How Our Party Advocates the Establishment of the Anti-Japanese National United Front

Policy and tactics are the life of the Party. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Communist Party of China, on the basis of accurately grasping the rise of Sino-Japanese ethnic contradictions as the main contradiction in Chinese society, actively advocated the establishment and resolute maintenance of the anti-Japanese national united front. This major policy change not only made the party move to a broader political arena, but also provided a fundamental guarantee for the great victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
adjust the party's policy according to the change of social principal contradiction
After the North China Incident in 1935, the Chinese nation was facing a more serious survival crisis. The national contradiction between China and Japan rose to the main contradiction, and the class contradiction dropped to the secondary contradiction. The change of the main social contradiction requires the party's policy strategy to be adjusted accordingly. In December 1935, the CPC Central Committee held an enlarged meeting of the political Bureau in Wayaobao, which emphatically criticized the closed-door tendency in the party before, put forward the idea of establishing an anti-Japanese national United front, and realized a major policy change of the Communist Party of China. it shows that the focus of the party's work has shifted from leading the peasants to carry out the agrarian revolution in the domestic revolutionary war to establishing an anti-Japanese national United front in an all-Japanese war. Subsequently, according to the changes in the situation, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China gradually realized the change from "anti-Chiang Kai-shek anti-Japanese" to "forcing Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan" and then to "uniting Chiang Kai-shek anti-Japanese" strategy. On May 5, 1936, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the Armistice Conference and the Unanimous Anti-Japanese Power, publicly abandoning the anti-Chiang slogan. On August 25, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a letter to the Kuomintang Central Committee and transferred all Kuomintang members, advocating that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party implement a second cooperation under the major goal of anti-Japanese.
At the same time, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China stepped up its efforts to fight for Zhang Xueliang, Yang Hucheng, the Northeast Army and the 17th Route Army, and formed a "trinity" united front relationship with them. Under the influence and promotion of the anti-Japanese national united front, on December 12, 1936, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng launched a military remonstrance and detained Chiang Kai-shek and others. After the Xi'an Incident, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China focused on the overall situation of the Chinese nation's unity and resistance to Japan and advocated a peaceful settlement of the Xi'an Incident. At the invitation of Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying to Xi'an to negotiate with Chiang Kai-shek and representatives from Nanjing together with Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, forcing Chiang Kai-shek to promise to "stop suppressing the Communists and unite with the Red Army to resist Japan", and the Xi'an Incident was resolved peacefully. Since then, the 10-year civil war has basically ended and domestic peace has initially been achieved.
On February 10, 1937, the "Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to the Third Plenary Session of the Chinese Kuomintang" was published. It put forward five requirements for stopping the civil war, concentrating national power, and uniting with the outside world, and four guarantees for stopping the use of force to overthrow the Kuomintang government. It caused a huge response and was also approved by the anti-Japanese faction within the Kuomintang. At this meeting, the Kuomintang and the Nanjing government basically accepted the policy of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China proposed by the Communist Party of China, marking the initial formation of a national anti-Japanese national united front.
Seeking Unity through Struggle, Upholding and Maintaining the Anti-Japanese National United Front
In the whole nation's Anti Japanese War, on the one hand, the Kuomintang Chiang Kai Shek group was forced to join the Anti Japanese national united front under various pressures; on the other hand, its anti Communist position did not change with the Anti Japanese war, and always tried to weaken or even eliminate the power of the Communist Party in the Anti Japanese war. Therefore, in the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the policy of both unity and struggle must be adopted, but the struggle must be based on the bottom line of not breaking the anti-Japanese national united front.
On January 6, 1941, the Kuomintang die-hards created the Southern Anhui Incident that shocked China and foreign countries. After the incident, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to take a political offensive and a military defensive stance to resolutely repel the second anti-communist upsurge of the Kuomintang die-hards. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China announced the truth of the Southern Anhui Incident to all walks of life in various ways, exposed the conspiracy of the die-hards to undermine the War of Resistance, and won the general sympathy and support of all walks of life.
On January 9, Mao Zedong called Liu Shaoqi and put forward the necessary steps decided by the CPC Central Committee: to fully expose Chiang Kai-shek's plot politically, but not to mention Chiang Kai-shek's name for the time being; to mobilize the masses under the slogan of "persisting in resisting Japan and opposing civil war." take defensive warfare militarily; and organizationally plan to withdraw from the offices of the eighth Route Army and the New fourth Army.
On January 20, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China decided to rebuild the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army, with Chen Yi as acting commander and Liu Shaoqi as political commissar. On January 25, Mao Zedong made a speech in the name of the spokesperson of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, proposing 12 ways to resolve the Southern Anhui Incident, demanding that the Kuomintang die-hards rein in the precipice, stop provocation, release Ye Ting, and punish the culprit. On January 28, Mao Zedong, Zhu De and Wang Jiaxiang called the leaders of the New Fourth Army, asking the generals of the New Fourth Army to widely spread the inaugural telegram and denounce the pro-Japanese statements, and to expose Chiang Kai-shek's reactionary plot as much as possible inside and outside the party. However, when Chiang Kai-shek did not announce the total rupture, he did not mention the anti-Chiang slogan for the time being, but replaced Chiang Kai-Chiang Kai-Chiang Kai-Chiang Kai-shek's name with the authorities or other two words.
A series of measures taken by the Communist Party of China made the Chiang Kai-shek clique in unprecedented political isolation and had to restrain its anti-communist activities. At the second National Political Participation Conference held in early March, Chiang Kai-shek publicly stated: "In the future, there will be no military to suppress the Communists." On March 14, Chiang Kai-shek invited Zhou Enlai for an interview and promised to solve some problems between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in advance. At this point, the second anti-communist climax was repulsed.
In the whole nation's war of resistance, the Communist Party of China has always adhered to the policy of resistance, unity, and progress. On the one hand, it adheres to the principle of independence and self-determination, strengthens the people's strength in the war of resistance, and is against the possible destruction of the united front by the Kuomintang die-hards and the compromise and wavering of Japan. Be vigilant, carry out the necessary struggle, and resolutely beat back the three anti-communist climax launched by the Kuomintang die-hards, in the struggle against the Kuomintang diehards, we adhered to the principle of being reasonable, beneficial and moderate. Through the struggle, we forced the Chiang Kai Shek group to stay in the Anti Japanese camp, maintained the existence of the Anti Japanese national united front and the situation of the whole nation's joint Anti Japanese war, and played a decisive role in persisting in the Anti Japanese war and striving for the victory of the Anti Japanese war.
Towards a wider political arena
The advocacy and formation of the anti-Japanese national united front also greatly changed the image of the party in front of the people of the whole country and expanded the party's prestige and influence.
Originally, the first cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party created the situation of the great revolution and promoted the arrival of the climax of the great revolution. However, in the torrent of the Great Revolution, the Chiang Kai-shek Group and the Wang Jingwei Group successively betrayed the revolution and killed the Chinese Communist Party, a former ally and its supporters, forcing the Chinese Communists to take up arms to fight against it. There has been a military confrontation for nearly a decade. In this process, countless revolutionaries died on the execution ground of the Kuomintang reactionaries and in the gunfire of the Kuomintang army. It can be said that in the nearly ten-year civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party after the failure of the Great Revolution, every party member had his own relatives and comrades-in-arms who sacrificed for the revolution. However, at a time when Japanese imperialism invaded China on a large scale and the Chinese nation was facing life and death, the Communist Party of China took the initiative to stop the civil war, unite with the outside world, and adjust the party's principles, policies and strategies in a timely manner. so that the people of the whole country can see the magnanimous mind of the Communists and their loyalty to the interests of the nation and the people.
After the Long March, although the number of members and troops of the Communist Party of China is small, and it is located in the barren northwest plateau, people have seen the power of their personality from the noble political character and profound national conditions of the Communists. The hope and future of the Chinese nation make people have reason to believe that this party can not only become the mainstay of the whole nation's persistence in the war of resistance, but also become a strong pillar of national rejuvenation. If we say that before that, for most Chinese people, their understanding of the Communist Party of China was limited; and with the proposal and formation of the anti-Japanese national united front, people's sympathy for the Communist Party has gradually changed to support and trust. What they support is the propositions of the Communist Party, and what they trust is the character of the Communist Party. This also makes our party move from a narrow world to a broader political arena, the strength of the party continues to develop and grow, and it has further become a mature Marxist party, supporting the hope of saving the nation from subjugation and survival, and becoming the well-deserved leadership core of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Source: Learning Times