Twelfth Anniversary Declaration
(July 7, 1949)

Since July 7, 1937, when our Chinese nation launched the great War of National Resistance against Japanese aggression, this year’s “July 7” marks the most joyous and inspiring commemoration. Thanks to the victories in the People’s Liberation War and the establishment of the Preparatory Committee for the New Political Consultative Conference, many of the demands that our people were unable to realize nationwide during the War of Resistance are now beginning to be fulfilled.

The three-year People’s Liberation War was, in essence, a continuation and further development of the eight-year War of Resistance. Twelve years ago, the Chinese people took up arms against the eastern front of the fascist aggressors, fighting valiantly for eight long years at tremendous cost, before finally achieving final victory together with the Allied nations. Yet it is well known throughout the world that, after the war’s end, the Chinese people—still reeling from grievous wounds—saw not only their objectives unmet but also endured new and grave calamities. The War of Resistance had called for national independence; instead, the U.S. and Kuomintang governments sought to reduce us to slaves of American colonialism. It had demanded democratic reform; however, these same powers forced upon us Chiang Kai-shek’s fascist terror. The war had urged the restoration of domestic peace following its conclusion, so as to resume and develop national reconstruction; yet the U.S. government fully supported the Kuomintang regime in tearing up the armistice agreement and the resolutions of the Political Consultative Conference, thereby igniting a large-scale anti-people civil war. The loss of life and property suffered by our people during this conflict surpassed even that incurred under Japanese occupation. The reason imperialist America and the Kuomintang reactionaries dared act so recklessly lay in their belief that their own strength far exceeded that of the people. But they miscalculated. The Chinese people, who had required eight years of cooperation with other nations to defeat Japanese aggression, managed within just three years to fundamentally vanquish the Kuomintang reactionaries—forces largely backed by the U.S. government. Although remnants of the Kuomintang still struggle to maintain a foothold, it will not be long before they are completely eradicated. The Preparatory Committee for the New Political Consultative Conference, embodying the will of the Chinese people, has already been established. Soon, the New Political Consultative Conference will be convened, a democratic coalition government will be formed, and work on building New China will commence.

On the evening of July 7, 1949, Mao Zedong attended, despite the rain, a grand rally held in Tiananmen Square by all sectors of the people of Beiping to commemorate the twelfth anniversary of the War of Resistance and to celebrate the founding of the Preparatory Committee for the New Political Consultative Conference.

As the Chinese people set about constructing their new nation, it is natural that we should establish diplomatic relations with all foreign governments willing to treat us with equality and friendship—such a course aligns with the interests of our country and our people. At the same time, we must resolutely oppose all forms of aggression and threats, which run counter to those very interests. In our struggle against such aggression and intimidation, we cannot fail to highlight the issue of Japan. China lies closest to Japan, enjoys the most intimate ties with it, and was the first and longest-standing nation to resist Japanese aggression, bearing the heaviest sacrifices. Any resolution concerning Japan must therefore seek China’s input; it is unacceptable for the U.S. government alone to act unilaterally and make decisions. Although China suffered under Japanese imperialist aggression, the peoples of both China and Japan ardently desire peaceful coexistence under conditions of demilitarization and democratization in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, along with economic and cultural cooperation. Regrettably, this shared aspiration is currently being obstructed: American imperialists who invaded China now control Japan. Rather than implementing the Potsdam Agreement, the U.S. government and its command structure have sought to overturn it—rather than demilitarizing Japan or genuinely democratizing it, they are working to reverse-democratize the country and continue its militarization. The U.S. administration has shown no urgency in concluding a peace treaty with Japan, instead seeking to indefinitely delay it, perpetually occupy the island nation, and prevent it from establishing peaceful relations with China and other countries, effectively reducing Japan to a U.S. colony and military base. Clearly, this reactionary policy of the United States directly threatens both the Chinese and Japanese peoples, while also subjecting the Japanese populace to severe exploitation. As we mark the twelfth anniversary of the great War of Resistance, we—the various democratic parties, mass organizations, and democratic forces of China—deem it imperative to draw the attention of the entire world: in order to finally achieve the goals of the War of Resistance, we unanimously demand the swift conclusion of a peace treaty with Japan. We further insist that, in preparing such a treaty, strict adherence be maintained to the procedure stipulated by the Potsdam Agreement—that is, deliberation by a conference of foreign ministers—and that China’s plenipotentiary representatives be dispatched by the democratic coalition government to be formed through the New Political Consultative Conference.

There will undoubtedly be difficulties ahead on the path of the Chinese people; however, no obstacle can halt our advance. Our struggle has never been waged in isolation. Within the international democratic camp, we have powerful allies, foremost among them the Soviet Union, followed by the newly democratic states, the peoples of colonies and semi-colonies striving for independence, and all those around the globe who champion peace and democracy. The strength of the democratic camp increasingly surpasses that of the imperialist camp. Despite pouring all its support into the Kuomintang reactionaries, the imperialist bloc has been powerless to prevent the triumph of the Chinese people. Though it has forged the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a prelude to a new war of aggression, it has failed to thwart the successes of Soviet peaceful diplomacy, such as the recent agreements reached at the Foreign Ministers’ Conference regarding the principles of German reunification and the Austrian Peace Treaty. And despite its loud promotion of the so-called Marshall Plan, the imperialist camp has been unable to avert the impending economic crisis gripping the United States, Britain, and other nations—a crisis whose onset is drawing ever nearer. The direction of global development is determined not by imperialism and reactionary forces, but by the anti-imperialist forces of peace and democracy. Imperialism and its allies have now lost the initiative, finding themselves on the defensive, marching inexorably toward their own demise. Let all the Chinese people unite, let the peoples of the world unite, to overthrow the imperialist aggressors and strive for universal peace and democracy.

Chinese Communist Party: Mao Zedong
Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee: Li Jishen
China Democratic Alliance: Shen Junru, Zhang Bojun
Democratic Construction Association: Huang Yanpei
Non-Party Democratic Figures: Guo Moruo
China Democratic Promotion Association: Ma Xulun
Chinese Peasants’ and Workers’ Democratic Party: Peng Zemin
Chinese People’s Salvation League: Shi Liang
Three Principles of the People Comrades’ Federation: Tan Pingshan
Kuomintang Democratic Promotion Association: Cai Tingxiao
China Zhi Gong Party: Chen Qiyu
People’s Liberation Army: Zhu De

All-China Federation of Trade Unions: Li Lisan
Liberated Area Peasant Organizations: Liu Yuhou
Industrial Democratic Figures: Chen Shutong
Cultural Democratic Figures: Shen Yanbing
Democratic Professor: Zhang Mofu
All-China Democratic Youth Federation: Liao Chengzhi
All-China Democratic Women’s Federation: Cai Chang
All-China Students’ Federation: Xie Bangding
Shanghai People’s Organizations Federation: Zhou Jianren
Ethnic Minority Leaders: Ulanfu
Overseas Chinese Democratic Figures: Chen Jiageng

July 7, 1949