Statement of Young Chinese Anarchists [1927]

To the working class, anarcho-syndicalists and anarchists of China and the world over

The Chinese revolution finds itself in jeopardy. With their defence dogs, the red Bolshevik terrorists, the imperialist capitalists, the so-called left-wing “Kuo Min Tang” and the Chinese fascists, as well as the real Kuo Min Tang which under the poisonous dictatorship General Chiang Kai Shek and others now ruling the roost in China, all of these, seizing upon this abnormal circumstance, are harassing, jailing, suppressing and murdering the proletariat.

Those labour organisations which have not been disbanded, are controlled by those who presently rule the roost, monopolising all the activities of the proletariat, smashing through its lines of defence and making them subordinate to their whims.

Both the left and right who follow the Kuo Min Tang fight for nothing more than their own particular interests even though one might sloganize about the class struggle and the other stand in opposition to it; all this merely because they seek power and seek to exercise dictatorship. Both factions are dominated by the ambition of wielding power on behalf of their own camp, using the proletariat as an instrument of victory in order to achieve political dominance.

The flow of the revolution has been stemmed and revolutionary elements are frequently dispatched to their deaths. Two and a half months ago, the Soochow regional group, affiliated to “La Popolara Batalilo” was shut down on local police orders on instructions from the Nanking government, and our comrade Liu Pei, [1] who has worked sincerely on behalf of the cause of anarchism within the unions and among the peasants of Ka Ho Hisien in Hunan province, was sentenced to death, accused of being a Bolshevik. For having spoken out against his imprisonment and demanding his release, more than seventy peasants were shot and wounded and two shot dead by the Kuo Min Tang’s gunmen.

There is no brand of government under which anarchists can have access to full freedom of propaganda; due to this, the anarchists are essentially the foes of government and of all political parties.

Our Federation, resurrected on the basis of the remnants of the old “La Popolara Batalilo” federation which is now a thing of the past, is openly opposed to all governments, political parties and reactionary forces; leaving to one side their savage outrages, suppression and executions, we shall never yield in the struggle we have undertaken on behalf of our principles nor shall we ever accept compromises or cooperation with these adventurers.

We are only too well aware of China’s current circumstances and that the revolutionary appeals issued by both the right and the left of the Kuo Min Tang, as well as by the Bolsheviks, are all contrary to the interests of the proletariat and that they fight solely and exclusively in pursuit of their personal ambitions. Their very modus operandi and conduct represent the best proof of their true character as traitors to the working class.

The anarchists, as well as those who always stand by the workers, must not let themselves be wrong-footed or tricked by these ambitious types.

From Avante! (Monterrey. Mexico) No 1, 5 November 1927. The text indicates no author and no date of writing.

*”la popolara batalilo”: Esperanto name of the People’s Fighting Federation

Note

1. In “The anarcho-syndicalist movement in China in 1910s and 1920s” by Vadim Damier it’s given as Lin Pei: “Anarchist Lin Pei, who worked in the trade union of agricultural workers “Ka Ho Hsien”, was arrested as a “Bolshevik”.” quoting Presse-Dienst frsg. von Sekretariat der IAA. 29.09.1927. Nr.13 (87). See https://libcom.org/forums/hist… . PS writes: ‘The article in Avante! definitely has “among the peasants of Ka Ho Hsien”.’ See also http://archivesautonomies.org/… (p11-12) for an alternative printing of this statement, issued on the 1st of August 1927 (published in “La Revista Blanca” Barcelona, N 106 - 15/10/1927 - P.319-320.)

From: Avante! (Monterrey, Mexico) No 1, 5 November 1927. Translated by: Paul Sharkey.