The Fifth National Congress, April 27-May 9, 1927, Wuhan. In attendance: 80 deputies representing 57.900 Party members.

The congress was held at a crucial moment of the First Revolutionary Civil War (192427). After seizing the leadership of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-shek, representative of the Right wing of Kuomintang, staged a coup in Shanghai on April 12, 1927, massacring revolutionary masses and Communist Party members. On April 18, Chiang established his regime in Nanjing, representing the interests of imperialism and the big landlords and bourgeoisie.

At the congress, participants criticized Chen Duxiu's mistake in ignoring the struggle with the bourgeoisie for the leadership of the revolution. However, with Chen Duxiu's Right capitulationism still dominant in the Party Central Committee, the congress failed to suggest concrete approaches to gaining the leading power. On July 15 Wang Jingwei, another leader of the Kuomintang who led the government in Wuhan, betrayed the revolution. As a result the Communist Party suffered a disastrous setback. On August 1, an armed uprising was staged in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

On August 7, the CPC Central Committee convened an emergency meeting in Hankou (Wuhan) which put an end to Chen Duxiu's Right capitulationist domination of the CPC Central Committee. The emergency meeting also determined the Party's approach to the Agrarian Revolutionary War and armed opposition to KMT reactionaries.

(NO. 43 OCOBTER 26, 1987 title: "Review of Past CPC National Congresses")