Reason for Publishing the Political Weekly

Why publish the Political Weekly? For the revolution. Why is revolution necessary? For the liberation of the Chinese nation, for the realization of the people's rule, for the people to attain economic happiness.

For the sake of revolution, we have offended all enemies—the imperialists of the whole world, the great and small warlords of the whole country, the comprador class, local tyrants and evil gentry everywhere, and all reactionary political cliques such as the Anfu clique, the Research clique, the Federalist clique, and the Nationalist clique. These enemies, following the development of our revolutionary forces, have intensified their oppression against us, mobilizing all their strength in an attempt to annihilate us. They have foreign and domestic navies, armies, and police; they have vast international propaganda organs (Reuters, etc.); they have the newspapers and schools of the whole country. Although conflicts sometimes arise among them due to differing interests, when it comes to us, not one of them harbors good intentions.

Our work in Guangdong, after pacifying Yang and Liu and clearing out Zheng and Mo, has distinctly opened a new era. Guangzhou city has realized a peace unseen in fourteen years; the people have genuinely obtained the freedoms of assembly, association, speech, and strike; the Eastern Expeditionary Army did not conscript porters; gambling in the Guangzhou market has been abolished; the military and administration of the entire province are unified; finances are also gradually being centralized, and some of the oppressive and exorbitant taxes that afflicted the people have been abolished, with steps set for the abolition of the rest; reform policies have been established for civil administration, judiciary, education, and transportation organs; the counter-revolutionary remnants in the North River, East River, and Southern Route have been successively cleared out; and the large-scale strike and blockade of Hong Kong has been upheld to support the patriotic workers' movement. We do not conceal our shortcomings; we are not saying that Guangdong has already been transformed—the transformation of Guangdong has indeed just begun. There are still many bandits disrupting public order; there are still many local tyrants who prey on the people; evil gentry, corrupt officials, and venal functionaries; and many deep-seated malpractices within civil administration, finance, judiciary, education, and transportation have yet to be completely eliminated. We are not saying that these shortcomings no longer exist. We are saying that we already have a revolutionary power, already have an opportunity to clear out the bandits; already have the strength to fight against the local tyrants, evil gentry, corrupt officials, and venal functionaries; and that the work of renewal in civil administration, finance, judiciary, education, and transportation can now begin. In short, we already have a revolutionary foundation. All that has been done is based on the revolutionary strategies of Mr. Sun Zhongshan, clearly visible for all to see and hear. And the British imperialists in Hong Kong, the band of counter-revolutionary remnants like Chen Jiongming and Deng Benyin, and the countless local tyrants, evil gentry, corrupt officials, and venal functionaries cannot help but tremble before us. In their resentment and indignation, they have stopped at nothing in cursing, slandering, and maligning us. The propaganda organs of the counter-revolutionary cliques in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Hankou have joined the clamor with relish, unleashing their vicious and venomous tongues, also stopping at nothing in cursing, slandering, and maligning us. The people of the whole country, especially the people of all circles in the North and along the Yangtze River, are thus confused, completely cut off from the true situation in Guangdong. Even among comrades, doubts cannot help but arise. And even those without doubts have no way to offer a practical refutation based on facts. Terms like "internal strife" and "Communist Party" are circulating everywhere, as if Guangdong has truly become a hell.

We can no longer let this go on; we must begin to counter-attack them. "To launch a propaganda counter-attack against the counter-revolutionaries, to smash counter-revolutionary propaganda"—this is the responsibility of the Political Weekly.

Our method of counter-attacking the enemy is not to use much debate, but simply to report the facts of our revolutionary work honestly. The enemy says: "Guangdong is communizing." We say: "Please look at the facts." The enemy says: "Guangdong is in internal strife." We say: "Please look at the facts." The enemy says: "The Guangzhou government colludes with Russia, forfeiting sovereignty and humiliating the nation." We say: "Please look at the facts." The enemy says: "Under the Guangzhou government's rule, the people are in deep water and scorching fire, unable to make a living." We say: "Please look at the facts."

As for the style of the Political Weekly, nine-tenths will be the narration of actual facts, and only one-tenth will be debate against the propaganda of the counter-revolutionaries.

Accept our faithful reports on the work of the revolution, and arise, revolutionary masses of the whole country!

(December 5, 1925, *Political Weekly*, Issue No. 1)