The Reactionaries’ Schemes Will
Ultimately Fail
(June 30 and July 7, 1946)
1.
To Comrade [Ren] Bishi, and for the information of Comrade [Hu] Qiaomu:1
Please consider publishing a declaration on “July 7th” for the purpose of mobilizing the people of the entire nation against the reactionaries’ attacks. Such a declaration would begin by summarizing the declaration put forward by our Party after
the Japanese surrender, advocating peace and national construction,2 and then discussing the October Tenth Agreement3 and the civil war. It would then report on
the promising achievements of the Political Consultative Conference; thereafter, it
would describe how foreign and Chinese reactionaries have mounted attacks on a
nationwide scale against the Liberated Areas and the broad popular masses since the
Jiaochangkou Incident,4 and lay out the overall guiding principles that the people
should follow. The entire statement should make clear that foreign and Chinese
reactionaries are working in concert in an attempt to turn China into a colony and
that the central task for the Chinese people remains to fight for independence and
democracy. It should clearly state that our Party resolutely opposes civil war, and it
should say that the tide of history cannot be reversed and the schemes of the reactionaries will ultimately fail. Please have [Hu] Qiaomu do the writing.
Mao Zedong
June 30th

2.
The fact that the reactionaries are rampant in China right now is not an indication
of their strength and vitality, but rather it is a sign of their weakness, their last
gasp before collapse. This is the nature of fascist rule in any country and China
cannot be any exception. Fascism is the most ugly and despicable, but at the same
time it is also the weakest and the most lacking in vitality. Therefore, the desire
of China’s reactionaries to obliterate the people’s strength and realize permanent
fascist rule cannot be accomplished and it is an impossibility.
3.
All compatriots across the nation should understand that the reactionary schemes
of the reactionaries in China and abroad can be defeated. We are absolutely
determined to defeat all the reactionary schemes of the reactionaries inside and
outside of China; we are absolutely determined to realize independence, peace,
and democracy; and we are absolutely determined to carry out the ceasefire
agreement,5 the resolutions of the Political Consultative Conference,6 and the
military reorganization program.7 Toward all who want to carry out these things,
no matter who they are, we extend our welcome. Toward all who oppose these
things, no matter who they are, we express our opposition. Compatriots throughout the nation, our demands are so reasonable and our cause is so righteous that
our demands are bound to be realized and our cause is bound to be victorious.

---

Notes

Our source for these three texts is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 141–43, where they are
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript. As indicated by the editors of the Chinese
text, part 1 is a letter with suggestions for a statement commemorating the ninth anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of July 7, 1937. Parts 2 and 3 were added by Mao
when revising the draft of the commemoration statement.
2.  See “Declaration of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on the
Current Situation,” August 25, 1945, in this volume.

--- Notes

1.  Ren Bishi was a secretary in the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Hu Qiaomu (1912–1992, native of Jiangsu) was secretary to Mao
Zedong.

3.  This refers to the agreement, also called the “Double Tenth Agreement,” between the
Guomindang and the Chinese Communist Party signed on October 10, 1945.

4.  The reference is to an incident in Chongqing on February 10, 1946, when Guomindang agents disrupted a mass demonstration in support of the Political Consultative Conference, injuring dozens of demonstrators and journalists.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-190

5.  The Chinese Communist Party and the Guomindang signed a ceasefire agreement
on January 10, 1946.

6.  The five resolutions passed at the meeting of the Political Consultative Conference
held in Chongqing from January 10 to 31, 1946, covered government organization, peacetime construction, a national assembly, drafting a constitution, and military affairs.

7.  The resolution on military affairs passed at the Political Consultative Conference
included stipulations regarding the reorganization of the Guomindang army and the military forces in the Liberated Areas.