CHAIRMAN MAO URGES COMMANDERS AND FIGHTERS TO PERSIST IN ADVANCING THE
INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE

18 September 1944

[Text] The office of the CCP Central Committee gave a reception in the
auditorium of the Central Committee at 1400 hours on 18 September to welcome the representatives of model learners from the army corps stationed
behind enemy lines and representatives of combat heroes who came to Yenan
for training after their combat duties behind enemy lines. The reception
was attended by members of various departments of the Central Committee,
members of various departments of the Political Bureau of Northwest China,
and responsible comrades of army corps stationed behind enemy lines. They
met the representatives of the best fighters of the 8th Route Army stationed
at various places. This is the first big meeting ever held since the founding of the 8th Route Army. Representatives of the heroic New 4th Army and
people's armed units from South China were also invited.

Speeches were made by Chairman Mao, Commander in Chief Chu Te, Deputy
Commander in Chief Peng Te-huai, Comrade Liu Shao-ch'i, Comrade Chou En-lai,
Commander of the New 4th Army Ch'en I [7115 3015] and Commander Nieh Yung-chen
[5119 2837 5271] of the Shansi-Chahar-Hopei Military District. Responsible
officers of the Central Committee headed by Comrade Mao dined with the representatives. During the dinner, Chairman Mao had intimate conversations with
the fighters and commanders, and they toasted the final victory of the war
of resistance. In the evening the representatives were entertained with
Peiping opera. The performance ended late at night.

Chairman Mao met the representatives of model learners amid thunderous
applause. After briefly explaining the meaning of the welcome reception,
Chairman Mao said:

"You have been selected from the armed units. You represent the 8th
Route Army and the New 4th Army. At the same time, you represent 90 million
people in your bases, and you also represent the 450 million people all over
China in attending this meeting. Although you were not directly elected by
them, the program you carry on and the work you do indeed represent the
demand of all the people in the country--defeat Japanese imperialism and
liberate the Chinese nation."

Chairman Mao continued by pointing out:

"Since the fall of Wuhan, especially in the last 2 years, a great change has
taken place in the situation of China's war of resistance. Now the 8th
Route Army, the New 4th Army, and the people's armed units in South China
are engaging five-sixths of the puppet and enemy troops in China. The
Kuomintang units are engaging only one-sixth. In the Honan and Hunan
battles the enemy just walked into no man's land. This situation is very
serious. The reason China did not perish is that it has us, the Communist
Party, the 8th Route Army and the New 4th Army to back it up. Essentially,
we have buttressed the war of resistance. This is the situation of China's
war of resistance today."

Chairman Mao continued:

"Our armed units have made great progress, whether in fighting the enemy on
the front or in defending the Border Region in the rear, in production or
in training, in soldier-civilian relationships or in officer-men relationships. However, we still have defects. We have to correct our defects and
seek improvement. During last year's 'support the government and cherish
the people' movement we used the method of self-criticism. When we have
defects we criticize each other. An armed unit must have unified leadership and discipline before it can defeat the enemy. Correct self-criticism
will not weaken leadership and discipline but strengthen them. This kind
of criticism [deletion] only in the Kuomintang army. This is impossible,
because our armed units are genuine people's armed units. Each one of our
commanders and fighters and domestic animal attendants is serving the
interest of the people. Members of our armed units must mingle with the
people. Our cadres must mingle with the troops. Anything that suits the
interest of the people we must persist in. Anything in conflict with the
people's interest we must strive to get rid of. In this way there will
be no enemy we cannot conquer. Our armed units always follow two principles.
First, we must be merciless toward the enemy. We must overcome the enemy
and annihilate him. Second, toward our own men, people, comrades, superiors
and subordinates, we should be kind and united. This is the policy of the
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party as well as the policy of
the Political Bureau in Northwest China. This is also the policy demanded
by all the people."

Finally, Chairman Mao shouted:

"Our hearts must be closely linked with the hearts of all the people of
China. We must defeat Japanese imperialism and liberate the Chinese
nation!"

° CHIEH-FANG JIH-PAO, 23 September 1944