Why It Is Necessary to Discuss the «White Paper»

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of Why It Is Necessary to Discuss the «White Paper» 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:

• Why It Is Necessary to Discuss the «White Paper», in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 4, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1965.
• The Fourth Commentary on the White Paper, in Mao's Road to Power, First English Edition, Vol. 10, Routledge, New York and London, 2023.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is a comment written by Comrade Mao Zedong for the New China News Agency in Beijing, China on the 28th of August, 1949. It was first published in the Renmin Ribao (29th of August, 1949).

This is part of a series of six comments on the White Paper of the US State Department and Dean Acheson's Letter of Transmittal. With the exception of the first comment, A Confession of Helplessness (12th of August, 1949), they were written by Comrade Mao Zedong to expose the imperialist nature of United States policy toward China, criticize the illusions about US imperialism harboured by some of the bourgeois intellectuals in China, and give a theoretical explanation of the reasons for the rise of the Chinese revolution and for its victory.

The US White Paper, US Relations with China, was published by the US State Department on the 5th of August, 1949. Acheson's Letter of Transmittal to President Truman was dated the 30th of July, 1949. The main body of the White Paper, divided into eight chapters, deals with Sino-US relations in the period from 1844, when the United States forced China to sign the «»Treaty of Wangxia», to 1949, when victory was fundamentally won throughout the country in the Chinese people's revolution. The White Paper goes into particular detail about how, in the five years from the last part of the War of Resistance Against Japan to 1949, the United States pursued a policy of support for Jiang Jieshi and of Anti-Communism, opposed the Chinese people by every possible means and finally met with defeat. The White Paper and Acheson's Letter of Transmittal are full of distortions, omissions, and fabrications, and also of venomous slanders and deep hatred against the Chinese people. In the quarrel within the US reactionary camp over its policy toward China, imperialists like Truman and Acheson were compelled to reveal publicly through the White Paper some of the truth about their counter-revolutionary activities in an attempt to convince their opponents. Thus, in its objective effect, the White Paper became a confession by US imperialism of its crimes of aggression against China.

#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#WHY IT IS NECESSARY TO DISCUSS THE WHITE PAPER

#FOURTH COMMENT ON THE U.S. WHITE PAPER

#Mao Zedong

#28th of August, 1949

#★

We have criticized the US White Paper and Acheson's Letter of Transmittal in three articles (A Confession of Helplessness,¹ Cast Away Illusions, Prepare for Struggle!, and Goodbye, Leighton Stuart!). Our criticism has awakened widespread attention and discussion in all democratic political parties, people's organizations, the press, universities and schools, and among democratic figures in all walks of life throughout the country; they have issued many correct and useful declarations, statements, and comments. Forums on the White Paper are being held and the entire discussion is still developing. The discussion covers Sino-US relations, Sino-Soviet relations, China's foreign relations in the past 100 years, the mutual relation between the Chinese revolution and the revolutionary forces of the world, the relation between the Nationalist reactionaries and the Chinese people, the proper attitude to be adopted by the democratic political parties, people's organizations, and democratic figures in all walks of life in the struggle against imperialism, the proper attitude to be adopted by Liberals or so-called democratic individualists on the country's internal and external relations as a whole, the ways of dealing with new imperialist intrigues, and so on. All this is very good and is of great educational value.

The whole world is now discussing the Chinese revolution and the US White Paper. This is no accident, this shows the great significance of the Chinese revolution in world history. As for us Chinese, though we have fundamentally won victory in our revolution, we have had no opportunity for a long time to discuss thoroughly the interrelations of this revolution and various forces at home and abroad. Such a discussion is necessary, and now an opportunity has been found in the discussion of the US White Paper. We had no opportunity for this kind of discussion before because we had not won fundamental victory in the revolution, because Chinese and foreign reactionaries had cut off the big cities from the People's Liberated Areas and because some aspects of the contradictions had not yet been fully revealed by the development of the revolution. Now the situation is different. The greater part of China has been liberated, all aspects of the internal and external contradictions have been fully revealed, and just at this moment the United States has published the White Paper. Thus, the opportunity for the discussion has been found.

The White Paper is a counter-revolutionary document which openly demonstrates US imperialist intervention in China. In this respect, imperialism has departed from its normal practice. The great, victorious Chinese revolution has compelled one section or faction of the US imperialist clique to reply to attacks from another by publishing certain authentic data on its own actions against the Chinese people and drawing reactionary conclusions from the data, because otherwise, it could not get by. The fact that public revelation has replaced concealment is a sign that imperialism has departed from its normal practice. Until a few weeks ago, before the publication of the White Paper, the governments of the imperialist countries, though they engaged in counter-revolutionary activities every day, had never told the truth in their statements or official documents but had filled or at least flavoured them with professions of humanity, justice, and virtue. This is still true of British imperialism, an old hand at trickery and deception, as well as of several other smaller imperialist countries. Opposed by the people on the one hand and by another faction in their own camp on the other, the newly arrived, upstart, and neurotic US imperialist group — Truman, Marshall, Acheson, Leighton Stuart, and others — have considered it necessary and practicable to reveal publicly some (but not all) of their counter-revolutionary doings, in order to argue with opponents in their own camp as to which kind of counter-revolutionary tactics is the more clever. In this way, they have tried to convince their opponents, so that they can go on applying what they regard as the cleverer counter-revolutionary tactics. Two factions of counter-revolutionaries have been competing with each other. One said: «Ours is the best method.» The other said: «Ours is the best.» When the dispute was at its hottest, one faction suddenly laid its cards on the table and revealed many of its treasured tricks of the past — and there you have the White Paper.

And so, the White Paper has become material for the education of the Chinese people. For many years, a number of Chinese (at one time a great number) only half-believed what we Communists said on many questions, mainly on the nature of imperialism and of socialism, and thought: «It may not be so.» This situation has undergone a change since the 5th of August, 1949. For Acheson gave them a lesson and he spoke in his capacity as US Secretary of State. In the case of certain data and conclusions, what he said coincides with what we Communists and other progressives have been saying. Once this happened, people could not but believe us, and many had their eyes opened — «So that's the way things really were!»

IN order to make it easier for people to study the main points of the White Paper, we have retranslated and published the full text of Acheson's Letter of Transmittal to President Truman (the preface of the White Paper). The preface is the main point of the White Paper. To help readers analyse this preface, we have written this article. This article is written in the order of the preface of the White Paper, so that readers can compare it with the preface. In order to refute all the wrong ideas in the preface, this article is inevitably longer.

Acheson begins his Letter of Transmittal to Truman (the preface of the White Paper) with the story of how he compiled the White Paper. His White Paper, he says, is different from all others, it is very objective and very frank:

This is a frank record of an extremely complicated and most unhappy period in the life of a great country to which the United States has long been attached by ties of closest friendship. No available item has been omitted because it contains statements critical of our policy or might be the basis of future criticism. The inherent strength of our system is the responsiveness of the Government to an informed and critical public opinion. It is precisely this informed and critical public opinion which totalitarian governments, whether Rightist or Communist, cannot endure and do not tolerate.

Certain friendly ties do exist between the Chinese people and the American people. Through their joint efforts, these ties may and will certainly develop in the future to the point of the «closest friendship». But the obstacles placed by the Chinese and US reactionaries were and still are a great hindrance to these ties. Moreover, because the reactionaries of both countries have told many lies to their peoples and played many filthy tricks, that is, spread much bad propaganda and done many bad deeds, the ties between the two peoples are far from close. What Acheson calls «ties of closest friendship» are those between the reactionaries of the two countries, not between the peoples. Here, Acheson is neither objective nor frank, he confuses the relations between the two peoples with those between the reactionaries. For the peoples of the two countries, the victory of the Chinese revolution and the defeat of the Chinese and US reactionaries are the most joyful events that have ever happened, and the present period is the happiest of their lives. Conversely, it is only for Truman, Marshall, Acheson, Leighton Stuart, and other US reactionaries, and for Jiang Jieshi, Kong Xiangxi, Song Ziwen, Chen Lifu, Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, and other Chinese reactionaries that it is truly «an extremely complicated and most unhappy period» in their lives.

In considering public opinion, the Achesons have mixed up the public opinion of the reactionaries with that of the people. Toward the public opinion of the people, the Achesons have no «responsiveness» whatsoever and are blind and deaf. For years, they have turned a deaf ear to the opposition voiced by the people of the United States, China, and the rest of the world to the reactionary foreign policy of the US government. What does Acheson mean by «informed and critical public opinion»? Nothing but the numerous instruments of propaganda, such as the newspapers, news agencies, periodicals, and broadcasting stations which are controlled by the two reactionary political parties in the United States, the Republicans and the Democrats, and which specialize in the manufacture of lies and in threats against the people. Of these things Acheson says rightly that the Communists «cannot endure and do not tolerate» them (nor do the people). That is why we have closed down the imperialist offices of information, stopped the imperialist news agencies from distributing their dispatches to the Chinese press, and forbidden them the freedom to go on poisoning the souls of the Chinese people on Chinese soil.

To say that a government led by the Communist Party is a «totalitarian government» is also half true. It is a government that exercises dictatorship over domestic and foreign reactionaries and does not give any of them any freedom to carry on their counter-revolutionary activities. Becoming angry, the reactionaries rail: «Totalitarian government!» Indeed, this is absolutely true so far as the power of the people's government to suppress the reactionaries is concerned. This power is now written into our programme; it will also be written into our constitution. Like food and clothing, this power is something a victorious people cannot do without even for a moment. It is an excellent thing, a protective talisman, an heirloom, which should under no circumstances be discarded before the thorough and total abolition of imperialism abroad and of classes within the country. The more the reactionaries rail «totalitarian government», the more obviously is it a treasure. But Acheson's remark is also half false. For the masses of the people, a government of the people's democratic dictatorship led by the Communist Party is not dictatorial or autocratic, but democratic. It is the people's own government. The working personnel of this government must respectfully heed the voice of the people. At the same time, they are teachers of the people, teaching the people by the method of self-education or self-criticism.

As to what Acheson calls a «Rightist totalitarian government», the US government has ranked first in the world among such governments since the downfall of the Fascist governments of Germany, Italy, and Japan. All bourgeois governments, including the governments of the German, Italian, and Japanese reactionaries, which are being shielded by imperialism, are governments of this type. The Tito government of Yugoslavia has now become an accomplice of this gang. Because the people overthrew the Jiang Jieshi government and established their own government, China withdrew from the imperialist type and joined the anti-imperialist type. The US and British governments belong to the type in which the bourgeoisie, and this class alone, exercises dictatorship over the people. (The Jiang Jieshi government is an alliance between the landlord class and the bureaucrat-capitalist class.) Contrary in all respects to the people's government, this type of government practises so-called democracy for the bourgeoisie, but is dictatorial toward the people. The governments of Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Franco, Jiang Jieshi, and Tito discarded the veil of democracy for the bourgeoisie or never used it, because the class struggle in their countries was extremely intense and they found it advantageous to discard, or not to use, this veil, lest the people too should make use of it. The US government still has a veil of democracy, but it has been cut down to a tiny patch by the US reactionaries and become very faded, and is not what it used to be in the days of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln.² The reason is that the class struggle has become more intense. When the class struggle becomes still more intense, the veil of US democracy will inevitably be flung to the four winds.

As everybody can see, Acheson makes a great many mistakes the moment he opens his mouth. This is inevitable, because he is a reactionary. As to how much of a «frank record» the White Paper is, we think it is frank and not frank at the same time. The Achesons are frank where they imagine that frankness will benefit their political party or faction. Otherwise, they are not. To feign frankness is a ruse of war.