect.
China, however, has defects, and they are major defects. These sorts of defects
can be revealed in one sentence—it lacks democracy. The Chinese people need
democracy very much because only democracy can give the War of Resistance its
strength and put domestic relations and international relations on the right track.
Only democracy can achieve victory in the War of Resistance, enable us to build
a good country, and guarantee continued unity in China after the war. All of us
know that China lacks democracy. Only with the addition of democracy can
China move forward.
II. Questions and Answers
Questions
Mr. [Günther] Stein:3 Chairman Mao, will you please tell us something about
Mr. Lin Boqu’s negotiations in Chongqing?
Father Xia Nanhan: We are all concerned about this question. Could you
please answer it first?
Mr. Stein: In order to clarify the issue, I would like Chairman Mao to make a
comparison between the negotiations between the Guomindang and the
Communists in 1936 and the situation in today’s negotiations.
Mr. [Israel] Epstein: Has the opening of the second front marked the beginning
of a new period? Is the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee preparing

to issue a declaration in this regard to clarify its policy?
Mr. Xie Shuangqiu: In order to strengthen unity, what does the Chinese
Communist Party expect from the various sides?
Mr. Zhao Binghen: In order to clarify the issue, I add another question. What
does the Chinese Communist Party expect the Guomindang government, the
Guomindang itself, and the other parties to do? What is the Chinese Communist
Party itself prepared to do?
Chairman Mao’s response:
Your questions can be summed up in three points.
On the first question about the negotiations between the Guomindang and the
Communists, the negotiations have continued for a long time and continue even
today. We hope that the negotiations will make progress and also produce results.
As to the rest, I cannot tell you anything more.
The second question is about the second front. A few days ago, an editorial in
Liberation Daily made it clear that it is a new period, but we are not prepared to
issue another declaration. The opening of the second front develops from the
cooperation between the Allied countries during the war. Its general character,
when comparing the present with the past, has not changed. Nevertheless, the
opening of the second front shares a meaning similar to the counteroffensive at
Stalingrad. Before November 1942, there was a period of extreme Fascist ferocity
and a period when anti-Fascist forces were attacked and were in retreat. Owing
to the offensive of the Soviet Union, the previous period has ended and a new
period has begun. Immediately thereafter, there were offensives in North Africa
and the Pacific. This was a major change in which the Allied countries changed
from defense to offense. The opening of the second front is another big step
forward in the offensive. Without it, it is impossible to overthrow Hitler. Now
Europe has entered the stage of decisive battle. In this sense, this is a new stage,
especially in terms of military affairs. I have said that the impact of opening the
second front will be far and wide. It will directly affect Europe and in the future
will have an impact on the Pacific and China. But at present, its impact on China
will probably be small. As you can see, although the situation for the rest of the
world seems promising, problems in China will continue to depend on the efforts
of the Chinese people. Improvements abroad alone will not solve our problems.
The third question is about the expectation of the Chinese Communist Party

and its own work. In order to overthrow the common enemy and to build very
good and peaceful domestic relations, as well as very good and peaceful
international relations, what we expect from the Guomindang government, the
Guomindang itself, and all other parties is implementation of democracy in every
field. The entire world is in the midst of the War of Resistance. Europe has
entered a period of decisive battle; the decisive battle in Asia is coming soon, but
China lacks the democratic system that is needed for the promotion of the war.
Only democracy can give the War of Resistance its strength. This has been
proven by the experience of the Soviet Union, the United States, and Great
Britain. The experience in China in the past few decades and in the past seven
years of the War of Resistance also proves this point. There must be democracy in
every respect: in politics, military affairs, the economy, culture, Party affairs, and
international relations. All of these require democracy. Without question,
everything needs unification, and everything must be unified. Unification,
however, should be built on a foundation of democracy. Politics needs
unification, but only politics which is built on the basis of freedom of speech,
freedom of publication, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and free
and democratic election of the government can have strength. Unification is
especially important in the military, but unification of the military should also be
built on the basis of democracy: between officers and soldiers, between the army
and the people, and between different parts of the army. Without a democratic
life and democratic relations, the army will not be able to fight as one. Economic
democracy means that the economic system should not prevent the general
masses from production, exchange, and consumption, but should promote the
development of these activities. Cultural democracy, such as in education,
academic thinking, newspapers, and art, can only be promoted by democracy.
Democracy as part of Party affairs means that the internal relations within the
Party and the relations between different parties should all be democratic
relations. In terms of international relations, every country should be a
democratic state and develop democratic relationships. We expect foreign
countries and foreign friends to treat us with a democratic attitude, and we
should also treat foreign countries and foreign friends with a democratic attitude.
I will repeat one sentence: We need unification very much, but only unification
that is built on the basis of democracy is true unification. It is true within the

country, and it will also be true in the new League of Nations. Only democratic
unification can overthrow fascism and can build a new China and a new world.
Our support for the Atlantic Charter4 and the resolutions made at the Moscow,
Cairo, and Tehran conferences5 are based on this view. This is mainly what we
expect from the Guomindang government, the Guomindang itself, all other
parties, and all civil associations. This is also what the Chinese Communist Party
has done and will continue to do. You gentlemen have been in the border region
for more than ten days, and you are still going to stay for a few more days. You
will see that all the work we Communists have done to overthrow the Japanese
imperialists is carried out in a spirit of democratic unification or democratic
centralism. If we are insufficient in one field, we must continue to make an effort.
If we have defects, we must overcome these defects. We believe that in the entire
Chinese nation only a democratic system and a democratic style can defeat the
enemy at present and can build very good and peaceful domestic and
international relations in the future. In terms of the Fascist countries like
Germany, Italy, Japan, and others, we expect the same from them after their
defeat. By holding this attitude when examining many problems, one can explain
and accomplish anything. It is already late today. We can still exchange ideas in
the future. This is all I want to say.
Notes
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 167–71, where it is reproduced from Jiefang ribao,
June 13, 1944, supplemented by the version in Mao Zedong ji, Vol. 9, pp. 99–103.
1. Referring to the Allied invasion on the western front at Normandy on June 6, 1944. Mao’s views on the
second front are given above, in the text of February 21, 1943.
2. Regarding the Moscow Conference, see above, note to the text of March 5, 1944. Regarding the Tehran
Conference, see above, note to the text of December 16, 1943.
3. Günther Stein (1900–1960) was at this time a correspondent for the Associated Press, the Manchester
Guardian, and the Christian Science Monitor, stationed in Chongqing.
4. The Atlantic Charter, also called the “Joint Statement by Roosevelt and Churchill,” was published on

August 14, 1941, after the two leaders had met on the Atlantic and promised cooperation in the fight
against the Nazis, mutual nonaggression, and postwar disarmament.
5. Regarding the Cairo Conference, see above, note to the text of December 16, 1943.