What Is the Intention Behind the Central News Agency’s Distortions of the Statement by the Spokesman of the Communist Party of China?[1]

(January 31, 1949)

[The Xinhua News Agency, Northern Shaanxi, January 31] On January 29, the Nanjing Central News Agency transmitted the statement made by the spokesman of the Communist Party of China on January 28. In doing so, besides deleting or distorting many important words and phrases, it deliberately cut out a number of paragraphs containing extremely significant meaning. Regarding the question of the Japanese war criminal Yasuji Okamura, the Central News Agency deleted the following paragraph: “In the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japan, the Chinese people sacrificed countless lives and property. Having fortunately won victory and captured this war criminal, we absolutely cannot permit the reactionary Nanjing Kuomintang government to arbitrarily pronounce him innocent. The people of the whole country, all democratic parties, people’s organizations, and patriotic personages within the system of the reactionary Nanjing Kuomintang government must immediately rise and oppose this criminal act of the reactionary Nanjing government, which sells out the national interest and colludes with Japanese fascist warlords.” The following paragraph was also deleted by the Central News Agency: “This matter is closely related to your present request to conduct negotiations with us. We believe that all your current actions are attempts to use hypocritical peace negotiations to cover up your efforts to reorganize for renewed war, which includes the scheme of colluding with Japanese reactionaries in having them come to China to join you in massacring the Chinese people. Your release of Yasuji Okamura serves precisely this purpose.” Concerning the question of civil war criminals, the Central News Agency deleted and distorted the following passage: “You convened the bogus National Assembly, enacted a bogus constitution, elected a bogus president, and issued the bogus order for ‘mobilization for suppressing the rebellion.’ At that time, how intense, enthusiastic, assiduous, and eager you were, refusing to listen to anyone’s exhortations.

What Is the Intention Behind the Central News Agency’s Distortions of the Statement by the Spokesman of the Communist Party of China?

Then in Shanghai, Nanjing, and all the big cities, the so-called government-run or government-controlled senates, chambers of commerce, trade unions, peasant associations, women’s groups, and cultural organizations all raised a commotion in unison, ‘supporting the mobilization for suppressing the rebellion’ and ‘exterminating the Communist bandits.’ How intense, enthusiastic, assiduous, and eager they were, refusing to listen to anyone’s exhortations. Now, two and a half years have passed. The people massacred by you number in the millions; the villages you have burned down, the women you have violated, the properties you have plundered, and the living and material strength destroyed by your air force are countless. You have committed monstrous crimes, and this account must be settled. It is said that you are very much opposed to the liquidation struggle. But this time, the liquidation struggle has its clear reasons. It is necessary to liquidate, to settle, to struggle, to contend. You have been defeated. You have enraged the people. The people have risen together to fight you to the death. The people dislike you, the people denounce you; the people have risen, and you are isolated; therefore, you have been defeated.” The above paragraph was reduced and distorted by the Central News Agency into the following few sentences: “Now, two and a half years have passed. You have committed monstrous crimes, and this account must be settled. Though you oppose the liquidation struggle, this specific liquidation struggle has its clear reasons. It is necessary to liquidate, to settle, to struggle, to contend.” In the final section discussing the question of civil war criminals, the original text reads: “Besides arresting the Japanese war criminal Yasuji Okamura, you must immediately proceed to arrest a group of civil war criminals, first and foremost arresting those among the forty-three war criminals listed in the statement of the authoritative personage of the Communist Party of China on December 25 of last year who are in Nanjing, Shanghai, Fenghua, Taiwan, and other places. The most important among them are Chiang Kai-shek, T.V. Soong, Chen Cheng, He Yingqin, Gu Zhutong, Chen Lifu, Chen Guofu, Zhu Jiahua, Wang Shijie, Wu Guozhen, Dai Chuanxian, Tang Enbo, Zhou Zhirou, Wang Shuming, Gui Yongqing, and others. Particularly

What Is the Intention Behind the Central News Agency’s Distortions of the Statement by the Spokesman of the Communist Party of China?

important is Chiang Kai-shek, this criminal, who has already fled to Fenghua and is very likely to flee abroad, seeking refuge under the protection of American or British imperialism. Therefore, you must promptly arrest this criminal, ensuring he does not escape.” The Central News Agency deleted and distorted this passage into the following sentences: “Besides arresting the Japanese war criminal Yasuji Okamura, you must continue to act to arrest a group of civil war criminals, first and foremost arresting the forty-three war criminals listed in the statement of the authoritative personage of the Communist Party of China on December 25 of last year. You must promptly arrest them, not allowing them to escape.” Readers and listeners, take note: What exactly did the Central News Agency arbitrarily delete and distort? It is the reasons why Japanese war criminals must be arrested, the reasons why civil war criminals must be liquidated, the demand that the Nanjing government first arrest the list of important war criminals directly under Chiang’s faction, especially Chiang Kai-shek, the arch-criminal ringleader. The reactionary Nanjing Kuomintang government has agreed to take the Communist Party’s eight articles[1] as the basis for negotiations. The first of the eight articles is the punishment of war criminals, yet they are unwilling for us to mention the reasons why war criminals must be punished or the specific list of war criminals. Moreover, the Central News Agency also entirely deleted Point 3 of the statement by the spokesman of the Communist Party of China, the full text of which contains only seventeen characters, namely: “(3) For the above two items, the reactionary Nanjing government is required to provide a reply.” What is the intention behind deleting these seventeen characters? Could it be because the text is too long?

Manuscript of the commentary “What Is the Intention Behind the Central News Agency’s Distortions of the Statement by the Spokesman of the Communist Party of China?” written by Mao Zedong for the Xinhua News Agency.

--- Notes

[1] This is a commentary written by Mao Zedong for the Xinhua News Agency. The statement by the spokesman of the Communist Party of China on January 28 refers to the “Statement by the Spokesman of the Communist Party of China Ordering the Reactionary Kuomintang Government to Re-arrest the Former Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Invasion Forces in China, Yasuji Okamura, and to Arrest the Kuomintang Civil War Criminals.”


[1] T.V. Soong, former Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kuomintang government. Chen Cheng, then Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government under the Kuomintang. He Yingqin, former Chief of Staff of the Kuomintang Army and Minister of National Defense. Gu Zhutong, then Chief of Staff of the Kuomintang Army. Chen Lifu, Chen Guofu, and Zhu Jiahua were all key heads of the Kuomintang CC Clique. Wang Shijie, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kuomintang government. Wu Guozhen, then Mayor of Shanghai under the Kuomintang government. Dai Chuanxian, i.e., Dai Jitao, then a Standing Committee member of the Kuomintang Central Committee. Tang Enbo, then Commander-in-Chief of the Kuomintang Army’s Nanjing-Shanghai-Hangzhou Garrison. Zhou Zhirou, then Commander-in-Chief of the Kuomintang Air Force. Wang Shuming, then Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Chief of Staff of the Kuomintang Air Force. Gui Yongqing, then Commander-in-Chief of the Kuomintang Navy.


[1] See “Statement by Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, on the Current Situation.”