Translated article called ‘Inside Yenan’ written by a member of the Overseas Chinese department in the Kuomintang Headquarters, sent for publication in The New Republic, a newspaper published by the KMT in Canada. August 1944. Catalogue ref: WO 208/485
The Overseas Chinese department took care of affairs concerning the Chinese population who lived outside of China’s borders. There were KMT headquarters in countries around the world, including the US and Canada. The New Republic was the official newspaper of the Canadian KMT branch. This article was written to inform Chinese people living in Canada about the Communist-controlled area of China (from a KMT perspective).
Transcript
In the matter of education and propaganda, the Communists should stop stirring up resentment and hatred. Marxism theories are not the proper thing to teach young students and soldiers. Our efforts should concentrate towards the bringing to the people the full meaning of San Men Chu-l (the Three Principles of Dr Sun Yetsen). We must give full publicity to our nationalistic aspirations and the up building of our country. In so doing the army will be brought about to be under the direction and control of our government and the people will unite as one.
China is a united nation. Our motto is “Resist Japan and Build up our nation.” Victory cannot be obtained without unity. Generalissimo Chiang is whole-heartedly behind the move for national unity. Public opinion expresses approval of this movement and there is sympathetic attitude expressed in every part of the country. All of us are determined to work for the unification of the nation which will lead our nation to power and to prosperity.
Legally and morally there shall not be two governments. There must be one legally constituted and universally recognized government. The power of defence should be centralised and the order of the Central Government is law and must be strictly obeyed. We, the people, urge for the centralisation of our army.
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Task 2: Ideologies of the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party
Use the sources in this section to uncover the different ideologies (beliefs and ideals) of both political parties. These sources relate to the KMT and CCP. Answer the questions for each source, 2a and 2b.
- What is the perspective of the author? How does this affect how you look at the text?
- Why was this source produced?
- What type of source is this?
- How would you describe the ideology of the KMT and CCP based on this text?
- What clues does the text give about reasons for conflict between the KMT and CCP?