Page 239 - SELECTED WORKS OF CHEN YUN Volume I

RESPECT FOR AND UNITY WITH
NON-COMMUNIST CADRES
ARE IMPORTANT POLICIES OF THE PARTY

December 1941

1. Non-Party cadres who rally around the Party are progressive elements
from different social strata, and they serve as a bridge linking the Party with
the masses. The Party’s policies cannot be totally correct unless they reflect
the opinions of non-Communists. They cannot strike root among the masses
unless non-Party people help to disseminate them. Indeed, the revolution
cannot triumph unless we have the sympathy and co-operation of non-
Communists. Therefore, we must not only unite more closely with the
non-Party cadres who have been working with us but also try to enlist the
co-operation of many more.
2. Thanks to a correct Party line and to a change in objective conditions,
in recent years we have come into increasing contact with non-Party cadres.
We have been learning how to work with them, and they for their part have
drawn closer to the Party. The number of non-Party cadres rallying around
the Party is far from sufficient, however, and in general the Party’s relations
with them still leave something to be desired. Our Party members have failed
to show enough respect for men of wisdom outside the Party and to solicit
their advice. On the contrary, they have a definite tendency to exclude
outsiders. Quite a few Party organizations have a closed-door mentality; they
don’t respect non-Communist cadres, and they even discriminate against
them. Many Party comrades claim to be friendly to non-Party cadres but
actually distrust them, disdaining to use their skills and keeping them at a
distance. Others are conceited, arrogant and overbearing with non-members
because of their Party membership. They never open their mouths without
preaching principles, and yet they themselves are not amenable to reason. As
a result, some revolutionary activists who might like to work with us are given
a cold shoulder, while those who are already doing so feel depressed and

An unpubished manuscript written in Yan’an.
235