(July 13, 1927)

Workers, peasants, and general revolutionary civilians of the whole country!

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, at this critical moment of the revolution, issues this declaration to clarify the political situation under the reactionary conspiracy of the National Government, as well as the Party's policy of fighting to maintain the revolutionary victory of the people.

A year ago, the power of the Kuomintang was limited to Guangdong Province, and before that, many areas within Guangdong, like other parts of China, were under the control of reactionary warlords. — These reactionary warlords continued to fight among themselves, brutally oppressing the civilians, dividing and selling our China to foreign imperialism, and maintaining a dying feudal system that kept tens of millions of people in permanent slavery and poverty. However, since the first national congress of the Kuomintang, under the guidance of Mr. Sun Yat-sen, a revolutionary foundation was established in Guangdong; developing northward from Guangdong, it received responses from revolutionary civilians across the country, and surprisingly defeated many powerful warlords one by one — the armed forces of these warlords were actually much stronger than the National Revolutionary Army. Wu Peifu's forces were annihilated in Hubei and Hunan, Sun Chuanfang's five-province coalition was also defeated, and recently Zhang Zuolin suffered defeat in Henan. Most of China has already broken free from the old warlord rule, and the people should be able to organize freely to seek their own and China's ultimate liberation. The power of the revolutionary movement has shown great performance, even forcing imperialist powers to concede to the masses' advance: for example, the British had to return the concessions in Hankou and Jiujiang to China, and they have never dared to openly implement their long-prepared armed intervention. What is the reason for this revolutionary victory? Why have the warlords and imperialists had to retreat in the face of the revolutionary people's offensive?

The reason for the revolutionary victory, of course, does not lie in the military prowess of certain commanders or generals, nor in the diplomatic skills of certain leaders, but in the revolution receiving the support of the vast majority of the Chinese people. Especially the efforts of the working and peasant masses, and the solid revolutionary alliance formed by various oppressed classes in resistance to all exploitation. The great leader of the Chinese revolution, Mr. Sun Yat-sen, the Premier of the Kuomintang, clearly defined the three major policies of uniting with Russia, uniting with the Communist Party, and supporting the peasants and workers based on the revolutionary Three People's Principles. When the revolution is carried out under the leadership of these three major policies, the National Revolution becomes increasingly solid and develops into a great force that terrifies the revolutionary enemies. China has been oppressed by imperialism and domestic warlords for decades, and now it is on the path to freedom, liberation, and independence, with a promising future for economic development; thus, the Chinese peasants, who have been oppressed by landlords for hundreds of thousands of years; the Chinese workers, who work under conditions akin to prisoners and beasts of burden; the impoverished urban citizens, manual workers, and small merchants, who are extremely poor and on the verge of bankruptcy; — all these vast majority of Chinese civilians have risen up to fight for their liberation during this period. The masses, under the three major policies, are able to advance courageously, shattering the chains of imperialism, warlords, and feudalism, and forging the weapons to liberate China, striving for the civil rights of the vast majority of the people, to free China from bondage and eliminate the obstacles to China's economic development.

However, on one hand, while gradually achieving victory, the working people of China have indeed awakened and are striving for their organization and struggle, on the other hand, the visible and hidden enemies of the civilians have also realized their danger and are seeking various methods to obstruct the tide of revolutionary progress. Their means and methods are numerous. Foreign imperialists send warships and troops to China, forcing their pawns, the northern warlords, to fight, and sowing discord among the commanders of the National Revolutionary Army. Previously, the warlords openly opposed the Kuomintang, but later, seeing that they could not oppose the great banner of the revolution, they pretended to submit to the revolution, donning the false mask of the Kuomintang, intending to engage in sabotage from within the Kuomintang. As for the landlords, corrupt officials, compradors, and all counter-revolutionaries, they have exhausted all means to oppress the workers' and peasants' movement, either openly using force to crush it or secretly using methods of sowing discord, slander, and false accusations to undermine it. The bourgeoisie, who previously walked alongside the mass movement, later became frightened by the development of the mass movement and chose to flee to the side of the revolutionary enemies, as long as they could suppress the workers' and peasants' movement — it is evident that the Chinese bourgeoisie would rather willingly be the slaves of the imperialists, humbly seeking their understanding, than sacrifice a large sum of money to improve the lives of workers and peasants!

Furthermore, there were originally many commanders in the National Revolutionary Army who, under the banner of the Kuomintang, expanded their own military power and extorted money; later, seeing that the victory of the masses was about to be realized and that various warlord systems were to be completely destroyed, they openly betrayed the revolution, colluding with the bourgeoisie to accumulate power to seize command of the National Revolution, oppressing the workers and peasants, and compromising with the enemies of the people.

The betrayal of Chiang Kai-shek in Guangzhou on March 20, 1926, was the first step of this conspiracy, but it did not completely succeed. This is because the victory of the Northern Expedition liberated central China, and the mass movement developed actively, demonstrating a great new force capable of striking against military dictatorship. However, Chiang Kai-shek's ambition did not die; in March of this year, he openly betrayed the National Government, seizing the southeastern provinces, slaughtering workers and peasants along the way from Jiangxi to Shanghai, and taking control of the Kuomintang for himself.

This was the first serious blow to the National Revolution.

At that time, what was the attitude of the Kuomintang leaders towards Chiang Kai-shek's betrayal and this phenomenon of class differentiation? At that time, the revolutionary nature of the Kuomintang's guiding body had not yet been exhausted, and the social classes they represented still had some courage to advance. In March of this year, the third plenary session of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang in Wuhan was sufficient to show that the guiding body of the Kuomintang could still rely on organized workers and peasants to resist the reactionaries. Therefore, the Communist Party of China decided to fully support the Central Committee of the Kuomintang in Wuhan, making it easier to unite the majority of the people to struggle against the feudal bourgeoisie and the reactionary tide, and the Communist Party of China decided that its members should join the National Government to share the heavy responsibilities of the Kuomintang in Wuhan during this difficult period. Many resolutions of the third plenary session of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang formed the political program of our alliance. These resolutions are: consolidate party power to overthrow military dictatorship; suppress all counter-revolutionaries; implement rural autonomy and convene provincial people's congresses to realize the democratization of state power; establish a Ministry of Agriculture and a Ministry of Labor to support the improvement of the economic conditions of workers and peasants, in order to formulate and implement laws to improve society; resolutely support the workers' and peasants' mass movement, and others.

Therefore, the third plenary session of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang was sufficient to clearly show the determination of the Kuomintang's guiding body to resist the reactionary offensive and their willingness to greatly develop the workers' and peasants' movement to ensure the forward progress of the National Revolution.

Since the Kuomintang has such determination, the Communist Party naturally must further consolidate its alliance with the Kuomintang and strive for the common tasks of both sides. The Communist Party sends its members to join the National Government, while of course recognizing that the guiding body of the Kuomintang will sincerely fulfill the responsibilities stipulated in its third plenary session, and will work together with the members of our party who participate in the government to advance the revolutionary struggle.

However, the political situation in recent months has greatly disappointed all revolutionary people in China. The guiding body of the Kuomintang and the National Government have not implemented the resolutions and responsibilities of the third central plenary session. The Central Committee of the Kuomintang has extinguished the hopes of the people—Chinese people originally believed that the Central Committee of the Kuomintang and many of its leaders were revolutionary!

It is precisely because the people believe that the Central Committee of the Kuomintang and the National Government are revolutionary, and the Communist Party also believes so, that the peasant and worker movements resisting feudal remnants and foreign aggression within the realm of the National Government have developed so rapidly and on such a large scale. Several million farmers in Hubei and Hunan have risen up to fight against the rule of the feudal class, oppose the gentry, landlords, corrupt officials, and warlords, and demand the realization of Sun Yat-sen's slogan "Land to the Tiller," and the establishment of a government for the common people. Workers in the cities are also striving to overthrow the brutal labor conditions akin to that of cattle and horses. If the Central Committee of the Kuomintang can truly follow the people's movement, then the more than ten million organized farmers and over two million organized workers will surely become the most solid foundation of the national revolution.

At that time, the feudal system in China would surely suffer a fatal blow and could not be revived. However, the guiding body of the Kuomintang is unwilling to do so! The relationship between the Central Committee of the Kuomintang and the dying feudal class and bourgeoisie is closer than its relationship with the newly emerging revolutionary forces in China; therefore, many leaders of the Kuomintang are passively wavering and hesitant to an unbearable extent, resulting in leadership falling back into the hands of reactionary military personnel.

In April of this year, the Central Committee of the Kuomintang has already refused to publish the draft resolution of the Land Committee regarding land system reform, let alone implement it. The formulation and publication of labor laws have also encountered many obstacles. The Central Committee of the Kuomintang and the National Government should pay attention to the oppressed classes of the Chinese common people, the voices of workers and farmers, but they do not do so; they only listen to reactionary military officers from gentry and landlord backgrounds—these reactionary officers are constantly opposing the peasant movement. In April and May of this year, it was precisely the time to implement social reforms to eliminate the roots of feudal relationships in urban and rural areas and to deal a fatal blow to the reactionaries, and it was the time to arm the workers and farmers to resist the counter-revolutionaries—at this time, the leaders of the Kuomintang and the National Government instead issued many orders and declarations specifically to restrict the peasant and worker movements, further causing wavering elements to shift to the side of the reactionaries, and allowing the reactionaries to prepare for an attack on the revolution freely. Reactionary military officers took advantage of these hesitant policies and openly counterattacked the people's movement. The reactionary tide surged one after another: Chiang Kai-shek's lackey Yang Sen attacked western Hubei, Yu Xuezhong, Zhang Liansheng, and others defected in northwestern Hubei, Xia Douyin intruded into Wuchang, Xu Kexiang carried out a coup in Hunan, and recently Feng Yuxiang expressed opposition to the peasant and worker mass movement and the Communist Party. The blood of the workers and farmers flowed across the Central Plains, the people's organizations were severely damaged, the reactionary tide surged increasingly, and the victory of the revolution was completely extinguished!

Now it has long been the last moment for the Central Committee of the Kuomintang to choose the right path: whether to advance with the revolution or retreat with the reactionaries! Until recently, the Central Committee of the Kuomintang and the National Government still refused to resolutely advance with the revolution, continuing to restrict the policy of mass movements, allowing all counter-revolutionary actions to go unpunished. There was no action taken against the counter-revolutionary coup in Hunan; instead, the National Government tacitly approved these coups and covered them up, providing a legal basis for the reactionaries to completely destroy the peasant and worker movements. The reactionary forces of Xia Douyin in Hubei have not been eliminated, and in fact, they have sufficient military strength to do so. However, the reactionaries in various counties in Hubei have destroyed many peasant associations. The National Government not only has no means to eliminate the reactionaries but in fact helps the reactionaries' attacks—because the government's policy is to dissolve or reorganize the peasant and worker organizations, and the only crime of these organizations is to strive to sacrifice to resist the feudal system!

This situation is the public sponsorship of reactionary military officers by most leaders of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang, who generally adopt a wavering and compromising policy, resulting in the reactionaries establishing a solid foundation in Wuhan, the capital, recently preparing for a coup against the interests of the vast majority of the Chinese people and the fundamental principles and policies of Sun Yat-sen.

Our party observes that the policies of most leaders of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang and the National Government are sufficient to lead the national revolution to extinction. These policies have made Wuhan assimilate with Nanjing, turning into a new-style warlord combination and conflict. It allows the old rule of warlords like Wu Peifu, Zhang Zuolin, Sun Chuanfang, and others who carve up China to transform into the rule of new-style warlords like Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, Xu Kexiang, and the pseudo-Kuomintang. China will continue to suffer from brutal exploitation, the revolution will face widespread destruction, the people will suffer even more, the feudal anarchy will triumph, and the rule of imperialism will become more stable. The Communist Party of China will forever fight for the vast interests of the working farmers, soldiers, and the petty bourgeoisie, and cannot be responsible for the current policies of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang. The Communist Party of China opposes these policies because, for it, the interests of the people are paramount. Thousands of Communist Party members, during the revolutionary army's attack on Wuchang and Nanchang, during the attacks on Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang, and Zhang Zuolin, during the resistance against the traitors sent by Chiang Kai-shek in the fields of Guangdong and the streets of Shanghai and Guangzhou, during the resistance against reactionary military officers in Hunan and Hubei—those who died in battle died, those who were slaughtered were slaughtered, all of this has proven that the Communist Party will forever fight alongside the working farmers and the masses, regardless of any enormous sacrifices—even when the National Government and the Central Committee of the Kuomintang abandon the working people.

Therefore, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has decided to withdraw the Communist Party members participating in the National Government.

All workers, farmers, soldiers, and general revolutionary civilians, whether they are Kuomintang members or Communist Party members, can know: the Communist Party of China will always fight alongside you to the end, and will surely guide the masses through all the hardships of the revolution to achieve the final victory and the success of the national revolution. The Communist Party of China will strive to resist the reactionary military officers and feudal gentry's bourgeoisie completely seizing the national revolutionary movement's conspiracy, and resist their policies of slaughtering the working farmers and exploiting the people; their conspiracy and atrocities are causing the revolution to fail, which is indeed a compromise with imperialism—because abandoning the land revolution is abandoning the revolutionary movement to eliminate the feudal system; and without eliminating the feudal system, the oppression of imperialism cannot be overthrown.

The Communist Party of China will continue to uncompromisingly oppose the struggle against imperialism, striving to abolish all unequal treaties, recover concessions, cancel extraterritoriality, implement tariff autonomy, and liberate China.

The Communist Party of China will continue to oppose the struggle against warlords, striving for national unity and establishing democratic politics at both local and central levels.

The Communist Party of China will oppose all feudal remnants, striving for complete victory of the revolution, in order to seek the development of China's economy, politics, and culture.

The Communist Party of China will work harder to achieve and consolidate the true alliance between the Chinese revolution and the oppressed nations of the world proletariat and the Soviet Union.

The Communist Party of China will continue to enhance the struggle for workers' interests: the eight-hour workday, strict determination of minimum wages, improvement of working conditions, relief for unemployed workers, protection of female and child workers, striving for the freedom of workers to strike, assemble, associate, speak, publish, and for workers' armed self-defense.

The Communist Party of China will continue the struggle to liberate farmers: land owned by landlords will be transferred to farmers without compensation, protecting the rights of small landowners, implementing maximum rent reductions on non-requisitioned land, abolishing harsh taxes and regulations, improving the treatment of hired farmers and increasing their wages, overthrowing the armed power of landlords and corrupt officials, striving for the right of farmers to armed self-defense, establishing rural self-governance, limiting usury, establishing farmers' cooperatives, and demanding the state provide sufficient economic assistance to agriculture, as well as implementing grants and loans to farmers.

The Communist Party of China will also fight for the interests of the urban petty bourgeoisie: abolishing all direct and indirect harsh taxes, formulating a unified and stable currency, opposing both old and new warlords who obstruct commercial traffic, protecting domestic industry and commerce against imperialist economic oppression, and opposing the exploitation of the petty bourgeoisie by comprador usurers.

The Communist Party of China will further fight for the interests of soldiers, demanding timely payment of military salaries, opposing salary deductions, demanding improvements in soldiers' treatment and living conditions, opposing both old and new warlords who sacrifice soldiers' lives for private wars over power and profit, advocating that soldiers should be granted land or work by the state after retirement to engage in peaceful production, and the same should apply to so-called bandits and vagrants who join the revolutionary camp.

In all these revolutionary efforts, the Communist Party of China will work together with all true revolutionaries among the members and masses of the Kuomintang—therefore, Communist Party members have no reason to withdraw from the Kuomintang or even abandon the policy of cooperation with the Kuomintang. If the guiding bodies of the Kuomintang and the National Government can truly implement this revolutionary policy—opposing imperialism, warlords, feudalism, and the conspiracies of reactionaries—then the Communist Party of China will fully support this true revolutionary policy. However, the Communist Party of China permanently believes that the interests of the revolution and the people are above all else—far exceeding the preservation of any political alliance or leadership. The Communist Party of China cannot tolerate betraying revolutionaries and indecisive politicians who masquerade as the Kuomintang under the guise of Mr. Sun Yat-sen. The Communist Party of China is determined to cooperate with all revolutionaries as long as they can honestly and resolutely fight based on the three principles of the people—national liberation, civil rights, and political improvement, as well as the three major policies of linking with Russia and the Communist Party to support workers and farmers, which are the great teachings of Mr. Sun Yat-sen. Therefore, the Communist Party of China will rigorously expose all false Kuomintang members who use Mr. Sun Yat-sen's name to betray the revolution.

The glorious banner of the national revolutionary leader Mr. Sun Yat-sen will forever belong to the revolutionary masses, the broad masses of workers, farmers, soldiers, students, and the petty bourgeoisie, and cannot be stolen by the reactionary, compromising, false Kuomintang. The hundreds of millions of people in China will always recognize the true revolutionary Kuomintang's banner and will always know that the Communist Party of China stands at the forefront of the national revolution; the power of the people will always overcome the ambitions of all reactionary traitors and complete China's national revolution!

Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

July 13, 1927

"Published in the 20th issue of the "Guide" Weekly"