Brothers in Arms (108 page)

Read Brothers in Arms Online

Authors: Odd Arne Westad

Tags: #Political Science, #International Relations, #General, #test

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tatives for participation in the PCC because of mutual discord. Lists of their representatives could be drawn up only after the CCP had conveyed its opinion to them concerning candidacies. Yet each democratic party and group has several leading figures who, thanks to their long record of political activity in China, have some influence among the popular masses. Their party organizations are held together by these leading personalities only. Each party and each group has three categories of persons, rightists, leftists, and centfists.
The remaining Guomindang officials and imperialist agents are trying in every way to sneak into these democratic parties and groups so as to secure a legal status for themselves. We have given a serious warning to these parties and groups in this regard. All these parties and groups are at one only in waging a struggle against Jiang Jieshi, the Guomindang, and the imperialists. Yet some of their members had maintained ties with imperialist elements in the recent past and broken off these ties but quite recently. On the land reform, a part of them shares the CCP stand with reservations, and on the question of relations with the USSR, some of them are showing outright nationalist trends. All democratic parties and groups are officially adopting a program worked out by the Communist Party and officially stating their readiness to give support to the CCP as the main leader. Apart from the imperialist agents, Jiang Jieshi's Guomindang, China has no other political party of the national bourgeoisie in its consummate form.
China has no such reactionary bourgeois parties yet as those in European countries.
(But what about the group of compradores?)
In China's practical political life, the mass popular organizations that will be involved in the PCC are playing a substantial role. Some of these organizations already have a large membership and are attracting ever more new members. In the past these organizations were playing an important role in the struggle against the American imperialists and Jiang Jieshi. In future they are bound to play an even more important role. Most of these organizations accept CCP guidance or else are fully controlled by the CCP. Beside the All-China General Association of Trade Unions set up long ago, representatives of women's, students', and youth organizations recently held congresses, which set up the All-China Democratic Association of Women, the Youth League for New Democracy, and the All-China Association of Students. Since Chinese youth used to have a great number of various organizations, these have been merged into local and all-China youth associations that are promoting the cause of youth movement unification. The Guomindang trade unions, youth organizations, the Youth League of Sun Yatsen's Three Principles, and the Guomindang women's organizations are now illegal with the Guomindang's defeat and are rapidly breaking up, with their leaders having fled or ceased their activities. Some of the progressive elements in their midst had made common cause with the CCP even before the Guomindang's defeat. The Chinese Federation of Labor with Zhu Xiufan at the head, still leading a segment of the working masses, has already merged with the All-China General Association of Trade Unions. Last February we received instructions from the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party on

 

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the need of stepping up work among the workers, civil servants, youth, and women. We agree with these instructions. This work is well under way in all cities. However, since formerly there was a long break in this activity, it has become necessary to retrain personnel for carrying it on. Today each organization is running schools for educating the personnel in which the student classes are from several hundred to several thousand each. Consequently, so far we have been unable to carry out this work with much promptitude. We would like to have several experienced Soviet comrades arrive in China for assistance in doing this work.
In the near future all-China congresses of cultural, educational, and scientific workers will be convened in Beiping [Beijing] who will set up professional organizations of their own on an all-China level. They will operate under CCP guidance.
3. External Relations
We fully agree with the latest instructions from the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party concerning foreign policy issues, foreign trade, and loans.
At the present time, as the imperialists have suffered a setback in their policy of giving all-out support to the Guomindang in the struggle against the Chinese Revolution, they are using the following methods with the aim of continuing their struggle against the Chinese Revolution:
1. They are continuing to give support to the Guomindang and other potential forces in the struggle against the Chinese Revolution.
2. They are taking all measures to infiltrate the revolutionary camp so as to disintegrate it and cause damage to the Chinese Revolution.
3. They are going out of their way to disturb relations between the Chinese Revolution and the USSR, and also with the world Communist movement.
4. They are trying in every possible way to show that they seek rapprochement with the CCP and, simultaneously, are striving to lure the CCP onto the path of rapprochement with the imperialist states.
We are clearly aware of these imperialist schemings, and we have sufficient experience in combating them. We shall never let these imperialist schemings succeed. On all these issues we have already warned the democratic parties and groups, and urged vigilance from the people.
The Chinese Revolution should work consistently to destroy imperialist domination in China in the military, political, economic, and cultural fields. This goal is set in the resolutions of the Second Plenary Meeting of the CCP Central Committee, and it is inviolable. In districts being occupied by our troops, the military and political domination of the imperialists ends after the overthrow of the Guomindang. Their economic and cultural influence has also been weakened significantly. However, there still are economic enterprises and cultural institutions directly controlled by the imperialists. Their diplo-

 

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mats and correspondents still remain. The tactics and method of actions on all these issues merit attention.
We believe that now and in the future we should adhere to the following principles in our foreign policy:
1. Waging a struggle against the imperialist states with the aim of achieving complete independence for the Chinese people.
2. In international affairs, siding with the USSR and the countries of new democracy, fighting against the threat of a new war, safeguarding peace and democracy throughout the world.
3. Making use of the differences among the capitalist countries and contradictions within these countries.
(Yes.)
4. Promoting China's commercial relations with foreign states, above all, with the USSR and the people's democracies on the principle of equality and mutual benefit.
We lack the latest data on capital investments of the imperialist countries in China. According to Japanese data of 1936, Britain, the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, and Belgium had a total of $1.828 billion in investments. Of this sum $1 billion belonged to Britain, 220 million to the U.S., 210 million to Germany and Italy; 500 million was in railway and political loans, 450 million was invested in foreign banks and financial institutions, 380 million was in export-import trade, and 360 million was invested in mining and other industries. However, after
Japan's defeat, the investments of Japan. Germany, and Italy in China were confiscated,
(By whom?)
Britain, France, and Belgium have lost some of their investments in China, while the capital investments made by the U.S. have increased a little. At the present time,
foreign states own enterprises, banks, insurance-companies. export-import offices, seagoing vessels, wharves, and warehouses,
The companies of Kailan collieries with an annual output of 4 million tons of coal (in which Britain has half of the capital), the tobacco factories in Tianjin and Shanghai, the
American electric power station in Shanghai,
and some other utilities are of some importance. The other foreign-owned enterprises in China are of no great importance, neither are industrial and mining businesses run by the imperialists.
While applying certain essential restrictions, we still permit by and large the economic enterprises owned by the imperialists to continue their work in China.
(What restrictions?)
However, some imperialists have already withdrawn their capital assets from China or else they would rather take a wait-and-see stand. Thus far we have not decided at what particular moment and by what particular methods the issue of imperialist investments in China is to be resolved whether they should be confiscated or dealt with in some other way. Today we are very busy with military matters and other work, and have not got down to this issue. Nevertheless, we must be ready with a solution.
Imperialist countries have their
propaganda setups and cultural institutions
in China. According to available data, apart from the newspapers, magazines, and news agencies,

 

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