The Revolutionary Force of the People Is the
Real Advantage1
(February 22, 1948)
The spokesperson said that despite the situation, people should not mistakenly
think that the mutual cooperation of Harry Truman, Chiang Kaishek, and all the
Asian puppets of the United States, along with the plan to provide Chiang with
several hundred million dollars in aid, will have some amazing effect. Of course,
this cooperation and support will have some effect, but it will just be the effect
of a heart stimulant given to a dying patient. At present, the world situation has
shifted to a position that is extremely unfavorable to the American imperialists
and the reactionaries of all countries, and extremely favorable to the people’s
democratic forces all over the world. In only two years since the end of World
War II, the entire capitalist world has fallen into serious disorder and is headed
toward even greater chaos. Meanwhile, the people’s democratic forces of the
world have instead enjoyed great development and are headed toward a situation of even greater development. The advantage is on the side of the democratic
forces rather than on the side of the reactionary forces. The reactionaries’ money
and guns are not a real advantage. Popular sentiment loathes the reactionaries and
disapproves of them, and the people rally together to oppose the reactionaries and
to fight against them – this force is the real advantage. Before launching the civil
war, the Chiang Kaishek bandit gang obtained four billion dollars of support from
the U.S. imperialists as well as the equipment left behind by one million Japanese
troops, and Chiang Kaishek himself has an army of over four million men. All
this should be considered an advantage when compared with the situation of the
Chinese People’s Liberation Army. However, in only one year’s time, the People’s
Liberation Army has already beaten back Chiang Kaishek’s offensive and shifted
to an offensive. Are these concrete facts not sufficient to show that the mere material advantage of money and guns alone cannot be considered a real advantage,
and that only the combination of popular sentiment and material factors, only the
people who control the materials, that is to say, the revolutionary forces of the
people, are the real advantage? If such large sums of U.S. aid in the past were not
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 69–70, where it is reproduced
from Mao’s handwritten manuscript.
1.  Mao Zedong added this while revising a press release regarding the Central Committee spokesperson’s rebuttal to U.S. President Harry S Truman’s pro-Chiang statement.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-92

only unable to bring victory to the Chiang Kaishek bandit gang but even brought
them such serious failures, what amazing effect will a new loan of $570 million2
have? The spokesperson said that the Chinese people must understand that the
American imperialists and their running dog Chiang Kaishek will surely put up a
dying struggle, and that we will have to prepare for a persistent struggle if we are
finally to vanquish them. However, each time the traitors engage in shady dealings with their foreign masters, forfeiting sovereignty and humiliating the nation,
and each time the American reactionary government provides new loans to its
Chinese running dogs, it arouses – and will continue to arouse – the indignation
of the Chinese people. This indignation will be transformed into power and will
hasten the downfall of the Chiang Kaishek bandit gang.
2.  On February 18, 1948, Truman sent a “special message” to the U.S. Congress
requesting approval of a State Department proposal granting a loan of $570 million to the
Nationalist government. The China Aid Act was approved on April 3, with the loan amount
changed to $463 million.