ABSTRACT
The internal contradictions of imperialism had grown ‘to an unprecedently tense level’; those within China had also been enormously sharpened. Having swallowed up the four north-east provinces of Manchuria, Japan has now done the same with the entire north, and is preparing right now to swallow up the whole of China. This attempt to convert China from a semi-colony of all the imperialisms to Japan’s own colony is the basic feature of the present situation. Japanese imperialism is carrying out a policy of total conquest of China. Consequently, the contradictions between China and certain other imperialist powers have been relegated to a secondary position, while the rift between these powers and Japan has been widened. Imperialism, Mao Zedong had always said, would sharpen the contradictions between classes in China, and drive more people over to the revolutionary side for reasons of patriotism.
