Speech at the Meeting of the Presidium and Delegation Heads of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China[1]

(June 2, 1945)

The policy the United States has now set is to ally with Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan, oppose the Soviet Union and the Communist Party, and seek overall hegemony in the East; it will never retreat. Our attitude toward the United States is that as long as it is fighting Japan, we are willing to cooperate with it, and we want their supreme command to send people to negotiate with us and conclude a military treaty. The United States only helps Chiang Kai-shek oppose the Communist Party; such a policy is very dangerous.

The election issue is not a personal matter. One has the freedom to vote for oneself or not; one should refrain from voting for oneself only when doing so would be detrimental to the Party; otherwise, one should cast one’s own vote for oneself. It is good for all comrades to thoroughly and clearly speak out everything they wish to say. History proves that whenever matters of principle are glossed over, they will inevitably resurface one day. Only by thoroughly clarifying them can unity be promoted.

[1] On June 2, Mao Zedong presided over a meeting of the Presidium and delegation heads of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China at Zaoyuan. The meeting heard Ye Jianying’s introduction of the U.S. plan for military arrangements in the enemy’s rear areas where the Eighth Route Army and the New Army were operating. This is part of Mao Zedong’s speech at the meeting.