**The Spokesman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Issues a Statement on the Northeast Issue**
(February 11, 1946)

**Question:** What is the general situation in the Northeast at present?

**Answer:** Since the Soviet forces entered the Northeast and eliminated the enemy and puppet regimes, the territorial sovereignty of the Northeast has been restored to our country, and the National Government has also dispatched troops and officials to take over, wiping away fourteen years of national humiliation at once. The Northeast is inherently the region richest in resources and most developed in industry and mining in our country, but due to fourteen years of brutal enemy rule, the people's lives are now extremely impoverished, and commerce and finance have also been more or less paralyzed or disrupted by the war. Therefore, the greatest demand of the people in the Northeast today is to thoroughly eradicate the remnants of enemy and puppet forces, establish a peaceful and stable life on the basis of broad democratic methods, and restore and develop economic construction. The central key to this issue lies in how the troops and administrative personnel sent by the Kuomintang side, in accordance with the principles of the Ceasefire Agreement and the Program for Peaceful National Reconstruction, can engage in peaceful and democratic cooperation with local figures, local forces, the Eighth Route Army, and locally elected governments in various parts of the Northeast.

**Question:** What military forces currently exist in various parts of the Northeast? What is the situation regarding local political power?

**Answer:** The civilian armed forces in the Northeast have always been the most numerous in the country. Since the Soviet forces entered in August last year, people in various localities have been arming themselves to eliminate the enemy and puppets. The troops and cadres preserved from the Anti-Japanese United Army have been most active at this time, and their development has been extremely rapid. Under the command of former Anti-Japanese United Army leader Zhou Baozhong, there are already tens of thousands of troops spread across the eastern and northern parts of the Northeast, and Yang Jingyu Detachments, Zhao Shangzhi Detachments, and others have also been established. During the eight-year War of Resistance, many Eighth Route Army soldiers and Northeast guerrilla fighters and militia members were captured by the enemy and imprisoned in the Northeast. After regaining their freedom, they have also actively participated in the work of eliminating the enemy and puppets. At the same time, the forces under the command of Eighth Route Army Northeast generals Zhang Xueshi, Lü Zhengcao, Wan Yi, and others, along with parts of the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army that were ordered to go to the Northeast to eliminate the enemy and puppets, have also forged close ties with the people of the Northeast during the war. The forces under General Li Yunchang, who originally fought in the Hebei-Rehe-Liaoning border area, are now in the western Liaoning region. Under the leadership of these anti-Japanese armed forces, the people of the Northeast have now formed a Northeast Democratic United Army numbering nearly 300,000, distributed in the eastern, southern, western, and northern parts of the Northeast where Soviet forces are not garrisoned or have already withdrawn. In addition, there are local security forces and police cooperating to eliminate the remnants of the enemy and puppets and maintain local order. After the elimination of the enemy and puppets, people in various localities, in accordance with the principle of local self-government, have elected impartial figures from all sides and established democratic governments at the county level responsible for local administration. The leadership of these troops and local governments includes, apart from democratic figures from various quarters in the Northeast, mostly local and external Communist Party members. However, because our leading organs in the Northeast had long been destroyed by the enemy and puppets, the actions of these party members were not entirely consistent at first. It was only after the arrival of Comrades Peng Zhen, Chen Yun, Lin Feng, Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, and others dispatched by our Party Central Committee, and the establishment of the Party's highest leading organ in the Northeast, that the coordination and unification of Party organizations and the actions of Party members across the Northeast were achieved. Now, wherever there are Communist Party members active, order has either been stabilized or is in the process of being stabilized. Bandits are gradually being eradicated, industry and commerce are gradually recovering, and traitors have begun to be punished. In the process of fighting against Japan and traitors and settling scores of vengeance, the people have made a good start in political awakening and improvement of their livelihood. However, in certain remote areas, bandits and remnants of puppet troops still cause disturbances, and some Japanese who have not abandoned their ambitions are exploiting them to disrupt peace and democracy in the Northeast and preserve their own aggressive influence. The people deeply hate this and hope the Democratic United Army can quickly go to suppress and eliminate them, so that compatriots in the Northeast can live and work in peace and contentment.

**Question:** What is the Communist Party of China’s position on the future of the Northeast?

**Answer:** The Communist Party of China’s position on the Northeast is the same as its position on the whole country, summarized in eight words: peace, democracy, unity, and construction. The Communist Party has never opposed the dispatch of personnel by the National Government to take over the sovereignty of the Northeast or the dispatch of a portion of its troops to maintain public order there. This was clearly stated in the interview with Commander-in-Chief Zhu De on November 28 last year. In the ceasefire order jointly issued by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party on January 10 this year, it was also formally declared that the movement of National Government troops entering the Northeast to restore China’s sovereignty would not be subject to the general suspension of military movements. However, to realize peace, democracy, unity, and construction in the Northeast, we believe the following principles should be established:

(1) The current institutions of the National Government for taking over the Northeast are monopolized by the Kuomintang Party alone, which is inconsistent with the will of the people in the Northeast and the whole country. Therefore, from the field headquarters and its Political and Economic Committees to the various provincial governments, all should be reorganized to absorb as many democratic figures from the Northeast and members of other domestic parties and non-partisan individuals as possible, so that all democratic elements enjoy fair and effective representation.

(2) The existing anti-Japanese democratic forces in the Northeast should be recognized and reorganized to cooperate with the troops sent by the National Government in jointly maintaining local order, eliminating puppet troops and bandits, and avoiding military conflicts.

(3) The democratic self-governing governments at the county level in the Northeast should be recognized. If they are deemed not yet broadly based enough, they should be addressed through consultation and reorganization or through separate elections; they should not be refused recognition or subjected to undemocratic appointment methods that oppose the democratic methods elected by the people.

(4) Since China and the Soviet Union are now friendly, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party have ceased hostilities, the whole country demands disarmament and demobilization, and local forces are helping to maintain public order in the Northeast, the National Government’s troops entering the Northeast to restore sovereignty should be limited to a certain quantity to reduce the burden on the people and facilitate peace. The incorporation of Northeast puppet troops and the use of North China puppet troops (such as the New 27th Army under Jiang Pengfei) for taking over the Northeast should be prohibited.

**Question:** Can the aforementioned policy of the Communist Party be realized, and what has the government’s response been to this?

**Answer:** We believe that, given the current international and domestic situation and the demands of the people in the Northeast, only this policy is correct and feasible for the Northeast. Policies contrary to this are bound to be incorrect and unworkable. If democratic figures and Communist Party members in the Northeast do not recognize the status of the Kuomintang and do not cooperate sincerely with it to jointly pursue peace, democracy, unity, and construction in the Northeast, they will commit serious mistakes. Similarly, if the Kuomintang side does not recognize the status of local democratic forces and the Communist Party in the Northeast and does not cooperate sincerely with them to jointly pursue peace, democracy, unity, and construction, it will also commit serious mistakes. In the past, the Kuomintang side pursued a policy of resolving the Northeast issue by force, which we resolutely opposed. However, to seek a peaceful resolution of the entire Northeast issue, the forces led by the Communist Party made many concessions militarily, which were widely known. But facts have proven that unilateral concessions alone are clearly insufficient to maintain peace. Therefore, even after January 10, Kuomintang forces still attempted to seize Yingkou and Panshan, and even when the ceasefire order had clearly taken effect, conflicts continued to occur. Moreover, if the Kuomintang side stubbornly persists in this policy of resolution by force, similar unfortunate incidents may continue to occur under the attacks of Kuomintang troops. Recently, the three-member committee in Chongqing has proposed sending an executive team for mediation. To achieve a nationwide ceasefire, we support this proposal. We believe the government side should not refuse it. Politically, the Political Consultative Conference has also reached an agreement on resolving disputes over local political power through democratic methods, which we believe should be first applied in the Northeast. In summary, since the Northeast holds such an important position nationally and its situation is so complex, if the parties concerned fail to reach comprehensive agreements, thereby causing military conflicts in the Northeast, it would truly be a grave disservice to the people of the Northeast who have been trampled for fourteen years and yearn for peace and democracy, and a disservice to the people of the entire nation who eagerly hope for a peaceful resolution of the Northeast issue. The Communist Party is now demanding to hold this negotiation with the government, hoping that the government will still adhere to the spirit of the Ceasefire Agreement and the Political Consultative Conference, enabling this negotiation to proceed swiftly and achieve a satisfactory outcome without delay.