COMMENTS ON CHIANG KAI-SHEK'S SPEECH ON 7 JULY

8 July 1945

[Text] HSIN-HUA NEWS AGENCY, Yenan, 8 July--A HSIN-HUA NEWS AGENCY reporter
writes:

Vacuous and lacking in substance were the characteristic features of Chiang
Kai-shek's speech yesterday. What was slightly different was that he suddenly mentioned "tolerance." However, we remember that, in October 1933,
he told his officers: "Everyone must work with the spirit, method and
talent of cutting the Gordian knot with a sharp knife and wipe out the
bandits with a tough, rapid and resolute spirit.... Since you are under
my command . . . you must possess the spirit and ability to cut the Gordian
knot with a sharp knife. As the superior officer I must be a superior
officer with the ability to cut the Gordian knot with a sharp knife; as
subordinates you must be subordinates with the ability to cut the Gordian
knot with a sharp knife. I am a commanding general with the ability to
cut the Gordian knot with a sharp knife, and I am now looking for a group
of officers with similar abilities. We must proceed courageously and
perform powerfully. You must know that there is not much to the revolution!"
He did not talk about "tolerance" then, but only repeated "cutting the
Gordian knot with a sharp knife" eight times. But yesterday he mentioned
"tolerance" four times, and that was where the difference lay. Nevertheless,
has he truly become suddenly "tolerant" toward the Chinese people? The
facts are the best evidence. Last year at this time the troops he used
to attack China's liberated areas numbered 600,000, but today they have
grown to almost 1 million. The entire Kuomintang army, including those
troops under the local system, totals not more than 1.5 million, and
almost two-thirds of them are used to besiege and attack the liberated
areas. This is what Chiang Kai-shek calls tolerance! In the area he
controls, not one political prisoner has been released, the people have
not the least bit of freedom, secret service agents are everywhere and
corruption is widespread. Such is Chiang Kai-shek's tolerance! Such
emissaries of the Japanese bandits as Wu Kai-hsien and Fang Hsien-chueh
are sheltered, and such renegade generals as P'ang Ping-hsun and
Sun Tien-ying are protected in large numbers. Such is Chiang Kai-shek's
tolerance! The broad Kuomintang membership has expressed its dissatisfaction

with this situation. That over 200 of the 600 delegates to the Sixth
Kuomintang Congress in May submitted their resignation from the party because of their hatred for Chiang Kai-shek's despotic conduct was clear
proof. In his speech yesterday he bragged about the accuracy of his
predictions. Yet, on 15 October 1931 he said to the demonstrating students
at the Nanking Central Military Academy: "If, 3 years from now, the lost
territory is not recovered, you can chop off my head as my apology." In
July 1934, when giving the "Speech of the Spirit" to the Lu-shan officers
training corps, he said that, in regard to the Japanese, "they only have
to issue one order and they will, within 3 days, occupy all the crucial
areas and destroy China." Have those words come true? Yesterday he said
such things as "the coming year will be a year of war results." The method
of operation of Chiang Kai-shek and his clique is to rely on America for
everything. Thus, several years from now the Chinese people will see that
China under Chiang Kai-shek's control will be dragged into a colonial
position, and this will be a concrete "war result." America's imperialist
elements such as Hurley and China's feudal compradore fascist elements such
as Chiang Kai-shek have become sweet partners. Chiang Kai-shek has been
equipped with large stocks of arms, topped with gold, reportedly for the
purpose of fighting Japan. Nevertheless, the clear-sighted have long ago
seen that these are for nothing else than to create a civil war in China.
This is because America's imperialist elements, those like Hurley, desperately wish to preserve Chiang Kai-shek's dictatorial system and regard
the democratic strength of the Chinese people as a thorn in their side.
If this reactionary policy is not changed, China's civil war will be inevitable.

Currently, the focus of all Chiang Kai'shek's military arrangements is on a
civil war. "Tolerance" is merely a word to prepare for a civil war. Once
a civil war breaks out, can China under Chiang Kai-shek's control escape
the destiny of a colony? True, besides preserving Chiang Kai-shek's
dictatorial system and attempting to turn China into an American colony,
some of America's ruling figures actually want to defeat the Japanese
aggressors. On this point we have no quarrel with the American Government.
However, in the past 6 months the American policy of supporting Chiang
and resisting the communists is, in essence, a policy of helping Chiang
fight a civil war. We hope that all good American people and enlightened
figures in the American Government will give full attention to this point
and promptly rectify it. Otherwise, the result created by the Americans
will be detrimental to the American people as well as to the Chinese. When
it comes to the attitude of the Chinese people toward Chiang Kai-shek, one
can say that it has reached the limits of tolerance. As of now the Chinese
people still agree to let him have a position in the coalition government,
so that he will have a chance to reform himself completely and compensate
for his mistakes by merits. Nevertheless, he has, as a matter of fact,
long lost all qualifications as a national leader. Except for a small
group of Chinese and foreigners who still support him, the broad masses
have long ago deserted him, calling him "Chiang Who Ought To Be Killed."
Even so, the Chinese people are still willing to give him a chance to
reform, which is an attitude of extreme tolerance. In China, only this

kind of tolerance is genuine, while Chiang Kai-shek's so-called "tolerance"
is merely another name for preparing a civil war. The Chinese people must
heighten their vigilance, oppose the association of foreign and Chinese
reactionaries to create a civil war against the nation, democracy and the
people, and use all means to block it. In order to smash the Japanese
aggressors and liberate the Chinese people, such vigilance is indispensable.
°
CHIEH-FANG JIH-PAO, 9 July 1945