Marxism Research Network
Unofficial English Translation

Zhang Taiyuan: The Mainstay of the National Resistance and the Strong Leadership Core of National Rejuvenation

Modern Chinese History

General Secretary Xi Jinping, in his speech at the assembly commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, pointed out that under the banner of the Anti-Japanese National United Front advocated and established by the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese people confronted powerful enemies with unyielding character and built a Great Wall with their own flesh and blood, achieving the first complete victory against foreign invasion in modern history. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized many times that the CPC was the "mainstay" [zhōngliú dǐzhù] [1] of the national resistance. On the occasion of commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, fully recognizing the CPC's major contributions to the Anti-Japanese National United Front is of great significance for us to carry forward the Great Resistance Spirit and forge ahead on the New Era’s new journey.

The Anti-Japanese National United Front was first called for and advocated by the CPC. At a time of national peril, the CPC upheld national righteousness, shouldered the historical heavy responsibility of national salvation, and called for the establishment of an Anti-Japanese National United Front based on cooperation between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the CPC to resist Japanese aggression and expel the Japanese invaders from China. Because the KMT implemented the policy of "internal pacification before external resistance" [2], the establishment of the Anti-Japanese National United Front based on KMT-CPC cooperation underwent a difficult process. In January 1933, the CPC issued a manifesto calling for the establishment and expansion of an anti-imperialist national united front. Our Party profoundly realized that resisting Japanese aggression required the unification of various forces; this was the earliest call for the establishment of the Anti-Japanese National United Front. As Japanese aggression intensified, Chinese Communists further recognized that "the scope of the united front should be expanded" and proposed the "policy of establishing a national anti-Japanese united front." This policy was clearly reflected in the Letter to All Compatriots for Resisting Japan and Saving the Nation, also known as the "August 1st Manifesto." The Anti-Japanese National United Front became the only path to unite the country's various political and military forces and rescue the Chinese nation from crisis.

In December 1935, the CPC formally established the tactical line for creating the Anti-Japanese National United Front at the Wayaobu Conference. Mao Zedong pointed out: "The Communist Party and the Red Army are not only acting as the initiators of the Anti-Japanese National United Front today, but will inevitably become its firm pillars in the future anti-Japanese government and army." This particularly illustrates the relationship between advocating the Anti-Japanese National United Front and playing the role of the mainstay. Subsequently, based on changes in the domestic political situation, our Party continuously adjusted the scope of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, undergoing the transformation from "forcing Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan" to "uniting with Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan." Inspired by our Party's united front policy, on December 12, 1936, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng launched the Xi'an Incident [3], forcing Chiang Kai-shek to "unite with the Communists to resist Japan." While holding a dominant position, the CPC Central Committee made the decision to resolve the Xi'an Incident peacefully. This reflected both the CPC's magnanimity in "treating the world as public" [tiānxià wéi gōng] [4] and prioritizing the nation, as well as its confidence in striving for leadership of the resistance across all classes of the country. After the Lugou Bridge Incident [5], the KMT’s Central News Agency published the Manifesto of the CPC Central Committee on the Proclamation of KMT-CPC Cooperation. On September 23, 1937, Chiang Kai-shek delivered a speech at Lushan, effectively recognizing the legal status of the CPC. "The united front of the two parties was declared established," which "would play a decisive role in defeating Japanese imperialism." The Anti-Japanese National United Front based on KMT-CPC cooperation was formally established, and the curtain rose on the full-scale national war of resistance.

Throughout the national war of resistance, the CPC consistently persisted in consolidating and maintaining the Anti-Japanese National United Front. After the major cities in North China fell one after another, the CPC persisted in independent guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines, and its anti-Japanese armed forces continued to grow. This aroused the jealousy and hatred of Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT. Facing constant provocations from the KMT, our Party always adhered to the correct direction of the resistance. On the one hand, it "helped the KMT to make progress so as to develop the united front"; on the other hand, it "exerted the Party's exemplary role in the war of resistance." As General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out, the CPC held high the banner of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, resolutely maintained, consolidated, and developed the united front, persisted in independence and unity in the resistance, and preserved the overall situation of unified resistance. Even after suffering heavy losses in the Southern Anhui Incident [6], the CPC did not take further military action against the KMT, unswervingly pushing the entire nation to persist in the war of resistance.

The victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was a victory achieved under the banner of the Anti-Japanese National United Front. Under the banner of the Anti-Japanese National United Front advocated and established by the CPC, Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad, with a strong sense of devotion to home and country, united as never before and took the lead in the great struggle to defend their homes and the nation, forming a "vast ocean of people's war." Across the north and south of the Yangtze River and inside and outside the Great Wall, all Chinese sons and daughters braved the enemy's gunfire to face the national crisis together. Whether on the frontal battlefield or the battlefield behind enemy lines, millions of patriotic officers and soldiers fought bloody battles with a readiness to die, and people from all walks of life were of one heart and mind against the common enemy. They composed a heroic song of resistance against Japanese aggression that moved mountains and rivers, and wrote a magnificent epic of resistance against foreign invasion with their lives and blood.

The CPC was the initiator, promoter, and staunch defender of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, always standing at the forefront of the front and actively expanding its scope. It can be said that without the CPC, there would have been no national anti-Japanese united front; without the Anti-Japanese National United Front, there would have been no national war of resistance. "The national war of resistance was an important 'magic weapon' [fǎbǎo] [7] for the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression." In terms of advocating, persisting in, and maintaining the united front, the CPC truly lived up to its role as the mainstay of the national war of resistance.

History teaches us that "winning people's hearts is the greatest politics," and the united front is a powerful magic weapon for pooling hearts and gathering strength. On the New Era’s new journey, we must consolidate and develop the broadest patriotic united front under the Party's firm leadership. We must improve the "Great United Front" work pattern, persist in great unity and great alliance, and closely unite the people of all ethnic groups across the country and Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad. We must maximize the convergence of forces for collective struggle, comprehensively promoting the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization.