1937 full text of Jiang Zhongzheng's solemn statement on the Lugouqiao incident in Min County, China.

While China was seeking peace from abroad and reunification from home, the Lugouqiao Incident suddenly happened. Not only our people expressed their grief and indignation, but also world public opinion was shocked. The development of this matter is not only related to the life and death of China, but also to the fate of human beings in the world. You are concerned about the national disaster, and of course you are particularly concerned about this incident. The following are some points about this incident, which will be explained frankly for you.

First of all, China is a peace-loving country. The national government's foreign policy has always advocated survival at home and abroad. The declaration of the Third Plenary Session in February this year was more explicit. In the past two years, diplomacy with Japan has adhered to this purpose and worked hard, hoping to bring all kinds of derailment chaos in the past into the diplomatic track and seek a proper solution. This kind of painstaking and fact can be seen in most countries. I often feel that if we want to deal with the national disaster, we must first understand the current situation of the country. China is a weak country, so we should have a faithful estimate of our national strength. In order to carry out construction, the country absolutely needs peace. In the past few years, we have spared no effort to keep peace with the outside world. That's the reason. At the Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee the year before last, my diplomatic report said: "We will never give up peace until we are completely desperate, and we will never sacrifice lightly until the last moment." Following the explanation of the "last moment" at the Third Plenary Session in February this year, we fully demonstrated our love for peace. Since we are a weak country, if at the last moment, in order to survive, we will fight for the life of the whole nation; At that time, we are not allowed to give up halfway. You know, the condition of halfway compromise is the condition of total surrender and total extinction. The people of the whole country should clearly understand the meaning of the so-called last minute. When the last moment comes, we can only win the final victory by sacrificing to the end and fighting the war to the end. If you hesitate and want to live in peace, you will be trapped in the land of eternal destruction!

Second, after the Lugouqiao Incident, some people thought it was accidental, but the reaction to public opinion in January, or direct or indirect diplomatic expression, made us feel the signs of the incident. Moreover, before and after the incident, there were all kinds of news, saying that it was necessary to expand the scope of the Tanggu agreement, expand the puppet organization in eastern Hebei, expel the 29 th Army, and force Song to leave, and so on. I can think that it is not accidental. From the process of this incident, I know that people are eager for me and peace is not easy to obtain; At present, if we want to be safe, we can only let the people's army enter and leave our country without restrictions, but our own army has to endure restrictions and cannot stay on its own land freely, or people shoot at China's army, but we can't return the guns. In other words, it's a man-made knife, and I'm a fish! We are approaching the tragic situation of this world. This is unbearable for a nation with a little personality in the world. It has been six years since the fall of our four eastern provinces, followed by the Tanggu agreement, and now the conflict has reached Lugou Bridge at the entrance to Beiping. If the Lugou Bridge can be occupied by oppression, then our century-old capital, the political and cultural center in the north and the military town in Beiping will become the second in Shenyang! If today's Peiping becomes yesterday's Shenyang, today's Jicha will also become yesterday's four eastern provinces. If Beiping can become Shenyang, why can't Nanjing become Beiping! Therefore, the deduction of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident is related to the whole China country, and whether it can be ended or not is the last-minute state.

Third, if the inevitable last moment comes, of course, we only have to sacrifice and resist! But our attitude is to seize the day, not to seize the day; Fighting is to cope with the last minute, because we are a weak country and supporting peace is our national policy, so we can't fight; Although we are a weak country, we must maintain the life of our nation and shoulder the historical responsibility left by our ancestors side by side. So when we have to, we have to fight. As for the fact that there is no war, because we are a weak country, there is no chance of compromise. If we give up our land area and sovereignty, we will be sinners of the Chinese nation through the ages! At that time, we had to fight for the life of the whole nation and seek our final victory. Fourth, whether the Lugouqiao Incident can not be expanded into a Sino-Japanese war depends entirely on the attitude of the Japanese government, and the key to the eternal hope of peace depends entirely on the actions of the Japanese army. One second before the fundamental despair of peace, we also hoped for peace, and hoped that the Lu incident could be resolved in a peaceful diplomatic way. But our position has four obvious points:

(1) Any settlement shall not infringe upon the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China;

(two) to inspect the administrative organization and not allow any illegal changes;

(3) Local officials appointed by the central government, such as Song, chairman of the Jicha Government Affairs Committee, cannot ask to be replaced;

(4) The area where the 29th Army is now stationed is not subject to any constraints.

These four positions are the minimum of weak country diplomacy. If the other side can still put itself in the position of the oriental nation as a grand plan, and does not want to bring the relationship between the two countries to a critical point, and does not want to cause eternal hatred between China and Japan for generations, we should not ignore our lowest position.

In a word, the government has established a consistent policy and position on the Lugouqiao incident, and will fully adhere to this position. We want peace, not seek it. Be prepared to fight, not to fight. We know that the post-war situation of the whole country can only be sacrificed to the end, and there is no reason to get away with it. If the war is over, it means that there is no distinction between the north and the south, no distinction between the old and the young. Whoever it is has the responsibility to defend the country and resist Japan, and must have the determination to sacrifice everything. Therefore, the government must be particularly cautious, and the people of the whole country must be serious and prepared for self-defense in the face of this major event. At this critical juncture, it is necessary to rely on the unity of the whole country, obey discipline and be strict in order. I hope you can go back to other places and pass this idea on to the society, so that you can understand the situation and be loyal to your country. This is what your brothers really expect.