The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 14, 1927, Page 8

The Fifth Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang Fieger Fifth Congress of the Communist Party of China has been fixed for April. The congress will meet at a momentous time. The Seventh Plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International in its resolution on the Chinese question declared that the Chinese revo- lution has everything that is objectively needed to skip over the capitalist stage of development. From this point of view the present stage of development of the Chinese revolution must be regarded as critical, The general line of the further develop- ment of the Chinese revolution—the question as to whether it will be a capitalist or non-capitalist de- velopment—is being decided just at the present mo- ment, The movement for national freedom has been vic- torious in half of China. The southern Nationalist government is already the government of a powerful state with a population of 200 millions. The ques- tion as to how this state and its government should be organized, on what social forces it should rely, what should be the role of the working class and the Communist Party in the organization of the state, now confronts us in all its magnitude. In this journal, in an article on the “Regrouping of Forces in the Chinese Revolution”* it was stated that since the Seventh Plenum of the E. C. C. IL. class friction in the towns and villages had inten- sified considerably during the further development of the workers’ and peasants’ movement, particu- larly in Hunan and Hupeh, owing to the increased pressure of the imperialists and the increasing men- ace of open intervention. Both these factors drive the right wing of the movement along the lines of concessions to and compromise with the imperialists, The events in China are developing with a rapid- ity which is characteristic of a great revolution. In the short period since the publication of the article already mentioned, the events in China have brought forward new facts which bear witness to a further class differentiation within the national movement. The problem of organizing the internal forces of the Chinese revolution thus becomes at the present time one of vast importance, The problem of problems in the Chinese revolution at the present time is the situation in the Kuomin- tang, the further development of the Kuomintang as a party at the head of the Southern Chinese State. The development of the Kuomintang reveals cer- tain symptoms from the point of view of the in- terests of the Chinese revolution. The Kuomintang is still a party of leaders. At the time of the Seventh Plenum of the E. C. C. I. the Kuomintang had 300,000 members. This is a considerable number for a political party. But it must be borne in mind that these 300,000 were not drawn into the every-day organization activities of the party. They were heard of only during con- gresses and conferences, at all of which the repre- sentatives of the left tendencies were predominant. The majority of the Executive Committee of thé Kuomintang also consists of left elements, but the predominant importance of the left elements in the party is not so clearly expressed in the composition and policy of the Nationalist government. In the Nationalist government power is in the hands of the centre and the latter in most cases display decisive right tendencies. ‘ This is even more pronounced in the provincial governments of South China. Prior to the change of government of March 20th, 1926, the left ele- ments in the Kuomintang predominated in the Na- tionalist government. But in the city of Canton and in Kwantung province, i. e., the territory which was completely in the hands of the Nationalist gov- ernment, the government was and actually is at the present time in the hands primarily of the cen- trist and right elements of the Kuomintang. The Communists did not participate in the government; they were under the absolutely incorrect impression that they could not participate in a government of the Kuomintang.” + ‘The Right Wing. — ~ The right elements in the Kuomintang comprise’ in their ranks prominent statesmen, representatives of the bourgeoisie of China, etc. According to their past, present and their social and political connec- tions, the right elements of the Kuomintang are in- clined to compromise with the imperialists; they are opposed to serious social reforms and to a fur- ther development of the revolutionary workers’ and peasants’ movement, In power the right elements of the Kuomintang hamper the enactment of serious social reforms. It * This artiele was in Vol, iv, No. 4 of the English edition, and will be found in No, 8 of the Russian Weekly edition. is characteristic that on March 20th, 1926, there was no law in Canton concerning the rights of workers’ organizations, and the Canton trade unions, from the point of view of actual law, were illegal. The change in the government on March 20th strengthened still more the positions of the right Kuomintang. Soon after March 20th they took definite measures against the workers’ and peasants’ organizations. This called forth a sharp protest from the masses of workers and peasants. Dis- turbances among the workers and peasants, dissatis- faction in the best sections of the army due to the elimination of the left Kuomintang and Communist commanding staff created a precarious situation at the front which compelled the new leaders of the Kuomintang to retreat and come to terms with the left and the Communists. The May Plenum of the C. C. of the Kuomintang was again dominated by left @élements. It was de- cided that Wang-Ching-Wei (the left leader) must return. The centrist and right elements in the Kuomin- tang are opposed to workers’ and peasants’ control over the activities of the Nationalist government and against the government’s moving to Hankow; they rely for support on certain sections of the army, etc. A Strike Law. Recent reports from China indicate that the Kuo- mintang and the Nationalist government are seri- ously concerned about the growth of the labor move- ment. The newspapers report that according to de- cisions of the Central Coramittee of the Kuomintang on this question the Canton government promul- gated a new law on January 5th, 1927, concerning strikes, According to that law workers have no right to carry arms in demonstrations, or to arrest merchants and manufacturers or to confiscate their goods. The law forbids the existence of the yellow trade unions and other strike-breaking organiza- tions; but at the same time it enforces, to a large extent, arbitration in the solution of conflicts in - military, financial and communal enterprises and also in enterprises of so-called primary necessity (the list of which has not yet been published). This law also prohibits picketing during strikes to some extent. The dangers of the position are intensified by the international position of the Nationalist’ govern- ment. The struggle against imperialism is now entering on its decisive phase and is becoming ex- ceedingly difficult. The imperialists are doing all in their power to demoralize the Nationalist move- ment, to find traitors in the camp of the right ele- ments of the Kuomintang. The immediate question before us is in the first place to convert the Kuo- mintang into a left wing organization, not only on festive occasions such as congresses and confer- ences, but also in its daily activities, and secondly that the reorganized Kuomintang should acquire a stable leadership (not in resolutions, but in deeds) over the Nationalist government, both at the centre and in the provinces. The adoption of a correct line and the formulation of concrete practical pro- posals on these two questions is the most important task facing the Fifty Congress of the Communist Party of China. The Communist Party of China will in the first place have to revise its decisions of the June Plenum of its Central Committee in respect to its relations with the Kuomintang. Incorrect Decisions. The June Plenum of the C. C, of the Communist Party of China decided on the following concerning the inter-relations between the party and the Kuo- mintang: (1) Te substitute an alliance as separate bodies for the policy of alliance by affiliation; (2) to adopt a definite independent political policy; (3) to endeavor to find a basis for the Kuomintang in the ranks of the urban petty-bourgeois democracy; (4) to suggest that the Kuomintang should not be organized as a centralized party, but that its or- ganizations in the localities should take the form of clubs. All these decisions must be revised. The first resolution Jogically pre-supposes the exit of the Communist Party from the Kuomintang, and as such contradicts the decisions of the Seventh ‘En- larged E. C. of the International which condemned such an action as a gross political error. From this point of view the proposal to organize the left. Kuomintang in fractional. groups is also wrong. The proposal to organize left Kuomintang fraction is basically a decision to split ‘the Kuomintang and form two Kuomintangs. The possibility of such a split mast be foreseen, but we must bear in mind the decisions of the Seventh Plenum of the E. C; C. I, that even if a large section of the capitalist big bourgevisie is eliminated from the National move- ment, the driving force in the Chinese revolution “will be a bloc of a still more revolutionary char- acter, the bloc of the proletariat, the peasantry and the urban petty-bourgeoisie” and that “sonie — sections of the large bourgeoisie can still for a certain length of time march together with the revo- -— 4 lution.” Our task, therefore, does not consist in the organization of a new left Kuomintang, but in directing the entire Kuomintang to the left_and in guaranteeing it a stable left policy. Workers and Kuomintang. This cannot be accomplished if we regard the Kuomintang merely as an organizatiog of the urban petty-bourgeoisie. What about the peasantry and the working class? Only if the workers and peas- ants gain predominant influence in the Kuomintang will that organization become a consistent, revolu- tionary political organization. That is precisely how the question concerning the Kuomintang must be regarded. The view that the workers must be kept from joining the Kuomintang on the ground that they have their Communist Party is absolutely wrong. If that were correct, then the members of the Communist Party should have left the Kuomin- tang long ago. The surest way of securing a de- termined revolutionary policy for the Kuomintang is that of bringing into it revolutionary workers and peasants. It is of special importance to per- meate it with workers, as they are the most revo- lutionary elements. The decision of the June Plenum of the C. C. of the Communist Party of China about the trans- formation of the Kuomintang local organizations into free organizations in the forms of political clubs is also absolutely wrong. At the present stage in the national struggle it would be a big mistake. All right elements who constitute the minority in the Kuomintang will undoubtedly be in favor of eliminating internal discipline in the Kuomintang, ete. The interests of the further development of the Chinese revolution demand that the Kuomintang should be reorganized as svon as possible into a party with elected committees in the centre and the localities and with organizational discipline for its members. A determined struggle must be car- ried on in the Kuomintang against political double- dealing—on the one hand the support of a radical program in words and on the other the conduct of a compromising policy in practice. Particularly is this true in regard to Kuomintang members who constitute the government. In the political report of the C. C. of the Com- munist Party of China at the Party Conference of December, 1926, one of the Canton comrades de- clared: “The Kuomintang died on the 20th of March and has been decomposing since the 15th of May. Why should we hold on to the corpse?” That com- rade apparently had in mind the fact that the Na- tionalist government, particularly in the provinces, was taking definite steps directed against the de- velopment of the revolutionary struggle of the workers and peasants. From this some comrades drew the conclusion at the conference that: “We are on the side: of the masses as against the Na- tionalist government, and in the conflicts between the masses ai: that government we must see a conflict between tiic Communist Party and the Kuo- _mintang.” This is true in the sense that there is a danger of a split between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. But this danger can be averted if the Kuomintang is not regarded as a corpse. The Kuomintang suffers now from lack of revolutionary worker and peasant blood in its veins. The Com- munist Party must infuse such blood and thereby radically change the situation. To Strengthen Nationalism. To revive the Kuomintang and to drive the Na- tionalist government to the teft, the Communist Party must radically revise its attitude to the Na, tionalist government. The Communist Party must try to participate in the government and, relying on the worker and peasant masses, compel the gov- ernment to consider the program of radical govern- ment reforms. -§ It is about time that the Nationalist government should enact the fundamental democratic Jaws (on workers’ organizations, on the eight-hour working day, ete.), it is about time to abolish the hideous remnants of the old regime which oppress the Chin- ese peasantry (indentured labor contracts, sale inte slavery because of inability to pay debts, high rents, etc.) it is about time to abolish the old corrupt re- actionary administration. Communists must en- deavor with the greatest energy to get into the provincial government organs. In the villages, based on the peasant organizations, it is about time to raise the question of the creation of revolutionary peasant committees, The decisions of the Seventh Enlarged Plenum of the E. ©. ©. I. and the supple- mentary organizational instructions issued since the Plenum give the Communist Party of China ex- haustive instructions along these lines, The. con- gress will have to apply them to the concrete ditions which have arisen at the time. be no doubt that the Communist Party of China map out a path commensurate with the great tasks which confront the party at the present time. The splendid past of the Communist Party of China and of the heroic Chinese proletariat serves here as a fuerantee. = ae