The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 9, 1927, Page 6

The Common (Continued from last week) The military successes of the national army have not yet compelled American imperialism to abandon its position of a “Liberal onlooker.” Even the first stages of Britain’s strugg}e to retain its concession in Hankow left the White House relatively calm. The victory of the revolutionary troops, the deter- mined action of the National government against extra-territoriality, did not in themselves imply that those social forces which will upset the calculation of American capitalism for the peaceful conquest of China have ripened, taken definite form and become strengthened. Only when the activity and the per- sistence of the working class and its influence upon the progress of events were revealed was Washing- ton aroused. Of course, the United States has “no imperialist aims in China.” The official declaration of Mr. Coolidge advances the pious formula of the proteec- tion of the life and interests of American citizens, but as experience in Nicaragua teaches, behind this sentence there trails a long train of gunboats. Washimgton liberalism is dead. T the time when the White House still occupied the position of the impartial observer the -Bri- tish press could hardly conceal its irritation. The Washington correspondent of the “Times” writes: “If it were not for the amazing’ willingness to be- lieve that the Chinese mob would’ distinguish be- tween one red-headed barbarian and another, always to the advantage of the American, there would be less complexity in the present problem as the ad- ministration sees it” It is not the fear of the ex- cesses of the mob, but on the contrary the undoubted proof that the state of organization and the activity of the workers will prevent the bourgeois elements putting a stopper on the revolution, that compels American imperialism to resort to threats of in- tervention. What is the point of the proposals which ‘the United States government has made about China? The key to the vague and contradictory statements of Messrs. Kellogg and Coolidge is provided by the “North China Star,” which puts forward the follow- ing remarkable suggestion: “Chang Tso-lin, Chang Kei-shek and Feng Yu-hsiang being the strongest men in China at the present time should each ap- point a delegate, who, in conjunction with the Chin- ese minister in Washington, Alfred Shih, should ne- gotiate a new treaty between Shanghai and the United States.” American imperialism not only strives for peace and harmony between the revolu- tionary government and the Mukden reactionaries, but also to revive the moribund Peking government of Wu Pei-Fu. At whose expense do- the peace- makers of the White House propose to abolish the civil war on all fronts in China? Is any proof re- quired that it is to be at the expense of the workers and peasants, who are interested in uprooting the economic foundations of imperialist domination in China? , Only a few months ago when America had every ground for believing that if the Chinese revolution was left to itself it would inevitably come to a halt in the capitalist cul de sac, American policy may have been practical; and that is why the tactics of Washington differed from the tactics of London by appearing to be more “liberal.” Now, however, this view is proving to be more and more Utopian, and the Washington government is not disinclined to borrow weapons from the London arsenal, The Bri- tish slogan: to break the worker and peasant back- bone of the Chinese revolution by the threat of in- tervention, or by direct intervention, is gradually being adopted by American imperialism. F all the imperialist powers, Japan alone has managed to maintain in China a powerful and as yet unshaken military base. Whatever the dif- ferences between Chang Tso-lin and Japan may have been over the speculation in currency and the super-predatory economic policy of Japanese capi- talists in Manchuria, the Mukden militarists have nevertheless remained vassals -to Tokio. On thé other hand, the disintegration and internal quarrels within the Mukden camp must not be exaggerated. Chang Tso-lin’s army still represents a powerful factor of covert Japanese intervention in China. This explains why Japan so magnanimously abstains from open intervention. Moreover, owing to her geographical situation, Japan does not need to make long preparations beforehand for intervention. All this gives the Japanese, who are past masters in the art of intrigue, more chance to cause a split in the national revolutionary movement, There is perhaps no other government in the world which be- trays so much zeal and ability in utilizing not only social antagonisms but also personal differences within the national revolutionary movement as Japan. . In this connection the “peace” program which Chang Tso-lin submitted to the national revolution- ary government, published in the Chinese press, is characteristic. One of the four points of the pro- Enemy fram consists of a propesal that the Canton gov- ernment shall not hinder Chang Tso-lin, with the aid of his own forces, from coming to an agreement with the army of Feng Yu-hsiang! Chang Tso- lin's sudden outburst of “nationalism,” his recent protest against the landing of foreign troops at Shanghai, and his demand for the annulment of the unequal treaties should be placed in the same cate- gory. The ambitious aims of the Mukden despot will be satisfied with nothing less than the title of President of the Chinese Republic. But this would imply that Japanese imperialism had at last man- aged to get the Peking government into its own hands; Peking then would not be the inipotent body it is now, but would be considerably strengthened. Fereseeing this danger, the British minister in China is already demonstrating his restrained atti- tude towards the Peking govegnment, and refrains from any official communicatiqn with them in writ- ing, but conducts all business he has with them ver- . bally. Of the disagreements which are to be observed at the present time in the camp of the imperialists, Anglo-Japanese disagreements are most acute. Nevertheless, a single aim may at a certain moment combine these two imperialisms, That aim is: At all costs to prevent the Chinese revolution from be- coming a victorious struggle against imperialist op- pression in all its forms. igen task of the international proletariat in this most serious moment for the Chinese revolution is, first of all, to prevent an open military attack, even at the cost of extreme sacrifices. But in de- veloping the mass militant energy that is necessary for the fulfilment of this task the international proletariat will at the same time raise the signifi- cance and weight of the Chinese proletariat to the level necessary for it to assume the leadership in the revolutionary alliance, The VII. Enlarged Executive of the Communist International pointed to two dangers which threaten the Chinese revolution at the present time. First, the formation of a counter-revolutionary alliance, with the aid of the imperialists, to crush the na- tional revolutionary movement, and, secondly, the attempt on the part of the bourgeoisie in the ranks of the nationalist movement to secure into its hands the leadership of the movement, in order to put a stop to the revolution. This warning has been ¢on- firmed by the progress of events. During the transition of the Chinese revolution to a new stage of development, these two dangers are becoming more and more imminent, The resolution of the VII. Plenum on the Chinese question says: “Certain sections of the big bour- geoisie and even the militarists, who hitherto have stood outside the national revolutionary struggle and have even been hostile to it, are now coming over to the side of the Canton government in order to strengthen the position of the agents of imperial- ism within the Nationalist movement. The, rapid progress of the national revolutionary armies will only serve to accelerate this process. New armies, the commanders of which have social ties with the bourgeoisie, have joined the revolutionary army. On the other hand, the bourgeoisie, which was formerly on the right wing of the revolutionary movement, urged on by the activities of the masses, FROM COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL is becoming hostile to the Kuomintang without, how- ever, officially leaving the national revelutionary organizations. We saw above what a complex sys- tem of pretence, hypocrisy and provocation the im- perialists are employing jn order to link up with these bourgeois elements, 4n order with their aid to break up the revolution from within. To this must be added the wavering, the individualism and the personal frictions which the representatives of the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia, who subjectively are revolutionary, but who have. not been sufficiently hardened in the mass struggle, inevitably bring in- to the movement. This complicated regrouping of forces on the theatre of the civil war is taking place in the sight of the powerful imperialist enemy, who are past masters in the arts of cunning, and will stick at nothing in their effort to utilize every symptom of weakness. and every mistaken step taken by the masses of toilers in revolt. In these circumstances the young proletariat of China, which has only just grown up out of the severe battles, the most con- sciously organized and the only class capable of ac- tually leading the movement, is obliged to conduct a most complicated war of manoeuvres. ‘Ts fulfillment of this task and the preservation of the mighty revolutionary front, in spite of the inevitable desertion of the big bourgeoisie, is facilitated by the fact that the movement is spon- taneously sweeping in millions of the masses of the peasantry, who bring with them a burning hatred of the imperialists and their agents, and are imbued with the determination to march to the end with the proletariat at the present stage of the revolution. However, the rapidly growing peasant movement, while increasing the reserves of the proletariat, im- poses at the same time upon the latter the very complicated task of organizing the movement for the purpose of directing the peasant revolts and outbreaks on to a conscious class road, The Chinese proletariat will only fulfil this task if it takes advantage of the experience of the inter- national struggle as a whole. If the revolutionary movement of China were te become isolated from the international proletariat, and from the principal fortress of the proletariat revolution—the. Soviet Union—this would disarm the revolution. This fact explains the fresh outbreak of the campaign. of thatred against the U. S. S. R. initiated by the Baldwin government as a result of the defeat of British imperialism in China. This explains the feverish efforts being made by the reformist leaders to erect a wall of mutual misunderstanding and es- trangement between the toilers of China and the proletariat in capitalist countries. But the reply which Eugene Chen sent in the name of the Canton government to the Joint National Council of the . Labor Party and the T. U. C. shows that Mac- Donaldism is powerless, that the ties between the Chinese revolution and the proletariat of all coun- tries will be strengthened in joint revolutionary Struggle. The slogan, “Hands off China,” merely formu- lated a part of the duties that the Chinese revolu- tion imposes upon the international proletariat, The other part is—joint revolutionary struggle a -ainst the common class enemy. (The end.)