Central Committee Declaration
Release time:
2022-01-18
(August 1, 1927)
Since the comrades have been entrusted by the national comrades and elected as central committee members at the second national congress, they have fought for the future of the national revolution based on the party's principles and the teachings of the Premier. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of comrades nationwide, despite experiencing critical times for the party and the country, we have fortunately avoided major setbacks. Now, the crisis of the party and the country is even greater than before, so the comrades must sincerely inform all comrades of the truth of the recent situation and the only path for our collective struggle. Since the incident on March 20 of last year, it has been evident that there are still a few ambitious individuals with armed power in the revolutionary process, attempting to collude with counter-revolutionary forces to pursue their selfish interests. At that time, the comrades considered the overall interests of the revolution and hoped to promote the Northern Expedition to develop the strength of the masses, believing that this would be able to thwart the conspiracies of the ambitious individuals in a day. Therefore, for a year, we did not hesitate to lower our aspirations and endure humiliation to negotiate with Chiang Kai-shek and others, and did not dare to abandon our comrades nationwide or disregard the future of the revolution, acting in a self-righteous manner. Until this spring, Chiang Kai-shek initially wanted to move the party's government to Nanchang to fulfill his reactionary dictatorship; then he openly betrayed, seizing the southeast, colluding with warlords and compradors, harming comrades, and massacring the people. Thus, for the survival of the party and the country, comrades began to launch a movement to restore party power, and the third plenary session of the central committee was held to pass various resolutions to consolidate revolutionary forces, ensuring the party's principles and the teachings of the Premier were restored. This movement to restore party power relied entirely on the united efforts of comrades nationwide, which enabled us to strike a significant blow against Chiang Kai-shek and revive the prospects of the revolution. However, military figures like Tang Shengzhi also took the opportunity to support this movement to increase their own power by overthrowing Chiang. The comrades know that these military figures have no sincerity towards the revolution and will inevitably harm the party and the country in the future. However, it is only by following the Premier's teachings that our party can gain the participation of the vast peasant masses in the revolution, thus consolidating the foundation of the revolution. Therefore, regarding the development of the peasant movement in Hubei and Hunan, as well as the revolutionary actions of the peasant masses to solve land issues and establish rural autonomy, we believe that not only should they not be suppressed, but they should also be seen as our party's principle of "land to the tiller" gradually gaining recognition among the vast peasant population. Only with this recognition and movement among the peasantry can we destroy the remnants of feudal power, providing a solid guarantee for our party's revolutionary forces and the establishment of a new China where the people govern themselves. However, after the second Northern Expedition began, Tang Shengzhi's subordinate He Jian started plotting rebellion. He incited Xia Douyin and others to secretly attack Wuchang and secretly ordered Xu Kexiang and others to create disturbances in Changsha. At this critical moment, those colluding with the military sat idly by, unwilling to cooperate in suppressing the rebellion. A few weak leaders in the central party, shaken by the reactionary momentum, inevitably wavered and softened, and did not dare to decisively punish the rebellious military figures. Meanwhile, in Jiangxi, Zhu Peide conspired with Chiang to compromise, attempting to expel revolutionaries and halt the workers' and peasants' movements. These few weak leaders were also given undue leniency, treated as a matter of course. After Feng Yuxiang entered Henan, he even openly went to Xuzhou to meet with Chiang, threatening the central government to dismiss all political staff in the military. These few weak leaders also lacked the ability to impose sanctions and could not help but engage in empty negotiations to confuse their own steps. Under the guidance of these few weak leaders, the central party's authority completely collapsed, knowing only to rely on the military's whims, bending the central sacred resolutions to serve their own interests. As a result, the military's arrogance surged, and the party and government completely became tools of the military. Tang Shengzhi returned to Hunan, arbitrarily reorganizing the provincial government and party committee, and continued to implement policies of massacre, resulting in tens of thousands of loyal party members and peasants in Hunan being killed, and thousands in Hubei. The central government in Wuhan, regarding the massacre of these tens of thousands of comrades, claimed that many were communists, others were said to be disobedient to central orders and acted freely, and yet others said "land to the tiller" should be resolved politically and legally. Now the facts are clear and cannot be concealed. Among the victims in Hubei and Hunan, a significant portion were loyal communist party members who joined our party, while over eighty percent were party members who had not joined other parties. These tens of thousands of party members have been working hard among the workers and peasants based on our party's resolutions and the Premier's teachings, and now they are being brutally slaughtered by reactionary military figures. The Wuhan central government is also guilty of violating central orders, selling out the party and comrades, and is complicit in this! The Premier's teachings state that the issue of "land to the tiller" should not be resolved through politics and law. Now the Wuhan central government uses political and legal means to protect the slaughter of party members and workers and peasants by Tang Shengzhi and others, which is precisely contrary to the Premier's original intention! Tang Shengzhi and He Jian are again running rampant in the capital of Wuhan, surrounding the central party committee, occupying mass organizations, looting the central bank, arresting central committee members, and searching the residences of the Premier's wife, Soong Ching-ling, and Foreign Minister Chen Youjun. The central party committee, under the threat of these reactionary military figures, proposed a resolution to split the party, intending to exclude all loyal party members to facilitate the military's counter-revolutionary plans, shamelessly selling out the party to such an extent! The resolution to split the party was not passed by the central executive committee. They still wish to call for a central plenary meeting on August 15. At the same time, in Wuhan and all agencies under their power, they have begun to fabricate and distort various facts, launching extensive anti-communist propaganda, attempting to force central committee members to pass their proposed resolutions to cover up their illegal treasonous actions. The comrades have witnessed these circumstances and know that a few leaders in Wuhan have willingly succumbed to military coercion, selling out the party and themselves. If we continue to endure without fighting back, aiding their treasonous plans, how can we fulfill the heavy trust placed upon us by comrades nationwide, and how can we honor the Premier and the martyrs of the party? Therefore, we are determined to leave Wuhan one after another for the sake of the revolution and the future of our party, doing everything we can to lead comrades nationwide in maintaining the party's revolutionary legitimacy. What is even more painful is that Comrade Wang Jingwei, who held a leadership position in our party, has now succumbed to the encirclement of small factions with ambiguous statements, ultimately yielding to the military's force; after yielding, he still cleverly uses rhetoric to confuse the audience, with contradictory statements and abnormal behavior. Everything he does is completely different from when he first returned to the country. When the Premier was on the verge of death, he worried that the leaders in the party might be softened by the enemy. In less than three years after the Premier's death, more than half of the old leaders in the party have indeed been softened by the enemy. Thinking of this, how painful it is! The comrades consider the Premier's arduous efforts in establishing the party over the past forty years and the lofty expectations of millions of revolutionary comrades nationwide, and cannot sit idly by while the honor and history of our party are sacrificed by these few old leaders. We hereby solemnly declare that we do not agree with and cannot be held responsible for all the orders and resolutions recently issued by a few central committee members in Wuhan under the guise of the central party committee. The so-called party government in Wuhan and Nanjing has become a tool of the new warlords, distorting the Three People's Principles and abandoning the three major policies, becoming the sinners of the Premier and the national revolution, and are indeed on the same path as Chen Jiongming, Yang Ximin, Feng Ziyou, Xie Zhi, and Zou Lu. The sacrifices of the Northern Expedition must fulfill the Premier's last wishes, relieve the suffering of the people, liberate the workers and peasants, and develop revolutionary forces. If today the new and old warlords collude to slaughter workers and peasants and oppress the masses, then not only will the sacrifices of the Northern Expedition be in vain, but the result will inevitably lead to a situation of warlord separatism, causing China's turmoil to continue endlessly. From now on, we can only lead comrades nationwide, pledging to adhere to the Premier's last wishes and fight to the end, and we will not dare to waver, lest we delay the overall revolutionary situation. At this time, all comrades should unite and strive for the following proposals:
(1) Oppose the minority central committee members in Wuhan who use the directives issued by the Central Party Department.
(2) Support the Prime Minister in realizing the Three People's Principles of a society owned, governed, and enjoyed by the people, along with the three major policies of uniting with the Soviet Union, the Communist Party, and the workers and peasants, and oppose all interpretations or betrayal of these policies.
(3) Work together to secure a new base for the revolution in order to convene the Third National Congress outside the influence of the old and new warlords to discuss the continuation of revolutionary work.
(4) Before the Third National Congress, representatives from provincial party departments should elect a temporary revolutionary leadership body trusted by the entire party.
(5) Continue to fight against imperialism and work towards solving the land issue, to wash away the cowardly attitude of compromise and concession by the minority central committee in Wuhan, and to boldly advocate this revolutionary stance to awaken the masses.
(6) Do everything possible to abolish excessive taxes and eliminate all bureaucratic evils to realize the party's representation of the interests of the common people.
(7) Actively prepare strength to eliminate new-style warlords like Jiang, Feng, and Tang, as well as the forces of the Beiyang warlords and feudal society.
All of the above are considered urgent matters by us; only with the entire party united and resolutely fighting for these proposals can there be hope for the success of the Chinese revolutionary movement. Comrades, please take note!
Sun Yat-sen, Soong Ching-ling, Deng Yanda, Tan Pingshan, Peng Zemin, Lin Zuhan, Wu Yuzhang, Yu Shude, Yun Daiying, Enke Batu, Yang Paohan, Liu Yazhi, Gao Yuhan, Xie Jin, Bai Yunti, Mao Zedong, Dong Yongwei, Jiang Hao, Han Linfu, Xia Xi, Xu Suhun, Deng Yingchao, Qu Wu.
*This was issued by some central committee members of the Kuomintang, some of the signatories were not in Nanchang at the time.
"Published in the Nanchang 'Republic of China Daily' on August 1, 1927"
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