INTERVIEW WITH 'TA KUNG PAO' CORRESPONDENT

5 September 1945

[Text] TA KUNG PAO on 6 September published an interview with Comrade
Mao Tse-tung. When receiving a reporter of this paper yesterday afternoon,
Mao Tse-tung stated:

After having been in Chungking for 5 days and discussing the issue of unity
with the Central Government, I have no concrete results to report to my
countrymen as yet. The only thing which can be said is that a civil war
will definitely be avoided. If China's political and military commands
remain disunited, this will be an impossible situation. Yet, unity in
political and military commands must be founded on democratic politics.
Only a political conference including the representatives of all parties
and factions and those without party or factional affiliations will solve
the current national issues, and only a democratic and united coalition
government will bring happiness to the people. Democracy means power for
the people. The situation in the Border Region and liberated areas is different from that in other areas. We have a government elected by the people
and a self-defense army, but no tithing chiefs. Tithing chiefs control the
people and are most undesirable. Another result of our discussions is the
postponement of a people's congress; no accord has been reached on the issue
of delegates. The Chinese Communist Party does not wish to retain the old
delegates; it advocates, in principle, a general election.

Finally, commenting on the Sino-Soviet treaty, Mao Tse-tung said: This
treaty is a safeguard for peace in the Far East. Some people find it unfavorable to China's democratic movement, but actually the opposite is true.
We can wait and see with our eyes peeled. Others are amazed that the Soviet
Union considers the National Government the objective, but actually there
is no other objective than the National Government. Nevertheless, the treaty
does not restrict the right of the Soviet Union to criticize China's politics,
and it may still express its opinion publicly. A few days ago an article
in the Soviet RED STAR stated that China should proceed toward democratic
politics, and it eagerly hoped for unity between China's two parties. China
is fortunate to have a powerful ally. We should not suspect aggression by
another nation. Mao Tse-tung then expressed his hope that the discussions
would produce early results.