On Jiang Jieshi's National Day Speech

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of On Jiang Jieshi's National Day Speech has been prepared and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the following editions:

• On Chiang Kai-shek's Speech on the Double Tenth Festival, in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 3, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1965.
• Chiang Kaishek's Speech Is Dangerous, Comments the Yan'an Observer, in Mao's Road to Power, First English Edition, Vol. 8, Routledge, New York and London, 2015.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is a comment written by Comrade Mao Zedong for the New China News Agency in Yan'an, Shaanxi, China on the 11th of October, 1944.

#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#ON JIANG JIESHI'S NATIONAL DAY SPEECH

#Mao Zedong

#11th of October, 1944

#★

One of the distinguishing features of Jiang Jieshi's speech on the Double-Tenth Festival¹ is its utter lack of content and its failure to answer any of the questions about which the people are deeply concerned. Jiang Jieshi declares that the enemy is not to be feared, because there are still vast territories in the Great Rear Area. So far, the autocratic Nationalist leaders have shown neither the desire nor the ability to introduce political reforms or keep the enemy at bay, and territory is the only «capital» they can fall back upon for resisting the enemy. But it is plain to all that without a correct policy and with out human effort this capital is not enough, for Japanese imperialism is daily threatening the remaining territories. In all probability, Jiang Jieshi has acutely felt this threat, as is shown by the very fact that he is repeatedly assuring the people that no such threat exists and even says: «In the 20 years since I founded the army at the Huangpu Military Academy,² the revolutionary situation has never been so stable as at present.» He also keeps repeating, «We must not lose our self-confidence», which actually indicates loss of confidence among many people within the ranks of the Nationalist Party and among many prominent public figures in the Nationalist areas. Jiang Jieshi has been casting about for some means to restore that confidence. But instead of looking for such means by examining his policy and work in the political, military, economic, and cultural fields, he resorts to the rejection of criticisms and the whitewashing of his mistakes. He says that all «foreign observers» are «ignorant of the heart of the matter» and that the «babel of foreign criticism of our military and political affairs» is entirely due to credulous acceptance of «the rumours and tricks of the invaders and the Chinese collaborators». Curiously enough, such foreigners as Franklin D. Roosevelt as well as such Nationalist Party members as Song Qingling, many members of the People's Political Council, and all Chinese who are not devoid of conscience, disbelieve the plausible explanations offered by Jiang Jieshi and his trusted followers and are also raising a «babel of criticism of our military and political affairs». Jiang Jieshi is annoyed, but not until this year's Double-Tenth Festival did he succeed in discovering what he regards as a compelling argument, that is, that these people believe «the rumours and tricks of the invaders and the Chinese collaborators». So in his speech, Jiang Jieshi vehemently denounces these «rumours and tricks of the invaders and the Chinese collaborators» at great length. He fancies that, having made this denunciation, he can silence all the Chinese and foreigners. And anyone who again raises a «babel of criticism» of his military and political affairs will be put down as a willing believer of «the rumours and tricks of the invaders and the Chinese collaborators»! We consider Jiang Jieshi's accusations ridiculous in the extreme. For the invaders and the Chinese collaborators have never criticized, but on the contrary have warmly applauded, the Nationalist Party for its autocracy, its halfhearted prosecution of the war, its corruption and incompetence, and the Fascist decrees and defeatist military orders of its government. Jiang Jieshi's China's Destiny, a book which has met with general disapproval, has won sincere and repeated praise from the Japanese imperialists. The invaders and the Chinese collaborators have never said a word about reorganization of the National Government and its supreme command, because it is their cherished wish that this government and supreme command which keep on oppressing the people and losing battles will be preserved. Is it not a fact that Jiang Jieshi and his group have always been the target of Japanese inducements to surrender? Is it not also a fact that of the two slogans originally put forward by the Japanese imperialists, one, «Annihilate the Nationalists!», has been dropped long ago and only the other, «Oppose the Communists!», remains? To this very moment, the Japanese imperialists have not declared war on the Nationalist government, and no state of war, so they say, exists between Japan and the Nationalist government! To this very moment, the invaders and the Chinese collaborators are taking good care of the property of the Nationalist bigwigs in Shanghai, Nanjing, Ningbo, and so on. The enemy chieftain Hata Shunroku has sent his representatives to offer sacrifices at Jiang Jieshi's ancestral tombs at Fenghua. In Shanghai and elsewhere, emissaries secretly dispatched by Jiang Jieshi's trusted followers are maintaining almost uninterrupted contact and carrying on clandestine negotiations with the Japanese invaders. These contacts and negotiations become more frequent whenever the Japanese intensify their offensives. Aren't all these things facts? Are those who raise a «babel of criticism» of the military and political affairs of Jiang Jieshi and his group really «ignorant of the heart of the matter», or are they on the contrary only too well acquainted with it? After all, where is «the heart of the matter» to be found, in «the rumours and tricks of the invaders and the Chinese collaborators», or in Jiang Jieshi himself and his own group? When the «leader of one of the four Great Powers», on National Day itself, characterizes the serious criticisms of foreigners (including Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt) as «accepting the rumours and tricks of the invaders and Chinese collaborators», he really harms the dignity of the Republic of China. Particularly interesting is the demand put forward by Jiang Jieshi in his speech, according to which we should «be able to stand by ourselves, strengthen ourselves, and take upon ourselves the responsibility of fighting the war independently». This is a manifestation of Jiang Jieshi's xenophobia. Some people consider that, in view of the present developments of the war and of the corruption and incompetence of the Nationalist government and its supreme command, it is necessary to establish an Allied Joint Command in the Chinese theatre. To resist this demand, those who ordinarily depend solely on foreign assistance as their magic weapon now also talk about «independence and self-strengthening» and insist that we «take upon ourselves the responsibility of fighting the war independently».

In another statement in his speech, Jiang Jieshi denies that civil war will break out in China. But he adds: «Certainly no one will ever again dare to rebel against the Republic and sabotage the War of Resistance, as Wang Jingwei and his like have done.» Here, Jiang Jieshi is seeking, and has in fact found, an excuse for civil war. Any Chinese whose memory is not too short will remember that, in 1941, at the very moment when the betrayers of China were ordering the disbandment of the New Fourth Army and the Chinese people were rising to avert the crisis of civil war, Jiang Jieshi made a speech in which he said that there would never be any war to «suppress the Communists» and that, should there be a war, it would only be a punitive one to put down rebels. Those who have read China's Destiny will also remember Jiang Jieshi's remark that the Communist Party of China was «in league with» Wang Jingwei in 1927 during the period of the Wuhan Government. In the resolutions of the 11th Plenary Session of the Nationalist Central Executive Committee in 1943, an eight-word label was attached to the Communist Party of China: «Sabotaging the War of Resistance and endangering the State.» After reading his present speech, one feels that the danger of civil war not only exists, but is actually growing. From now on, the Chinese people should firmly bear in mind that one fine morning Jiang Jieshi will order a punitive expedition against so-called rebels and that the charge will be «rebellion against the Republic», «sabotaging the War of Resistance and endangering the State», and doing what «Wang Jingwei and his like have done». Jiang is good at playing this game; he is no good at denouncing as rebels people like Pang Bingxun, Sun Liangcheng, and Chen Xiaoqiang³ or at launching punitive expeditions against them, but he is very good at denouncing as «rebels» the New Fourth Army in central China and the Dare-to-Die Corps⁴ in Shanxi and is exceptionally good at launching punitive expeditions against them. The Chinese people must not forget that, while proclaiming that he will not fight a civil war, Jiang Jieshi has already dispatched 775'000 troops who are now engaged exclusively in encircling or attacking the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the people's guerrillas in southern China.

Jiang Jieshi's speech has nothing to show on the positive side, and he has in no way met the Chinese people's and the Allies' eager desire to strengthen the anti-Japanese front. On the negative side, the speech is fraught with dangerous possibilities. His attitude is becoming more and more anomalous, as witness his firm rejection of the Allies' advice, his stubborn opposition to the people's demand for political change, his bitter hatred of the Communist Party of China, and his hint at a pretext for the anti-Communist civil war he is preparing. However, he will succeed in none of his schemes. Unless he is willing to mend his ways, he will be lifting a rock only to drop it on his own toes. We sincerely hope he will change his ways, because his present course of action will get him absolutely nowhere. Since he has proclaimed that «a greater latitude will be allowed to the voicing of opinions»,⁵ he should not stifle the «babel of criticism» by threatening people with the slander that they are willingly accepting «the rumours and tricks of the invaders and the Chinese collaborators». Since he bas proclaimed that «the period of political tutelage will be shortened», he should not reject the demand for reorganizing the government and the supreme command. Since he has proclaimed that «the Communist problem should be solved politically», he should not again seek a pretext for preparing civil war by slandering the Communist Party of China.