We Will Not Attack Unless We Are Attacked; If We Are Attacked, We Will Certainly Counterattack

The Communist Party of China's fighting strategy against Anti-Communist attempts to create Anti-Communist friction events by the KMT during the Anti-Japanese War period. Mao Zedong said: We will not attack unless we are attacked; if we are attacked, we will certainly counter-attack. But our stand is strictly one of self-defence; no Communist is permitted to go beyond the principle of self-defence. After the Anti-Japanese War entered into the stalemate stage, the CPC-KMT relations was in deterioration period, in January 1939, The CPC-KMT during the Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Executive Committee of the KMT, the meeting decided to set up the "Anti-Communist Committee", and decided the policies of " Preventing, Restricting, Dissolving and Resolutely opposing the Communist Party", and issued a secret document titled "Measures for Restricting the Activities of Alien Parties".

Later, KMT die-hards created many anti-Communist frictions and attacks throughout the whole country, which seriously harmed and even threatened the existence of the Anti-Japanese National United Front.

The CPC evaluated the national contradiction between China and Japan as the main contradiction, and saw maintaining the Anti-Japanese National United Front as the basic requirement so as to improve the overall situation, fully absorbed the lessons of the right-leaning mistakes made by the Party during the first KMT-Communist cooperation, and put forward the correct attitude and principles for dealing with the anti-Communist attacks triggered by the KMT die-hards. In the “July 7 Declaration” issued by the CPC for the commemoration of the second anniversary of the July 7 Marco Polo Incident, put forward three political slogans: "persisting in the war of resistance to the end—oppose compromise in the midway"; “consolidate domestic unity, oppose internal division”, and “strive for national progress—oppose retrogression”. On September 16, 1939, Mao Zedong clearly put forward the attitude of the CPC towards anti-Communist friction in his talks with reporters of the Central News Agency, which was published in the newspapers such as, the Mopping Daily and the Xinmin Daily: " I tell you frankly that we are absolutely opposed to friction between the anti-Japanese parties, which cancels out their strength. But if anyone persists in using violence against us, tries to bully us and resorts to repression, the Communist Party will have to take a firm stand”. “Our attitude is: We will not attack unless we are attacked; if we are attacked, we will certainly counter-attack. But our stand is strictly one of self-defense; no Communist is permitted to go beyond the principle of self-defense.” On March 11, 1940, Mao Zedong further expounded the principle of self-defense in the struggle against the die-hards in his article "Current Problems of Tactics in the Anti-Japanese United Front” , "We will not attack unless we are attacked; if we are attacked, we will certainly counter-attack. That is to say, we must never attack others without reason, but once attacked we must never fail to return the blow. Herein lies the defensive nature of our struggle. The military attacks of the die-hards must be smashed—resolutely, thoroughly, wholly and completely smashed”. The CPC upheld the position of persisting in developing the Anti-Japanese National United Front and the principle of strictly dealing with the anti-Communist provocations and frictions initiated by the KMT die-hards. The CPC effectively opposed the arrogance of the KMT die-hards and achieved to develop political and military initiatives.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Party continued to adhere to this policy in its political struggle for domestic peace and paid great efforts to avoid a civil war launched by the KMT. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese government responded to the provocations and aggressions of imperialism, hegemonism and power politics in accordance with this principle, and safeguarded the country’s territorial integrity, national security and sovereignty.