The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 15, 1927, Page 11

| IN CHINA peasants Gor their liberation. Is it then a mere co- ineidenee that until May or June of this year the @ituation in China was regarded as the rule of the which had eet in after the defeat of Feng Hsjang’s army, but that in the summer of this it was only necessary for the victorious Can- to advance northwards and occupy Hupe change the picture fundament@lly in ta revohition? No, it was not a coincidence; vance of the Canton troops meant a blow imperialism, a blow aimed at its agents a, it meant the freedom of assembly, free- ‘to strike, freedom of the press, freedom of q@palition for all the revolutionary elements in China fm general and for the workers in particular. In this prengrsyy fetta Im former times, in the 18th and 19th century, rev- ms began in such a way that usually the people bse, for the greater part unarmed or badly armed, ‘gd encountered the army of the old regime. They e every effort to break up this army or at least to win %t over as far as possible to their side. This ‘was the typical form of the revolutionary explosions of the past. The same thing occurred with us in Russia in 1905. In China things developed on dif- ferent lines. In China, it is not the unarmed people against the troops of their own government, but the armed people in the form of its revolutionary @my. In China, armed revolution is fighting against @rmed counter-revolution. This is one of the pecu- liarities and one of the advantages of the Chinese revolution. This also explains the special signifi- cance of the revolutionary army in China. | It is therefore a reprehensible defect of the theses \before us that they underestimate the revolutionary ‘ermies. | | Lee EEE EERIE ELE EDEL OIL ES IT In consequence of this, however, the Chinese Com- mnists ought to devote special attention to work a the army. First of all the Chinese Communists must use ery means in their power to intensify political vork in the army and must succeed in making the wmy a real and model support of the ideas of the Shinese revolution. This is particularly necessary at he present moment because the Canton troops are wing joined by all kinds of generals who have othing in common with the Kuomintang, who join t as a force which overthrows the enemies of the thinese people and who, by joining the Canton troops, introduce disintegration into the army, It 3 only possible to neutralize such “allies” or to arn them into genuine adherents of the Kuomintang y intensifying the political work and by organizing ~titionary control over them. Unless this is , the army may get into a most difficult position, » y-pondly, the Chinese revohitionaries, including ae Communists, must make a special study of aings military, they must not regard military ques- ons as something of secondary importance, for mil- ‘ary questions in China are at present the most nportant factor in the Chinese revolution. The ommunists, must, with this object in view, study vilitarism in order to advance gradually and to be ble to occupy some leading post or other in the avolutionary army. This will guarantee that the svolutionary army of China will follow the right ath, will keep its eye steadily fixed on its aim. ‘nless this is carried out, it is inevitable that there hould ‘be vacillations in the army. These are the tasks which the Chinese Communist arty has to fulfill with regard to the question of ie revolutionary army. 4. The Character of the Future Power in China. HE third remark concerns the fact that, in the - theses, the question as to the character of the ‘ture revolutionary power in China is hardly dealt ith at all or altogether disregarded. .Comrade Mif, his credit, has closely approached this question in 8 thesis. But, when he was on the threshold of it, » failed to carry it out to the end, ag though he id been frightened and did not dare to go further. ymrade Mif believes that the future revolutionary rwer in China will a power of the revolutionary ‘tty bourgeoisie under the leadership of the prole- riat. What does this mean? At the time of the February revolution in 1917, the Mensheviki and social revolutionaries were also Petty bourgeois parties and to a certain extent revolutionaries, Does this mean that the future revolutionary power in China will be a social revolutionary Menshevist power? No, it does not mean this. Why? Because the social-revolutionary Menshevist power was an imperialist power, while the future revolutionary power in China must be an anti-imperialist power. This is the fundamental difference. The MacDonald government was actually a “labor” power but it was at the same time imperialist, for it was based on the maintenance of England’s imperialist power, for in- stance in India and Egypt. As compared with the MacDonald government, the future revolutionary power in China will have the advantage that it will be an anti-imperialist power. What is important is not the bourgeois-democratic character of the Can- ton government which forms the nucleus of the fu- ture pan-Chinese revolutionary power; the most im- portant thing is that this power is an anti-imperial- ist power and can be nothing ‘eke, that every ad- vance of this power is a blow aimed at world-imperi- alism and is therefore a stroke in favor of the revo lutionary world movement. Lenin was right when he said that, if in former times, before the begin- ning of the epoch of the world revolution, national movements for freedom were part of the general democratic movement, now, after the victory of the Soviet revolution in Russia, and since the beginning of the epoch of world revolution national movements for freedom are part of the proletarian world revo- tution. This peculiarity was not taken into consideration by Comrade Mif. I believe that the future revolutionary power in China will, in its character, resemble the power which was spoken of in our country in 1905, i. e., a dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry, but with the distinguishing feature that it will be predominantly an anti-imperialist power. It will be a power of transition to a non-capitalist, or, to be more exact, to a socialist development of China. This is the direction in which the revolution in China is likely to develop. This path of develop- ment which the revolution will follow, will be facill- tated by three circumstances; firstly in that the point of the revolution in China, as a national reyo- lution for freedom will be directed against imperial- ism and its agents in China, secondly in that the large bourgeoisie in China is weak, weaker than the national bourgeoisie was in Russia in, 1905, whieh facilitates. the hegemony.of,.'the proletariat,..dhe leadership of the proletarian party as against the Chinese peasantry; thirdly, in that the revolution in China will develop in circumstances which make it possible to Make use of the experience and the aid of the victorious revolution in the Soviet Union. Whether this method will with certainty lead to victory, depends on many circumstances. One thing is clear, that it is the chief duty of the Chinese Communists to fight to prepare the way for the development of the Chinese revolution. From this we may conclude what is the chief task of the Chinese Communists in the question of their relations to the Kuomintang and to the future revo- lutionary power in China. It is said that the Chinese Communists ought to secede fromthe Kuomintang. _ This is pure folly, comrades. It would be the greatest mistake for the Chinese Communists to leave the Kuomintang. The whole course of the Chinese revo- lution, its character, its prospects, undoubtedly in- dicate that the Chinese Communists ought to re- main in the Kuomintang and intensify their work in it. But can the Chinese Communist Party take part in the future revolutionany government? It not only can, it must. The course of the revolution in China, its character, its prospects, speak eloquent- ly in favor of the Chinese Communist Party taking part in the future revolutionary government of China. This is one of the necessary guarantees for the hegemony of the Chinese proletariat becoming a concrete reality. 5. The Peasant Question in China. ~~ fourth remark concerns the question of the peasantry in China. Comrade Mif believes that - By Joseph Stalin Tan Yen Kai, Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of People’s Government. we ought at once to issue the slogan of the forme tion of soviets, of peasant soviets, in the oper country. I believe that this is a mistake. Comrade Mif is in too great a hurry. It is out of the question to form soviets in the country and to kave out the industrial centers in China. The question of or- ganizing soviets in the Chinese industria] centers however, hag not yet been raised. Furthermore, we must not forget that the soviets cannot be con- sidered independently of their connection with the whole situation. It would only be possible to or- ganize soviets, let us say peasant soviets, if China were passing through a period of a flourishing peas- ant movement which would break down the ok power" and create a new one, under the assumption that the industrial centers of China had already broken down the barrier and entered on the phase of forming a soviet power. Can it be said that the Chinese peasantry or the Chinese revolutiom ag 4 whole has already entered.on this phase? No, 1t cannot be said. It is therefore trying to outpace evolution to speak of soviets at the present time. ~At.the present moment, we must not raise the ques- “—tion~of soviets, but of the formation of peasant.com- mittees; I mean committees, elected by the peas- ants, which are capable of formulating the funda- mental demands of the peasantry and of taking all the necessary measures for Tealizing these demands by revolutionary methods. These peasant commit- tees should form the axis round which the revolu- tion in the village can unfold, I know that there are people amongst the adher- ents of the Kuomintang and even among the Chin- ese Communists who do not consider it possible to let loose the revolution in the village lest the enlist- ment of the peasantry in the revolution should dis- rupt the united front against imperialism. This is the greatest error. The anti-imperialist front in China will be all the stronger.and more powerful the more quickly and thoroughly the Chinese peas antry is persuaded to join in the revolution. The authors of the theses, especially Comrades Tan Ping Shan and Rafes are perfectly right when they maintain that the immediate satisfaction of a num- ber of the most urgent demands of the peasantry és an essential preliminary for the victory of the Chinese revolution. In my opinion, it is high time to do away with the indifference and “neutrality” towards the peasantry which is noticeable in the activity of certain elements of the Kuomintang. 1 think that both the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang, including the Canton government ought, without delay, to pass from words to deeds and immediately to raise the question of satisfy- ing the most vital demands of the peasantry. What (Continued on page 6) Chinese revolutionists having a good time burying the imperialists.