Site of the Dazhou Negotiations in Guangze

Site of the Dazhou Negotiations in Guangze

In December 1936, after the “Xi’an Incident,” although Chiang Kai-shek was forced to accept the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee’s proposal to “cease the civil war and unite to resist Japan,” achieving peace in the north, he intensified attacks on the Red Army guerrilla forces in the south. He attempted to “drain the pond to catch the big fish,” aiming to eliminate the Red Army guerrillas in a short time.

Northern Fujian was an important stronghold in the Chinese people's resistance against Japan and reactionaries. Faced with Nationalist troops outnumbering them by dozens of times, the Northern Fujian Red Army guerrillas carried out independent and tenacious struggles while analyzing the rapidly changing domestic and international situation. They issued the “Resolution on Launching the Anti-Japanese and Anti-Imperialist Struggle” and called on the Nationalist authorities in Jiangxi and Fujian provinces to “cease the civil war and unite to resist Japan.” However, the Nationalist authorities ignored the greater good of the nation and turned a deaf ear to the appeals from the Northern Fujian Party organization and the Red Army guerrillas, continuing their reactionary policy of “peace in the north, suppression in the south.” It was not until the “Marco Polo Bridge Incident,” when Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China and under the nationwide pressure to resist Japan, that they were compelled to respond and agreed to send representatives to Northern Fujian for negotiations.

From late September to early October 1937, representatives from the Nationalist Jiangxi Provincial authorities — Deputy Commander Zhou Zhongcheng of the 7th Pacification Zone and Guangze County Magistrate Gao Chuheng — and representatives from the CCP Min-Gan Provincial Committee — Huang Zhizhen and Qiu Ziming — held anti-Japanese cooperation negotiations in Dazhou Village, Xiayang Township, Guangze County. The conditions proposed by our side were: 1. Achieve anti-Japanese cooperation; 2. The Nationalist side release political prisoners; 3. Allocate land for the Red Army guerrillas to gather and rest; 4. Our side sends a representative to consult the Central Committee, and the other side must guarantee their safety; 5. Reorganize the Northern Fujian Red Army into the Min-Gan Border Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, with the Nationalist government responsible for supplies. After seven days of difficult negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement. In early 1938, the Northern Fujian Red Army guerrillas were reorganized into the 5th Regiment of the 3rd Detachment of the New Fourth Army and set off for southern Anhui to fight in the War of Resistance.

The Dazhou Negotiations marked the final victory of the three-year guerrilla war in Northern Fujian and also added a glorious chapter to the history of the New Fourth Army. In 1995, the Guangze County Committee of the CCP and the County People’s Government rebuilt the site of the Dazhou Negotiations, displaying historical photos and relics for future generations to commemorate.

Source: Nanping Municipal People’s Government