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236 CHEN YUN

uncomfortable. In short, it’s not enough to have a principle of uniting with
non-Party cadres: we need a clear-cut, detailed policy regarding them.
3. Some people think that if Party and non-Party cadres don’t get on
well together, it’s primarily the fault of the latter. They say that non-Party
cadres emphasize one aspect of a matter without seeing the overall picture,
that they are obstinate, indulge in irresponsible criticism of others and so
forth. That view is basically incorrect. It is true that some non-Party cadres
don’t completely understand the overall situation and that some of them have
shortcomings, but that is inevitable. If we are not on good terms with them,
the Party should take responsibility for the fact. Moreover, some of the
failings of non-Party cadres are attributable to defects in our own work, and
others can be overcome only with our help.
Our chief shortcomings in this respect are as follows:
a) Failure to appreciate the importance of non-Party cadres. Because the
Party has been operating underground or has been the object of enemy
“encirclement and suppression” campaigns, it has maintained very limited
contact with the rest of society and has had little access to assistance from
persons outside its own ranks. Consequently, we have failed to appreciate the
role of non-Communist cadres and have established a tradition of excluding
them.
b) Distrust of non-Party cadres in political matters, groundless suspicion
of them and the tendency to draw absurd inferences. Some Party members
assume that all non-members are suspect and that if they apply for Party
membership, it must be out of ulterior motives. They think that only their
own views are correct, while the ideology and habits of non-Communists are
questionable. They don’t give such people jobs suited to their abilities or
assign them to posts commensurate with their experience and competence.
Consequently, non-Party cadres feel constrained politically, are upset at
being treated unjustly and come to the conclusion that it is impossible to
co-operate with the Communist Party.
c) Ideological and organizational sectarianism. This is manifested in the
fact that while we require non-Party cadres to work with us in a collective
way, we do not respect their own habits and ideas. So long as non-Party
cadres join us in a common effort to advance the revolutionary cause, they
should enjoy personal freedom in terms of their habits and ideology. Most
Party members overlook the important things these people have in common
with us and are intolerant of the ways in which they are different. They are
always finding fault with non-members, reproaching them for one thing or
another and complaining that they are hard to get along with. It has become
a habit with them to elbow non-Party cadres aside. They refuse to recognize