893.00/14881
The Ambassador in China (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 11.]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose for the Department’s information a copy of a statement29 prepared by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on the Fifth Anniversary of the Sino-Japanese War. This statement was not released for publication in Chungking newspapers and has been obtained by the Embassy from a confidential source.
The statement of the Communist Party is of particular interest in that it calls attention frankly to the existing dissension between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and sets forth a program to end the antagonism between the two parties not only during the war but also for the post-war period. Its aims are a democratic China, [Page 229] neither dictatorial nor socialist; economic prosperity for all, not for one section—without confiscation by force of land or factories; Universal suffrage; unification and peace; and an independent China, not colonial or semi-colonial. The post-war China should be built on the principles of San Min Chu I, the Kuomintang’s program of resistance and reconstruction and the Communist Party’s administrative and social policies.
The statement reiterates the principles established by the Communist Party in September, 1937, when it announced (1) its willingness to abandon all attempts to overthrow the Kuomintang, its policy of land confiscation by force and bolshevization and (2) its readiness to incorporate its army into the national armed forces and dissolve its Soviet government. Attention is called to the observance by the Communist Party of these principles.
A plea is made for united support by all factions of the leadership of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek both during the war and in the post-war period of reconstruction and the party indicates its desire to discuss with the Kuomintang the issues and to improve the relations between the two parties, thereby eliminating opportunity for Japanese intrigues and preserving a united front against Japanese aggression.
In contrast to the demands of the Chinese Government that the Far Eastern front not be subordinated to the European war zone, the Communist Party insists that Hitlerism should be defeated this year and that China, Great Britain and the United States would then be able to defeat Japan in 1943.
The Embassy does not know what reply the Kuomintang has made to the Communist Party’s statement. In view, however, of the existing circumstances under which the Communist armies in the Northwest are, according to all reports, very poorly equipped and are blockaded by approximately 400,000 of the National Government’s best equipped troops under General Hu Tsung-nan, the Kuomintang may be expected to oppose any participation by the Communist Party in post-war reconstruction, with force if necessary.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩