Excerpts from the Russian Translation of Chiang Kai-sheks's 'China's Destiny'

[handwritten at the top: "To the file. For storage. (illegible signature), 7 April 1945"]

[stamp: Secretariat of the Department of International Information of the VKP(b) CC

Date 7 April 1945 Nº 1460] 

CHIANG KAI-SHEK [Jiang Jieshi] 

CHINA’S DESTINY 

Chapter 1 

THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHINESE RACE 

The Chinese race has been created over 5,000 years and not only has had a glorious history, but at the present time is collaborating with the peaceloving nations of the world in an unprecedented war for justice and liberty, advancing along a path toward a brilliant victory and permanent peace. 

During its natural growth the Chinese race has resisted foreign invasions and has preserved its existence. Thanks to the fertility of the race its numbers have grown considerably and Chinese territory has expanded to a comparable degree. 

Never has the Chinese race violated the borders which established its natural growth, and never were there cases of an expansion of territory by force. On the other hand, if there had been a sudden attack on our lands then the shame of such an event and the need to preserve our own existence would have forced us to take steps to restore territorial integrity. The Chinese race is the result of the consolidation of a number of races and this consolidation was of a cultural nature, and not the result of force. 

The origin of the ancestors of the people can be clearly tracked so much that it can be genuinely said of China: "All the peoples are brethren within the bounds of the four seas". The northern invaders such as the Mongols and Manchus were assimilated with the Chinese race, such that no trace of racial distinctions remained after the 1911 Revolution. This demonstrates the vitality and endurance of the Chinese nation, whose multifaceted civilization has shown the capacity to assimilate other peoples. 

China is resisting a foreign aggression, but does not impose aggression on others; this was also an outstanding characteristic of the racial existence and expansion of China. 

During the past 100 years the map of China has not undergone any significant territorial changes which would affect the existence of the Chinese people. China does not include any territory which is not under the influence of Chinese civilization. Any loss of such a territory would harm the existence of the Chinese people and lead to a decline of Chinese civilization, and therefore the people can not cease their efforts until they have restored their territorial integrity. 

"Looking back at the territory of China, we see that it stretches from the Asian Pamirs along the Tianshan and just [from] the Altay Mountains in the north to the three eastern provinces; along the Kunlun Mountains in the center to the valleys of the southeast, along the Himalayas in the south, and the south-central peninsula. Between these three mountain chains are the Heilongjiang, Hwanghae, Huai, Yangzi [Yangtze], Yellow River, and Pearl River basins. The existence and development of the Chinese race arose in the valleys of these rivers and no region can be cut off or removed from the whole; consequently, there is no territory which has adopted the form of independence through its own choice". 

Each territory has its own natural resources within the boundaries of the rivers and mountain systems indicated above, for example livestock, agriculture, mineral resources, and fisheries; from the point of view of national defense the occupation of any area by a foreign race means the loss of a natural defensive barrier for the entire nation and the entire country. 

"Formosa [Taiwan], the four northeastern provinces, Inner and Outer Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet—all these are bastions for the existence of the people and the separation of any of these parts of the territory means the loss of the national defense of China. In addition, the mineral resources and agriculture of the Northeast, the horses and sheep of the Northwest, the copper and iron of the Southeast, and the lead and tin of the Southwest—all these are vital for the security and the existence of the people and the loss of any of these resources would put the foundations of the state in danger". 

China has never used the difficulties of others to absorb their territories, but the assimilation of other races has occurred on a cultural basis. The assimilation of the Mongols, Tibetans, and Manchus has been registered in the history of the past two thousand years. Formosa, which was initially discovered and developed by the Chinese, constitutes one of our defensive citadels, and was occupied by the Dutch during the Manchu Dynasty, but later returned by [SIC] the Chinese. The relations between China and the peoples of the South Central peninsula are becoming increasingly closer, but their existence was under the protection of Chinese military expeditions. In summary, one can say that the history of China in the last 5,000 years comprises an official record of the fates of a number of races which were unified and united into the Chinese race; it comprises the history of the efforts of this race to resist foreign invasions in order to maintain its own existence and create a Chinese state. This long period of history stands out for its virtues, achievements, and culture of the Chinese. And it is by virtue of these achievements that the Chinese people did not invade the territory of others and did not allow its own territory to be subjected to invasion. 

However, the last hundred years have witnessed such a national and moral decline which had no precedent [primer] in the course of the last 5,000 years. The territory needed for the existence of the people was subjected to terrible suffering and was constrained and oppressed by unequal treaties. In the last 100 years the nation revealed outward weaknesses and developed a secret danger in the political, economic, social, moral, and intellectual life to such an extent that its strength to recover and revive was almost destroyed. If the Father of the Republic [Sun Yat-sen] had not advanced the Three Principles of the People and had not carried out a national revolution then sooner or later the national energy would have been exhausted by Japan, and China would have become a second Korea. 

But the far-sighted Father of the Republic [Sun Yat-sen] was forearmed for battle in the name of liberty and equality; he aroused the people during his 40-year struggle. Before death he planned the abrogation of the unequal treaties as the first goal of the Chinese revolution. This great goal was left to us, his successors, to complete. The struggle has continued to this moment when we see the conclusion of its first stage. In this initial stage the restoration of the independence and freedom of China I, Chiang Kai-shek, am presenting the official records of the tests (trials) of the Chinese people for the last 100 years. In them I have noted the policy which should be carried out by the people at the present time and in the future. 

I sincerely hope that the entire nation will fully realize that the fate of China is borne on the shoulders of the people and decides that in the present time of war there should be no place for deviation or vacillation, no weakness or reliance [nadezhda] on others. I hope that all the Chinese people carry out these instructions honestly and seriously. 

Chapter 2. 

THE ORIGIN OF THE NATIONAL HUMILIATION AND THE CAUSE OF THE REVOLUTION. 

1. The Political, Social, and Intellectual Demoralization of the Manchu Dynasty and the Primary Mistakes of Its Domestic Policy 

"The critical situation of the country and the decline of the people's morale in the last 100 years can be ascribed to a great degree to the unequal treaties. The circumstances which accompanied the conclusion of these treaties were the height of the humiliation of China. It is necessary to examine the political shortcomings the and intellectual and social demoralization of the Manchu Dynasty in order to examine the causes of this national humiliation". 

The subjection of China by the Manchus was not accepted by the Chinese compliantly, in spite of the constant exhortations to them to accept the dominance of the new dynasty. The historical culture of Korea was completely eradicated by Japan during a period of somewhat just over 30 years. The rapidity of this imperialistic destruction of a race instilled fear in the heart. The decline of the Chinese nation during the Manchu Dynasty caused a loss in art and science [in] connection with the needs of life and with national policy. The 260 years of dominance of the Manchu Dynasty coincided with the European and American countries leaving the Middle Ages and with the period of development of nations and the flourishing of commerce. "If during this time the Manchu rulers had destroyed any distinction between the Chinese, Manchus, Mongols, Muslims, and Tibetans, and viewed all of them as a single whole, without any distinction with regard to race, religion, occupation, [position], [end of available text]… 

[stamp: Secretariat of the Department of International Information of the VKP(b) CC]

Date 7 April 1945 Nº 1460]