The Discourse On The “Anti-Japanese National United Front” By The Kuomintang In Guangdong(1937-1940)

The Anti-Japanese National United Front is a political slogan and theory put forward by the Communist Party of China（CPC）under the guide of Marxism-Leninism in response to the situation after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.It is the banner of the CPC unity in fighting the war.This paper focuses on the discourse of the Kuomintang（KMT）in Guangdong on the“Anti-Japanese National United Front”before and after the outbreak of the war on a full scale.Centering on the struggle for ideological discourse,the theoretical formulation of the“Anti-Japanese National United Front”by the KMT in Guangdong is studied systematically to figure out the reasons behind it and its nature of it.Based on the change of the theoretical formulation,certain aspects of the KMT-CPC relationship are reflected on,thereby trying to reveal the deep-seated contradictions and conceptual differences between the KMT and the CPC with respect to the Anti-Japanese War.The emergence of the national salvation movement in Guangdong,the CPC United Front activities and campaigns,and the warring factions within the KMT in Guangdong constitute the important background for the establishment of the“United Front”theory by the KMT in Guangdong.Early in 1938,in the context of the KMT-CPC negotiations,the KMT in Guangdong,represented by Wu Chongguang,provoked a political debate between the KMT and the CPC on the“Anti-Japanese National United Front”.In this debate,the KMT in Guangdong incorporated the theory of one-party dictatorship into the formulation of“united front”and reinterpreted the connotation of the“united front”,trying to break the CPC’s monopoly on the concept of the“Anti-Japanese National United Front”and contend for the power of discourse in the united front and the leadership of the war.After the debate subsided,the KMT in Guangdong founded the journal“The United Front”（issued once every ten days）to reinterpret the“united front”by using the concept of“unity”.In this way,it tried to exclude the CPC communist belief from the discourse of the“united front”.On top of the KMT’s theoretical formulation in the debate,the theoretical framework of“the Three Principles of the People-based Anti-Japanese National United Front”was built.After the fall of Guangzhou,“the new look of Qujiang”of KMT-CPC cooperation against the war was taken for a time.But soon after the 5^th Plenary Session of the 5^th KMT Central Committee,the anti-communist flow was spread to Guangdong.The KMT diehards rose to power;the liberals were either forced out of Guangdong or silenced in politics.In the midst of a major change in the KMT-CPC relationship,the KMT in Guangdong sought to replace the“united front”by wielding the discourse of“country above all”and“nation above all”.The KMT in Guangdong shifted from supporting the United Front to opposing it,reverting to the concept of“unity”instead of the“united front”.In the KMT’s discourse on the Anti-Japanese National United Front proposed by the CPC,the“united front”no longer had the connotation of a coalition on an equal basis,but became a tool to justify the one-party dictatorship of the KMT.In its nature,the KMT was trying to seize the discourse of the united front and the leadership of the revolution.Due to the fundamental contradictions within the KMT’s“united front”theory,it eventually ended up in an inevitable failure.