MAO TSE-TUNG

ON THE CORRECT HANDLING

OF CONTRADICTIONS

AMONG THE PEOPLE

MAO rI'SE-TUNG

ON THE CORRECT HANDLING

OF CONTRADICTIONS

AIVTONG THE PEOPLE

This is the text of a speech made on Februarg 27, 1957 at theEleventh Session (Enlarged) of the Supreme State Conference.The author has gone over the text based on the verbatim record

and made certain additions.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESSPEKING 19$0

First Edition

1957Second Printing

1958Third-Printing 1959Fourth Printing

April 1960Fifth Printing

July 1960

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

The present English translation of On the Cor-

rect Handling of Contradictions Among the Peo-

ple has been made from the Chinese text of the

first edition published by the People's PublishingHouse, Peking, in June 1957.

Tarinted {n the People's Republic of dtirut

CONTENTS

1. TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONTRADICTIONS .

72. THE SUPPRESSION OF COUNTER-REVOLUTION . 273. AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION . . . . . . . 334. THE QUESTION OF INDUSTRIALISTS AND BUSI-

NESS MEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385. THE QUESTION OF INTELLECTUALS . . . . . 416. THE QUESTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES . . . 447. OVERALL PLANNING, ALL-ROUND CONSIDERA-

TION AND PROPER ARRANGEMENTS . . . . . 468. ON "LETTING A HUNDRED FLOWERS BLOSSOM,"

AND "LETTING A HUNDRED SCHOOLS OFTHOUGHT CONTEND," AND "LONG-TERM CO-EXISTENCE AND MUTUAL SUPERVISION" . . . 48

9. CONCERNING DISTURBANCES CREATED BYSMALL NUMBERS OF PEOPLE . . . . . . . . 59

10. CAN BAD THINGS BE TURNED INTO GOODTHINGS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B2

11 . THE PRACTICE OF ECONOMY . . . . . . . . 6512. CHINA'S PATH TO INDUSTRIALIZATION . . . 87

OUR general subject is the correct handling of con-tradictions among the people . For convenience'

sake, let us discuss it under twelve sub-headings .Although reference will be made to contradictionsbetween ourselves and our enemies, this discussionwill centre mainly on contradictions among thepeople :

I. TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONTRADICTIONS

Never has our country been as united as it istoday : The victories of the bourgeois-democraticrevolution and the socialist revolution, coupled withour achievements in socialist construction, have rapidlychanged the face of old China . Now we see beforeus an even brighter future . The days of nationaldisunity and turmoil which the people detested havegone for ever. Led by the working class and theCommunist Party, and united as one, our six hundredmillion people are engaged in the great work of build-ing socialism. ' Unification of the country, unity ofthe people and unity among our various nationalities-these are the basic guarantees for the sure triumphof our cause. However, this does not mean thatthere are no longer any contradictions in our society .It would be naive to imagine that there are no more

contradictions . To do so would be to fly in the faceof objective reality . We are confronted by two typesof social contradictions-contradictions between our-selves a.n~l~ the enemy and contradictions among thepeople .

These+ two types of contradictions are totallydifferent in nature.

If we are to have a correct understanding of thesetwo different types of contradictions, we must, firstof all, make clear what is meant by "the people" andwhat is meant by "the enemy."

The term "the people" has different meanings indifferent countries, and in different historical periodsin each country. Take our country for' example .During the War of Resistance to Japanese Aggression,all those classes, strata and social groups whichopposed Japanese aggression belonged to the categoryof the people, while the Japanese imperialists, Chi-nese traitors and the pro-Japanese elements belongedt+o the category of enemies of the people: Duringthe War of Liberation, the United States imperialistsand their henchmen-the bureaucrat-capitalists andlandlord class-and the Kuomintang reactionaries,who represented these two classes, were the enemiesof the people, while all other classes, strata and socialgroups which opposed these enemies, belonged to thecategory of the people. At this stage of buildingsocialism, all classes, strata and social groups whichapprove, support and work for the cause of socialistconstruction belong to the category of the people,while those social forces 'and groups which resist the

socialist revolution, and are hostile to and try to wrecksocialist construction, are enemies of the people.

The contradictions between ourselves and ourenemies are antagonistic ones. Within the ranks ofthe people, contradictions among the working peopleare non-antagonistic, while those between the ex-ploiters and the exploited classes have, apart fromtheir antagonistic aspect, a non-antagonistic aspect .Contradictions among the people have always existed .But their content differs in each period of the revolu-tion and during the building of socialism . ' In theconditions existing in China today what we call con-tradictions among the people include the following :contradictions within the working class, contradic-tions within the peasantry, contradictions within theintelligentsia, contradictions between the workingclass and the peasantry, contradictions between theworking class and peasantry on the one hand and theintelligentsia on the other, contradictions between theworking class and other sections of the working peo-ple on the one hand and the national bourgeoisie onthe other, contradictions within the national hour-geoisie, and so forth . Our people's government is agovernment that truly represents the interests of thepeople and serves the people, yet certain contradic-tions do exist between the government and the masses .These include contradictions between the interests ofthe state, collective interests and individual interests ;between democracy and centralism ; between thosein positions of leadership and the led, and contradic-

9

tions arising from the bureaucratic practices of cer-tain state functionaries in their relations with themasses . All these are contradictions among the peo-ple . Generally speaking, underlying the contradic-tions among the people is the basic .identity of theinterests of the people.

In our country, the contradiction between theworking class :and the national bourgeoisie is a con-tradiction among the people. The class struggle wagedbetween the two is, by and large, a class strugglewithin the ranks of the people . This is because ofthe dual character of the national bourgeoisie in ourcountry . In the years of the bourgeois-democraticre~tolution, there was a revolutionary side to theircharacter ; there was also a tendency to compromisewith the enemy, this was the other side . In the periodof the socialist revolution, exploitation of the work-ing class to make profits is -one side, while supportof the Constitution and willingness to accept socialisttransformation is the other . The nti onal bour-geoisie differs from the imperialists, the landlordsand the bureaucrat-capitalists . The contradictionbetween exploiter and exploited, which existsbetween the national bourgeoisie and the workingclass, is an antagonistic one . But, in the concreteconditions existing in China, such arl antagonisticcontradiction, if properly handled, can be transformedinto a non-antagonistic one and resolved in a peacefulway: But if it is not properly handled, if, say,we do not follow a policy of uniting, criticizing and

10

educating the national . bourgeoisie, or if the nationalbourgeoisie does not accept this policy, then the con-tradiction between the working class and the nationalbourgeoisie cam turn into an antagonistic contradic-tion as between ourselves and the enemy.

Since the contradictions between ourselves andthe enemy and those among the people differ in nature,they must be solved in different ways. To put itbriefly, the former is a matter of drawing a line be-tween us and our enemies, while the latter is a matterof distinguishing between right and wrong. It is, ofcourse, true that drawing a line between ourselvesand our enemies is also a question of distinguishingbetween right and wrong: For example, the ques-tion as to who is right, we or the reactionaries at homeand abroad-that is, the imperialists, the feudalistsand bureaucrat-capitalists-is also a question of dis-tinguishing between right and wrong, but it is dif-ferent in nature from questions of right and wrongamong the people.

Ours is a people's democratic dictatorship, led bythe working class and based on the worker-peasantalliance . What is this dictatorship for? Its first func-tion is to suppress the reactionary classes and ele-ments and those exploiters in the country who rangethemselves against the socialist revolution, to sup-press all those who try to wreck our socialist construc-tion ; that is to say, to solve the contradictions be-tween ourselves and the enemy within the country .For instance, to arrest, try and sentence certain

counter-revolutionaries, and for a specified period oftime to deprive landlords and bureaucrat-capitalistsof their right to vote and freedom of speech - all thiscomes within the scope of our dictatorship . To main-tain law and order and safeguard the interests of thepeople, it is likewise necessary to exercise dictator-ship over robbers, swindlers, murderers, arsonists ;hooligans and other scoundrels who seriously disruptsocial order:

'The second function of this dictatorship is to pro-

tect our country from subversive activities and pos=Bible aggression b~ the external enemy. Should thathappen ; it is the task of this dictatorship to solvethe external contradiction between ourselves and theenemy. The aim of this dictatorship is to protect allour people so that they can work in peace and buildChina ,into a socialist country with a modern indus-try, agriculture, science and culture .

Who is to exercise this dictatorship? Naturallyit must be the working class and the entire peopleled by it : Dictatorship does not apply in the ranksof °the people .

The people cannot possibly exercisedictatorship over themselves; nor ' should one sectionof them oppress another section . Law-breaking ele-ments among the people will be dealt with accordingto law, but this is different in principle from usingthe dictatorship to suppress enemies of the people.What applies among the people is democratic cen-tralism . Our Constitution lays it down that citizensof the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of

12

speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, ofprocession, of demonstration, of religious belief andso on . Our Constitution also provides that organsof state must practise democratic centralism and mustrely on the masses ; that the personnel of organs ofstate must serve the people . Our socialist democracyis democracy in the widest sense, such as is not to befound in any capitalist country . Our dictatorship isknown as the people's democratic dictatorship, led bythe working class and based on the worker-peasantalliance . That is to say, democracy operates withinthe ranks of the people, while the working class,uniting with all those enjoying civil rights, the peas-antry in the first place, enforces dictatorship overthe reactionary classes and elements and all thosewho resist socialist transformation and oppose social-ist construction : By civil rights, we mean, politically,freedom and democratic rights .

But this freedom is freedom with leadership andthis democracy is dexr~ocracy under centralized guid-ance, not anarchy . Aizarchy does not conform to theinterests or wishes of the people .

Certain people in our country were delighted whenthe Hungarian events took place. They hoped thatsomething similar would happen in Chins, that thousands upon thousands of people would demonstratein the streets against the People's Government. Suchhopes ran counter to the interests of the masses andtherefore could not possibly get their support . InHungary, a section of the people, deceived by domes-

l3

tic and foreign counter-revolutionaries, made themistake of resorting to acts of violence against thepeople's government, with the result that both thestate and the people suffered for it . The damage doneto . the country's economy in a few weeks of riotingwill take a long time to repair . There were otherpeople in our country who took a wavering attitudetowards the _Hungarian events because they wereignorant about the actual world situation . They feltthat there was too little freedom under our people'sdemocracy and that there was more freedom underWestern parliamentary democracy. They ash for theadoption of the two-party system of the West, whereone party is in office and the other out of office . B.utthis so-called two-party system is nothing but a meansof maintaining the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie ;under no circumstances can it safeguard the freedomof the working people. As a matter of fact, freedomand democracy cannot exist in the abstract, they onlyexist in the concrete . Zn a society where there isclass struggle, .when the exploiting classes are free toexploit the working people the working people willhave no freedom from being exploited ; when thereis democrat~y for the bourgeoisie there can be nodemocracy for the proletariat and other working peo-ple . In some capitalist countries the CommunistParties are allowed to exist legally but only to theextent that they do not endanger the fundamentalinterests of the bourgeoisie ; beyond that they are notpermitted legal existence . Those wl~o demand free-

14

dom and democracy in the abstr. act regard democracyas an end and not a means. Democracy sometimesseems to be an end, but it is in fact only a means.Marxism teaches us that democracy is part o~ thesuperstructure and belongs to the category of politics .That is to say, in the last analysis, it serves the eco-nomic base. The same is true of freedom . Both democ-racy and freedom are relative, not absolute, and theycome into being and develop under specific historicalcircumstances . Within the ranks of our people, democ-racy stands in relation to centralism, and freedom todiscipline . They are two conflicting aspects of a singleentity, contradictory as well as united, and we shouldnot one-sidedly emphasize one to the denial of theother . Within the ranks of the people, we cannotdo without freedom, nor can we do without discipline ;we cannot do without democracy, nor can we do with-out centralism. Our democratic centralism means theunity of democracy and centralism and the unity offi eedom and discipline . Under this system, the peo-ple enjoy a wide measure of democracy and freedom,but at the same time they have to keep themselveswithin the bounds of socialist discipline . All this iswell understood by the people.

While we stand for freedom with leadership anddemocracy under centralized guidance, in no sense dowe mean that coercive measures should be taken tosettle ideological matters and questions involving thedistinction between right and wrong among the peo-ple .

Azny attempt to deal with ideological matters or

15

questions involving right and wrong by administra-tive orders or coercive measures will not only be in-

effective but harmful . We cannot abolish religion by

administrative orders ; nor can we force people not tobelieve in it . We cannot compel people to give upidealism, any more than we can force them to believe

in %Marxism . In settling matters of an ideologicalnature or controversial issues among the people, we

can only use democratic methods, methods of discus-sion, of criticism, of persuasion and education, not

coercive, high-handed methods . In order to carry ontheir production and studies effectively and to ordertheir lives properly, the people want their govern-ment, the leaders of productive work and of educa-

tional and cultural bodies to issue suitable orders of

an obligatory nature . It is common sense that themaintenance of law and order would be impossiblewithout administrative orders . Administrative ordersand the method of persuasion and education comple-ment each other in solving contradictions among thepeople. Administrative orders issued for the main-tenance of social order must be accompanied by per-

suasion and education, for in many cases administra-tive orders alone will not work.

In 1942 we worked out the formula "unity-criticism-unity" to describe this democratic methodof resolving contradictions among the people. '~I~ Toelaborate, this means to start off with a desire forunity and resolve contradictions through criticism orstruggle so as to achieve a new unity on a new basis.

18

Our experience shows that this is a proper methodof resolving contradictions among the people . In 1942we used this method to resolve contradictions insidethe Communist Party, namely, contradictions betweenthe doctrinaires and the rank-and-file membership,between doctrinairism and Marxism. At one timein waging inner-Party struggle, the "left" doctrinairesused the method of `'ruthless struggle and mercilessblows." This method was wrong. In place of it, incriticizing "left" doctrinairism, we used a new one:to start from a desire for unity, and thrash out ques-tions of right and wrong through criticism or argu-ment, and so achieve a new unity on a new basis . Thiswas the method used in the "rectification campaign"of 1942. A few years later in 1945 when the ChineseCommunist Party held its Seventh National Congress,unity was thus achieved throughout the Party andthe great victory of the people's revolution was as-sured. The essential thing is to start with a desirefor unity . Without this subjective desire for unity,once the struggle starts it is liable to get out of hand.Wouldn't this then be the same as "ruthless struggleand merciless blows"? Would there be any Party unityleft to speak of? It was this experience that led usto the formula : "unity - criticism- unity."

Or, inother words, "take warning from the past in orderto be more careful in the future," and to "treat theillness in order to save the patient." We extendedthis method beyond our Party : During the war it wasused very successfully in the anti-Japanese bases to

17

deal with relations between those in positions ofleadership and the masses, between the army and thecivilian population, between officers and men, bettideendifferent units of the army, and between variousgroups of cadres . The use of this method can iietraced back to still earlier times in the history of ourParty. We began to build our revolutionary armedforces and bases in the south in 1927 and ever sinethen we have used this method to deal with relationsbetween the Party and the masses, between the armyand the civilian population, between officers and men,and in general with relations among the people. Theonly difference is that during the Anti-Japanese War,this method was used much more purposefully . Afterthe liberation of the country, we used this samemethod-"unity--criticism-unity"-in our relationswith other democratic parties and industrial and com-mercial circles . Now our task is to continue to ex-tend and make still better use of this method through-out the ranks of the people ; we want all our factories,co-operatives, business establishments, schools, gov-ermnent offices, public bodies, in a word, all the sixhundred million of our people, to use it in resolvingcontradictions among themselves.

Under ordinary circumstances, contradictions amongthe people are not antagonistic . But if they arenot dealt with properly, or if we relax vigilanceand lower our guard, antagonism may arise . In asocialist country, such a deveiopment is usually onlyof a localized and temporary nature. This is because

is

there the exploitation of man by man has been abol-ished and the interests of the people are basicallythe same. Such antagonistic actions on a fairly widescale as took place during the Hungarian events areaccounted for by the fact that domestic and foreigncounter-revolutionary elements were at work. Theseactions were also of a temporary, though special,nature . In a case like this, the reactionaries in asocialist country, in league with the imperialists, takeadvantage of contradictions among the people tofoment disunity and dissension and fan the flamesof disorder in an attempt to achieve their conspira-torial aims . This lesson of the Hungarian eventsdeserves our attention .

Many people seem to think that the proposal touse democratic methods to resolve contradictionsamong the people raises a new question . But actuallythat is not so .

Marxists have always held that thecause of the proletariat can only be promoted by rely-ing on the masses of the people; that Communistsmust use democratic methods of persuasion and edu-cation when working among the working people andmust on no account resort to commandism or coer-cion . The Chinese Communist Party faithfully ad-heres to this Marxist-Leninist principle . We havealways maintained that, under the people's democraticdictatorship, two different methods-dictatorial anddemocratic-should be used to resolve the two dif-ferent kinds of contradictions-those between ourselvesand the enemy and those among the people . This

19

idea has been explained again and again in our Partydocuments and in speeches by many responsible Partyleaders . In my article "On the People's DemocraticDictatorship" written in 1949, I said : "These twoaspects, democracy for the people and dictatorship overthe reactionaries, when combined, constitute the peo-ple's democratic dictatorship." I also pointed out that,in order to settle questions within the ranks of thepeople, "the methods we use are democratic, that is,methods of persuasion and not of compulsion ." Inaddressing the Second Session of the National Com-mittee of the People's Political Consultative Confer-ence in June 1950, I said further : "The people's demo-cratic dictatorship uses two methods . In regard tothe enemy, it uses the method of dictatorship, that is :it forbids them to take part in political activities foras long a period of time as is necessary; it compelsthem to obey the laws of the People's Government,compels them to work and to transform themselvesinto new people through work . In regard to the peo-ple, on the contrary, it does not use compulsion, ituses democratic methods, that is : it must allow thepeople to take part in political activities, and, far fromcompelling them to do this or that, use the democraticmethods of education and persuasion. This educationis self-education among the people, and criticism andself-criticism is the fundamental method of self-education." We have spoken on tHis question of usingdemocratic methods to resolve contradictions amongthe people on many occasions in the past, and, fur-

ao

thermore, we have in the main acted on this principle,a principle of which many cadres and many peoplehave a practical understanding . Why then do somepeople now feel that this is a new issue? The reasonis that, in the past, an acute struggle raged betweenourselves and our enemies both within and without,and contradictions among the people did not attractas much attention as they do today.

Quite a few people fail to make a clear distinctionbetween these two different types of contradictions-those between ourselves and the enemy and thoseamong the people-and are prone to confuse the two.It must be admitted that it is sometimes easy to con-fuse them. We had instances of such confusion in ourpast work. In the suppression of counter-revolution,good people were sometimes mistaken for bad . Suchthings have happened before, and still happen today.We have been able to keep our mistakes within boundsbecause it has been our policy to draw a sharp linebetween our own people and our enemies and wheremistakes have been made, to take suitable measuresof rehabilitation .

Marxist philosophy holds that the law of the unityof opposites is a fundamental law of the universe .This law operates everywhere, in the natural world,in human society, and in man's thinking . Oppositesin contradiction unite as well as struggle with eachother, and thus impel all things to move and change .Contradictions exist everywhere, but as things differin nature, so do contradictions . In any given phenom-

enon or thing, the unity of opposites is conditional,temporary and transitory, and hence relative ; whereasstruggle between opposites is absolute. Lenin gavea very clear exposition of this law . In our country,a growing number of people have come to understandit . For many people, however, acceptance of this lawis one thing, and its application in examining anddealing with problems is quite another . Many darenot acknowledge openly that there still exist con-tradictions among the people, which are the veryforces that move our society forward . Many peoplerefuse to admit that contradictions still exist in asocialist society, with the result that when confrontedwith social contradictions they become timid andhelpless . They do not understand-that socialist societygrows more united and consolidated precisely throughthe ceaseless process of correctly dealing with andresolving contradictions . For this reason, we need toexplain things to our people, our cadres in the firstplace; to help them understand contradictions in asocialist society and learn how to deal with such con-tradictions in a correct way .

Contradictions in a socialist society are funda-mentally different from contradictions in old societies,such as capitalist society . Contradictions in capitalistsociety find expression in acute antagonisms and con-flicts, in sharp class struggle, which cannot be resolvedby the capitalist system itself and card' only be resolvedby socialist revolution . Contradictions in socialistsociety are, on the contrary, not antagonistic and can

Za

be resolved one after the other by the socialist systemitself .

The basic contradictions in socialist society arestill those between the relations of production andthe productive forces, and between the superstructureand the economic base. These contradictions, how-ever, are fundamentally . different in character andhave different features from contradictions betweenthe relations of production and the productive forcesand between the superstructure and the economicbase in the old societies . The present social systemof our country is far superior to that of the old days .IF this were not so, the old system would not havebeen overthrown and the new system could not havebeen set up. When we say that socialist, relations ofproduction are better suited than the old relations ofproduction to the development of the productive .forces, we mean that the former permits the produc-tive forces to develop at a speed unparalleled in theold society, so that production can expand steadilyand the constantly g:owing needs of the people canbe met step by step . Under the rule of imperialism,feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism, production inold China developed very slowly . For more than fiftyyears before liberation, China produced only a fewscore thousand tons of steel a year, not counting theoutput of the north-eastern provinces. If we includethese provinces, the peak annual output . of steel ofour country was only something over nine hundredthousand tons. In 1949, the country's output of steel

23

was only something over one hundred thousand tons.Now, only seven years after liberation of the coun-try, our steel output already exceeds four million tons .In old China, there was hardly any engineering indus-try to speak of ; motor-car and aircraft industries werenon-existent ; now, we have them. When the rule ofimperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism wasoverthrown by the people, many were not clear as towhere China was headed-to capitalism or socialism .Facts give the answer: Only socialism can save China.The socialist system has promoted the rapid develop-ment of the productive forces of our country-thisis a fact that even our enemies abroad have had toacknowledge:

But our socialist system has just been set up; itis not yet fully established, nor yet fully consolidated .In joint state-private industrial axed commercial enterprises, capitalists still receive a fixed rate of intereston their capital, that is to say, exploitation still exists .So far as ownership is concerned, these enterprises arenot yet completely socialist in character . Some of ouragricultural and handicraft producers' co-operativesare still semi-socialist, while even in the fully socialistco-operatives certain problems about ownership r e~main to be solved . Relationships in production andexchange are still being gradually established alongsocialist lines in various sectors of our economy andmore and more appropriate forms are being sought .It is a complicated problem to settle on a proper ratiobetween accumulation and consumption within that

sector of socialist economy in which the means ofproduction are owned by the whole people and thatsector in which the means of production are collec-tively owned, as well as between these two sectors:It is not easy to work out a perfectly rational solutionto this problem all at once.

To sum up, socialist relations of production havebeen established ; they are suited to the developmentof the productive forces, but they are still far fromperfect, and their imperfect aspects stand in contradic-tion to the development of the productive forces .There is conformity as well as contradiction betweenthe relations of ~production and the development ofthe productive forces ; similarly, there is conformityas well as contradiction between the superstructureand the economic base . The superstructure-ourstate institutions of people's democratic dictatorshipand its laws, and socialist ideology under theguidance of Marxism-Leninism-has played a posi-tive role in facilitating the victory of socialisttransformation and establishment of a socialist or-ganization of labour ; it is suited to the 'socialisteconomic base, that is, socialist relations of pro-duction . ' But survivals of bourgeois ideology ; bureau-eratic ways of doing things in our state organs, a:ndflaws in certain links of our state institutions standin- contradiction to the economic base of socialism :We must continue to~ resolve such contradictions inthe light of specific conditions . Of course, as thesecontradictions are resolved, new problems and new

25

contradictions will emerge and call for solution. Forinstance, a constant process of readjustment throughstate planning is needed to deal with the contradictionbetween production and the needs of society, whichwill long remain as an objective reality . Every yearour country draws up an economic plan in an effortto establish a proper ratio between accumulation andconsumption and achieve a balance between produc-tion and the needs of society . By "balance" we meana temporary, relative unity of opposites . By the endof each year, such a balance, taken as a whole, is upsetby the struggle of opposites, the unity achieved under-goes a change, balance becomes imbalance, unity be-comes disunity, and once again it is necessary to workout a balance and unity for the next year . This isthe superior quality of our planned economy . As amatter of fact, this balance and unity is partiallyupset every month and every quarter, and partialreadjustments are called for . Sometimes, because ourarrangements do not correspond to objective reality,contradictions arise and the balance is upset ; this iswhat we call making a mistake . Contradictions arisecontinually and are continually resolved ; this is thedialectical law of the development of things .

This is how things . stand today :

The turbulentclass struggles waged by the masses on a large scalecharacveristic of the revolutionary periods have, in themain, concluded, but class struggle is not entirelyover. While the broad masses of the people welcomethe new system, they are not yet quite accustomed

2 6'

to it . Government workers are not sufficiently ex-perienced, and should continue to examine and exploreways of dealing with questions relating to specificpolicies .

In other words, time is needed for our socialistsystem to grow and consolidate itself, for the massesto get accustomed to the new system, and for government workers to study and acquire experience . Itis imperative that at this juncture we raise the ques-tion of distinguishing contradictions among the peo-ple from contradictions between ourselves and theenemy, as well as the question of the proper handlingof contradictions among the people, so as to rally thepeople of all nationalities in our country to wage anew battle-the battle against nature-to develop oureconomy and culture, enable all our people to gothrough this transition period in a fairly smooth way,make our new system secure, ar~d build up our newstate .

2. THE SUPPRESSION OF COUNTER-REVOLUTION

The question of suppressing counterrevolutiona-ries is a question of the struggle pf opposites in thecontradiction between ourselves and the enemy.Within the ranks of the people, there are some whohold somewhat different views on this question .There are two kinds of persons whose views differfrom ours. Those with a rightist way of thinkingmake no distinction between ourselves and the enemy

27

and mistake our enemies for our own people . Theyregard as friends the very people the broad massesregard as enemies . Those with a ` 4leftist" way ofthinking so magnify contradictions between ourselvesand the enemy that they mistake certain contradic-tions among the people for contradictions between our-selves and the enemy, and regard as counterrevolu-tionaries persons who really aren't . Both these viewsare wrong. Neither of them will enable us to handleproperly the question of suppressing counter-revolution, or to correctly assess the results in thiswork.

If we want to correctly evaluate the results of ourefforts to suppress counter-revolution here, let us seewhat effect the Hungarian events had in our coun-try . These events caused some of our intellectualsto lose their balance a bit but there were no squallsin our country. Why? One reason, it must be said,was that we had succeeded in suppressing counter-revolution quite thoroughly .

~Of course, theca consolidation of roar state is notprimarily due to the suppression of counter-revolution .It is due primarily to the fact that we have a Comrnunist Party and a Liberation Army steeled in dec-ades of revolutionary struggle, as well as a workingpeople which . has been similarly steeled . Our Partyand our armed forces are rooted in the masses ; theyhave been tempered in the flames of a protractedrevolution; they are strong and they can fight . OurPeople's Republic - wasn't built overnight. It de-

28

veloped step by step out of the revolutionary bases.Some leading democrats have also been tempered inone degree or another in the struggle, and ; they wentthrough troubled times together with us . Some in-tellectuals were tempered in the struggles againstimperialism and reaction ; since liberation many ofthem have gone through a process of ideological re-moulding which was aimed at making a clear distinc-tion between ourselves and the enemy.

In addition, the consolidation of our state is dueto the fact that our economic measures are basicallysound, that the people's livelihood is secure and issteadily being improved, that our policies towards thenational bourgeoisie and other classes are also correct,and so on. Nevertheless, our success in suppressingcounter-revolution is undoubtedly an important reasonfor the consolidation of our state : Because of all this,although many of our college students come fromfamilies other than those of the working people, allof them, with few exceptions, are patriotic and sup-port socialism ; they didn't give way to unrest duringthe Hungarian events. The same was true of thenational bourgeoisie, to say nothing of the basicmasses - the workers and peasants .

After liberation, . we rooted out a number of coun-terrevolutionaries . Some were sentenced to deathbecause they had committed serious crimes . Thiswas absolutely necessary ; it was the demand of thepeople; it was done to free the masses from long yearsof oppression by counter-revolutionaries-and all kinds

29

of local tyrants ; in other words, to set free the produc-tive forces . If we had not done so, the masses would

not have been able to lift thEir heads.Since 1956, however, there has been a radical change

in the situation . Taking the country as a whole, themain force of counter-revolution has Been rooted out .

Our basic task is no longer to_ set free the productiveforces but to protect and expand them in the contextof the new relations of production. Some people donot understand that our present policy fits the presentsituation and our past policy fitted the past situation ;they want to make use of the present policy to reversedecisions on past cases and to deny the great successwe achieved in suppressing counter-revolution . This

is quite wrong, and the people will not permit it .As regards the suppression of counter-revolution,

the main thing is that we have achieved successes, butmistakes have also been made. There were excessesin some cases and in other cases counterrevolution-aries were overlooked . Our policy is : "Counter-revolutionaries must be suppressed whenever they are

found, mistakes must be corrected whenever they arediscovered." The line we adopted in this work wasthe mass line, that is, the suppression of counter-revolution by the people themselves . Of course, even

with the adoption of this line, mistakes will still occurin our work, but they will be fewer and easier to coi-rect .

The masses have gained experience through thisstruggle.

From what was done correctly they learned

how things should be done: From what was done

wrong they learned useful lessons as to why mistakeswere made.

Steps have been or are being taken to correct mis-takes which have already been discovered in the workof suppressing counter-revolutionaries .

Those not yetdiscovered will be corrected as soon as they come tolight . Decisions on exoneration and rehabilitationshould receive the same measure of publicity as theoriginal mistaken decisions . I propose that a compre-hensive review of the work of suppressing counter-revolution be made this year or next to sum up ex-perience, foster a spirit of righteousness and combatunhealthy tendencies . Nationally, this task should behandled by the Standing Committee of the NationalPeople's Congress and the Standing Committee of thePeople's Political Consultative Conference; and locally,by the provincial and municipal people's councils andcommittees of the People's Political Consultative Con-ference . In this review, we must help and not pourcold water on the large numbers of functionaries andactivists who took part in the work. It is not rightto dampen their spirits . Nonetheless, wrongs must berighted when they are discovered . This must be theattitude of all the public security organs, the procura-cies and the judicial departments, prisons or agenciescharged with the reform of criminals through labour.We hope that wherever possible members of theStanding Committee of the National People's Congressand of the People's Political Consultative Conferenceand the people's deputies will all take part in this re-

81

view . This will be of help in perfecting our legalsystem and also in dealing correctly with counter-revolutionaries and other criminals .

The present situation with regard to counterrevo-lutionaries can be stated in these words : There stillare counter-revolutionaries, but not many. In the firstplace, there still are counter-revolutionaries . Somepeople say that there aren't any and that all is at peace;that we can pile up our pillows and just go to sleep .But this is not the way things are . The fact is thatthere still are counter-revolutionaries (this, of course,is not to say you'll find them everywhere and in everyorganization), and we must continue to fight them. Itmust be understood that the hidden counter-revolution-cries still at large will not take it lying down, but willcertainly seize every opportunity to make trouble, andthat the United States imperialists and the ChiangKai-shek clique are constantly sending in secret agentsto carry on wrecking activities . Even when all thecounter-revolutionaries in existence have been rooted'out, new ones may emerge.

If we drop our guard weshall be badly fooled and suffer for it severely . Wher-ever counter-revolutionaries are found making trou-ble, they should be rooted out with a firm hand.

But,of course, taking the country as a whole, there arecertainly not many counter-revolutionaries. It wouldbe wrong to say that there are still large numbers ofcounter-revolutionaries at large . Acceptance of thatview will also breed confusion.

3. AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION

We have a farm population of over five hundredmillion, so the situation of our peasants has a very im-portant bearing on the development of our economyand the consolidation of our state power.

In my view,the situation is basically sound . The organization ofagricultural co-operatives has been successfully com-pleted and this has solved a major contradiction in ourcountry - that between socialist industrialization andindividual farm economy. The organization of co-operatives was completed swiftly, and so some peoplewere worried that something untoward might occur .Some things did go wrong but, fortunately, they werenot so serious .

The movement on the whole is healthy .The peasants are working with a will and last year,despite the worst floods, droughts and typhoons inyears, they were still able to increase the output offood crops .

Yet some people have stirred up a minia-ture typhoon : they are grousing that co-operative farm-ing won't do, that it has no superior qualities . Doesagricultural co-operation possess superior qualities ordoes it not? Among the documents distributed attoday's meeting is one concerning the Wang Kuo-fanCo-operative in Tsur~hua County, Hopei Province, whichI suggest you read . This co-operative is situated ina hilly region which was very poor in the past anddepended on relief grain sent there every year by thePeople's Government. When the co-operative wasfirst set up in 1953, people called it the "paupers' co-op."

ss

But as a result of four years of hard struggle, it has

become better off year by year, and now most of its

households have reserves of grain . What this co-

operative could do, other co-operatives should also beable to do under normal conditions, even if it may take

a bit longer. It is clear then that there are no grounds

for the view that something has gone wrong with theco-operative movement.

It is also clear that it takes a hard struggle to build

up co-operatives . New things always have difficulties

and ups and downs to get over as they grow . It would

be sheer fancy to imagine that building socialism is

all plain sailing and easy success, that one won't meet

difficulties or setbacks or need not make tremendous

efforts .Who are the staunch supporters of the co-opera-

tives? They are the overwhelming majority of the

poor peasants and lower middle peasants . These to-

gether account for more than seventy per cent of the

rural population . Most of the rest also cherish hopes

for the future of the co-operatives . Only a very small

minority are really dissatisfied . But quite a number

of persons have failed to analyse this situation . They

have not made a comprehensive study of the achieve-

ments and shortcomings of the co-operatives and the

causes of these shortcomings ; they take part of the pic-

ture for the whole . And so, among some people a

miniature typhoon has whirled up around what they

call the co-operatives having no superior qualities .

34

How long will it take to consolidate the co-opera-tives and end these arguments about their not havingany superior qualities? Judging from the actual experience of many co-operatives, this will probably takefive years or a bit longer . As most of our co-opera-tives are only a little over a year old, it would be un-reasonable to expect too much from them so soon . Inmy view, we'll be doing well enough if we succeed inestablishing the co-operatives during the period of theFirst Five-Year Plan and consolidating them duringthe Second .

The co-operatives are steadily being consolidated .Certain contradictions remain to be resolved, such asthose between the state and the co-operatives, andthose within and between the co-operatives themselves .

In resolving these contradictions we must keepproblems of production and distribution constantly inmind . Take the question of production. On the onehand, the co-operative economy must be subject to theunified economic planning of the state but at the sametime it should be allowed to retain a certain leewayand independence of action without prejudice tounified state planning or the policies and laws andregulations of the state. On the other hand, everyhousehold in a co-operative can make its own plansin regard to land reserved for private use and othereconomic undertakings left to private management,but it must comply with the overall plans of the co-operative or production team to which it belongs.

On the question of distribution, we must take intoaccount the interests of the state, the co-operative, andthe individual. We must find the correct way tohandle the three-way relationship between the taxrevenue of the state, accumulation of funds in the co-operative and the personal income of the peasant, andpay constant attention to making readjustments so asto resolve contradictions as they arise . Accumulationis essential for both the state and the co-operative, butin neither case should this be overdone . We shoulddo everything possible to enable the peasants in nor-mal years to raise their personal incomes year by yearon the basis of increased production.

Many people say that the peasants lead a hard life .Is this true? In one sense, it is . That is to say, be-cause the imperialists and their agents oppressed, exploited and impoverished our country for over a cen-tury, the standard of living not only of our peasantsbut of our workers and intellectuals as well is still low.We will need several decades of intensive efforts toraise the standard of living of our entire people stepby step . In this sense, "hard" is the right word. Butfrom another point of view, it is not right to say"hard." We refer to the allegation that, in the sevenyears since liberation, the life of the workers has im-proved but not that of the peasants . As a matter offact, with very few exceptions, both the workers andthe peasants are better off than before .

Since libera-tion, the peasants have rid themselves of landlord ex-ploitation, and their production has increased year by

year .

Take the case of food crops .

In 1949, the coun-try's output was only something over 210,000 millioncatties . By 1956, it had risen to something over360,000 million catties, an increase of nearly 150,000million catties .

The state agricultural tax is not heavy ;amounting only to some 30,000 million catties a year .Grain bought from the peasants at normal prices onlyamounts to something over 50,000 million catties a year,These two items together total over 80,000 million cat-ties . More than one half of this grain, furthermore,is sold in the villages and nearby towns. Obviouslyone cannot say that there has been no improvement inthe life of the peasants . We are prepared to stabilizeover a number of years the total amount of the graintax and the amount of grain purchased by the stateat approximately something over 80,000 million cat-ties a year.

This will help promote . the developmentof agriculture, and consolidate the co-operatives ; thesmall number of grain-short households still found inthe countryside will no longer go short; so that withthe exception of certain peasants who grow industrialcrops, all peasant households will then have reservesof food grain or at least become self-sufficient ; in tlu~way there will be no more poor peasants and the stand-ard of living of all the peasants will reach or surpassthe level of that of the middle peasants .

It's not rightto make a superficial comparison between the averageannual income of a peasant and that of a worker anddraw the conclusion that the one is too low and theother too high. The productivity of the workers is

3?

much higher than drat of the peasants, while the costof living for the peasants is much lower than that forworkers in the cities ; so it cannot be said that the work-ers receive special favours from the state . However,the wages of a small number of workers and some gov-ernment personnel are rather too high, the peasantshave reason to be dissatisfied with this, so it is neces-sary to make certain appropriate readjustments in thelight of specific circumstances .

d. THE QUESTION OF INDUSTRIALISTS ANDBUSINESS MEN

The year 1956 saw the transformation of privatelyowned industrial and commercial enterprises into jointstate-private enterprises as well as the organization ofco-operatives in agriculture and handicrafts as part ofthe transformation of our social system . The speedand smoothness with which this was carried out areclosely related to the fact that we treated the contra-diction between the working class and the nationalbourgeoisie as a contradiction among the people. Hasthis class contradiction been resolved completely? No,not yet . A considerable period of time is still requiredto do so. However, some people say that the capital-ists have been so remoulded that they are now notmuch different from the workers, and that further re-moulding is unnecessary . Others go so far as to saythat the capitalists are even a bit better than the wo~k-ers . Still others ask, if remoulding is necessary, why

38

doesn't the working class undergo remoulding? Arethese opinions correct? Of course not .

In building a socialist society, all need remoulding,the exploiters as well as the working people. Whosays the working class doesn't need it? Of course, remoulding of the exploiters and that of the workingpeople are two different types of remoulding. The twomust not be confused . In the class struggle and thestruggle against nature, the working class remouldsthe whole of society, and at the same time remouldsitself . It must continue to learn in the process of itswork and step by step overcome its shortcomings . Itmust never stop doing so . Take us who are presenthere for example . Many of us make some progresseach year; that is to say, we are being remoulded eachyear . I myself had all sorts of non-Marxist ideas be-fore. It was only later that I embraced Marxism . Ilearned a little Marxism from books and so made aninitial remoulding of my ideas, but it was mainlythrough taking part in the class struggle over the yearsthat I came to be remoulded . And I must continue tostudy if I am to make further progress, otherwise Ishall lag behind . Can the capitalists be so clever asto need no more remoulding?

Some contend that the Chinese bourgeoisie nolonger has two sides to its character, but only one side .Is this true? No. On the one hand, members of thebourgeoisie have already become managerial personnelin joint state-private enterprises and are being trans-formed from exploiters into working people living by

39

their own labour. On the other hand, they still re-ceive a fixed rate of interest on their investments in thejoint enterprises, that is, they have not yet cut them-selves loose from the roots of exploitation . Betweenthem and the working class there is still a considerablegap in ideology, sentiments and habits of life . Howcan it be said that they no longer have two sides totheir character? Even when they stop receiving theirfixed interest payments and rid themselves of the label"bourgeoisie," they will still need ideological remould-ing for quite some time . If it were held that thebourgeoisie no longer has a dual character, then suchstudy and remoulding for the capitalists would nolonger be needed .

But it must be said tinat such a view doesn't tallywith the actual circumstances of our industrialists andbusiness men, nor with what most of them want. During the past few years, most of them have been willingto study and have made marked progress . Our in-dustrialists and business men can be thoroughly re-moulded only in the course of work; they should worktogether with the staff and workers in the enterprises,and make the enterprises the chief centres for remould-ing themselves. It is also important for them tochange certain of their old views through study. Studyfor them should be optional. After they have attendedstudy groups for some weeks, many industrialists andbusiness men, on returning to their enterprises, findthey speak more of a common language with the work-ers and the representatives of state shareholdings, and

40

so work better together . They know from personalexperience that it is good for them to keep on study-ing and remoulding themselves. The idea just refer-red to that study and remoulding are not necessarydoes not reflect the views of the majority of indus-trialists and business men. Only a small number ofthem think that way .

b. THE QUESTION OF INTELLECTUALS

Contradictions within the ranks of the people inour country also find expression among our intellec-tuals . Several million intellectuals who worked forthe old society have come to serve the new society .The question that now arises is how they can best meetthe needs of the new society and how we can help themdo so . This is also a contradiction among the people.

Most of our intellectuals have made marked prog-ress during the past seven years .

They express themselves in favour of the socialist system .

Many of themare diligently studying Marxism, and some have be-come Communists. Their number, though small, isgrowing steadily . There are, of course, still some in-tellectuals who are sceptical of socialism or who donot approve of it, but they are in a minority .

China needs as many intellectuals as she can getto carry through the colossal task of socialist construc-tion . We should trust intellectuals who are reallywilling to serve 'the cause of socialism, radically im-prove our relations with them and help them solve

41

whatever problems that have to be solved, so that theycan give full play to their talents . Many of our com-rades are not good at getting along with intellectuals .They are stiff with them, lack respect for their work,and interfere in scientific and cultural matters in away that is uncalled for . We must do away with allsuch shortcomings .

Our intellectuals have made some progress, but theyshould not be complacent . They must continue toremould themselves, gradually shed their bourgeoisworld outlook and acquire a proletarian, communistworld outlook so that they can fully meet the needs ofthe new society and closely unite with the workersand peasants . This change in world outlook is a funda-mental one, and up till now it cannot yet be said thatmost of our intellectuals have accomplished it . Wehope that they will continue making progress, and, inthe course of work and study, gradually acquire a com-munist world outlook, get a better grasp of Marxism-Leninism, and identify themselves with the workersand peasants . We hope they will not stop halfway,or, what is worse, slip back ; for if they do they willfind themselves in a blind alley .

Since the social system of our country has changedand the economic basis of bourgeois ideology has inthe main been destroyed, it is not only necessary butalso possible for large numbers of our intellectuals tochange their world outlook . But a thorough c$~angein world outlook takes quite a long time, and we shouldgo about it patiently and not be impetuous . Actually

42

there are bound to be some who are all along reluctant,ideologically, to accept Marxism-Leninism and com-munism. We should not be too exacting in what weexpect of them; as long as they comply with the re-quirements of the state and engage in legitimate pur-suits, we should give them opportunities for suitablework.

There has been a falling off recently in ideologicaland political work among students and intellectuals,and some unhealthy tendencies have appeared. Somepeople apparently think that there is no longer any needto concern themselves about politics, the future of theirmotherland and the ideals of mankind . It seems as ifMarxism that was once all the rage is not so much infashion now . This being the case, we must improveour ideological and political work.

Both students andintellectuals should study hard.

In addition to special-(zed subjects, they should study Marxism-Leninism,current events and political affairs in order to pro-gress both ideologically and politically . Not tohave a correct political point of view is like havingno soul . Ideological remoulding in the past was neces-sary and,has yielded positive results .

But it was car-ried on in a somewhat rough and ready way and thefeelings of some people were hurt - this was not good.We must avoid such shortcomings in future . All de-partments and organizations concerned should take uptheir responsibilities with regard to ideological andpolitical work. This applies to the Communist Part;,the Youth League, government departments respon-

sible for this work, and especially heads of educationalinstitutions and teachers. Our educational policymust enable everyone who gets an education, to de-velolr morally, intellectually and physically and becomea cultured, socialist-minded worker. We must spreadthe idea of building our country through hard work andthrift . We must see to it that all our young peopleunderstand that ours is still a very poor country, thatwe can't change this situation radically in a short time,and that only through the united efforts of our youngergeneration and all our people working with their ownhands can our country be made strong and prosperouswithin a period of several decades . It is true that theestablishment of our socialist system has opened theroad leading to the ideal state of the future, but wemust work hard, very hard indeed, if we are to makethat ideal a reality . Some of our young people thinkthat everything ought to be perfect once a socialist so-ciety is established and that they should be able toenjoy a happy life, ready-made, without working forit. This is unrealistic .

6. THE QUESTION OF -NATIONAL MINORITIES

The people of the national minorities in our countrynumber more than thirty million . Although they con-stitute only six per cent of China's total population,they inhabit regions which altogether comprise fiftyto sixty per cent of the country's total area . It is there-fore imperative to foster good relations -between the

Han people and the national minorities . The key tothe solution of this question lies in overcoming great-Han chauvinism. At the same time, where local na-tionalism exists among national minorities, measuresshould be taken to overcome it . Neither great-Hanchauvinism nor local nationalism can do any good tounity among the nationalities, and they should both beovercome as contradictions among the people. We havealready done some work in this sphere . In most areasinhabited by national minorities, there has been a bigimprovement in relations among the nationalities, buta number of problems remain to be solved .

In certainplaces, both great-Han chauvinism and local nation-alism still exist in a serious degree, and thiscalls for our close attention . As a result of theefforts of the people of all the nationalities over thepast few years, democratic reforms and socialist trans-formation have in the main been completed in most ofthe national minority areas. Because conditions inTibet are not ripe, democratic reforms have not yetbeen carried out there. According to the seventeen-point agreement reached between the Central People'sGovernment and the local government of Tibet, reformof the social system must eventually be carried out .But we should not be impatient; when this will bedone can only be decided when the great majority ofthe people of Tibet and their leading public figures-consider it practicable . It has now been decided notto proceed with democratic reform in Tibet during theperiod of the Second Five-Year Plan, and we can only

45

decide whether it will be done in the period of theThird Five-Year Plan in the light of the situationobtaining at that time.

7. OVERALL PLANNING, ALL-ROOND CONSIDERATIONAND PROPER ARRANGEMENTS

The "overall planning and all-round consideration"mentioned here refers to overall planning and all-roundconsideration for the interests of the six hundred million people of our country . In drawing up plans,handling affairs or thinking over problems, we mustproceed from the fact that China has a population ofsix hundred million people . This must never be for-gotten .

Now, why should we make a point of this? Couldit be that there are people who still do not know thatwe have a population of six hundred million? Ofcourse, everyone knows this, but in actual practicesome are apt to forget it and act as if they thoughtthat the fewer people and the smaller their world thebetter . Those who have this "exclusive-club" men-tality resist the idea of bringing all positive factorsinto play, of rallying everyone that can be rallied, andof doing everything possible to turn negative factorsinto positive ones serving the great cause of buildinga socialist society . I hope these people will take awider view and really recognize the fact that we havea population of six hundred million, that this is anobjective fact, and that this is our asset .

as

We have this large population . It is a good thing,but of course it also has its difficulties . Constructionis going ahead vigorously on all fronts ; we haveachieved much, but in the present transitional periodof treiriendous social change we are still beset by manydifficult problems . Progress and difficulties - this isa contradiction . However, all contradictions not onlyshould, but can be resolved . Our guiding principleis overall planning and all-round consideration, andproper arrangements . No matter whether it is thequestion of food, natural calamities, employment,education, the intellectuals, the united front of allpatriotic forces, the national minorities, or any otherquestion-we must always proceed from the stand-point of overall planning and all-round considerationfor the whole people; we must make whateverarrangements are suitable and possible at the partic-ular time and place and after consultation with allthose concerned . On no account should we throwmatters out the back door, go around grumbling thatthere are too many people, that people are backward,and that things are troublesome and hard to handle .

Does that mean that everyone and everythingshould be taken care of by the government alone? Ofcourse not . Social organizations and the masses themselves can work out ways and means to take care ofmany matters involving people and things . They arequite capable of devising many good ways of doingso. This also comes within the scope of the principleof "overall planning, all-round consideration and

47

proper arrangements ." We should give guidance tosocial organizations and the masses of the peopleeverywhere in taking such action.

8. ON "LETTING A HUNDRED FLOWERS BLOSSOM,"AND "LI';TTING A HUNDRED SCHOOLS OF THOUGHTCONTEND,"~ AND "LONG-TERM CO-EXISTENCE AND

MUTUAL SUPERVISION"

"Let a hundred flowers blossom," and "let a hun-dred schools of thought contend," "long-term co-existence and mutual supervision" - how did theseslogans come to be put forward?

They were put forward in the light of the specificconditions existing in China, on the basis of the rec-ognition that various kinds of contradictions stillexist in a socialist society, and in response to the coun-try's urgent need to speed up its economic and culturaldevelopment .

Tie policy of letting a hundred flowers blossomand a hundred schools of thought contend is designedto promote the flourishing of the arts and the progressof science ; it is designed to enable, a socialist , cultureto thrive in our land. Different forms and styles inart can develop freely and different schools in sciencecan contend freely. We think that it is harmful to

' "Let a hundred flowers blossom," and "let a hundredschools of thought contend" are two old Chinese sayingsThe word "hundred" does not mean literally the number assuch, but simply "numerous."-Translator.

i8

the growth of art and science if administrative meas-ures are used to impose one particular style of artor school of thought and to ban another . Questionsof right and wrong in the arts and sciences should besettled through free discussion in artistic and scien-tific circles and in the course of. practical work in thearts and sciences . They should not be settled in sum-mary fashion . A period of trial is often needed todetermine whether something is right or wrong . Inthe past, new and correct things often failed at theoutset to win recognition from the-.majority of peopleand had to develop by twists and turns in struggle .Correct and good things have often at first been lookedupon not as fragrant flowers but as poisonous weeds .Copernicus' theory of the solar system and Darwin'stheory of evolution were once dismissed as erroneousand had to win through over bitter opposition . Chi-nese history offers many similar examples. In socialistsociety, conditions for the growth of new things areradically different from and far superior to those inthe old society. Nevertheless, it still often happensthat new, rising forces are held back and reasonablesuggestions smothered .

The growth of new things can also be hindered,not 'because of deliberate suppression, but because oflack of discernment . That is why we should take acautious attitude in regard to questions of right andwrong in the arts and sciences, encourage free dis-cussion, and avoid hasty conclusions . We believe

49

that this attitude will facilitate the growth of the artsand sciences .

Marxism has also developed through struggee . Atthe beginning, Marxism was subjected to all kinds ofattack and regarded as a poisonous weed. It is stillbeing attacked and regarded as a poisonous weed inmany parts of the world. However, it enjoys a dif-ferent position in tire socialist countries . But evenin these countries, there are non-Marxist as well asanti-Marxist ideologies . It is true that in China, so-cialist transformation, in so far as a change in thesystem of ownership is concerned, has in the mainbeen. completed, and the turbulent, large-scale, massclass struggles characteristic of the revolutionaryperiods have in the main concluded . But remnantsof the overthrown landlord and comprador classes stillexist, the bourgeoisie still exists, and the petty bour-geoisie has only just begun to remould itself . Classstruggle is not yet over. The class struggle betweenthe proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the class strugglebetween various political forces, and the class strug-gle in the ideological field between the proletariat andthe bourgeoisie will still be long and devious and attimes may even become very acute. The proletariatseeks to transform the world according to its ownworld outlook, so does the bourgeoisie . In this 're-spect, the question whether socialism or capitalismwill win is still not really settled . Marxists are still .a minority of the entire population as well as of theintellectuals . Marxism therefore must still develop

50

through struggle . Marxism can only c~eve~op throughstruggle - this is true not only in the past and pres-ent, it is necessarily true in the future also . Whatis correct always develops in the course of strugglewith what is wrong . The true, the good and the beau-tiful always exist in comparison with the false, theevil and the ugly, and grow in struggle with thelatter . As mankind in general rejects an untruth andaccepts a truth, a new truth will begin struggling withnew erroneous ideas . Such struggles will never end .This is the law of development of truth and it is cer-tainly also the law of development of Marxism .

It will take a considerable time to decide the issuein the ideological struggle between socialism andcapitalism in our country . This is because the influence of the bourgeoisie and of the intellectuals whocome from the old society will remain in our countryas the ideology of a class for a long time to come.Failure to grasp this, or still worse, failure to under-stand it at all, can lead to the gravest mistakes - toignoring the necessity of waging the struggle in theideological field . Ideological struggle is not like otherforms of struggle . Crude, coercive methods shouldnot be used in this struggle, but only the method ofpainstaking reasoning . Today, socialism enjoysfavourable conditions in the ideological struggle. Themain power of the state is in the hands of the work-ing people led by the proletariat . The CommunistParty is strong and its prestige stands high. Althoughthere are defects and mistakes in our work, every fair-

51

minded person can see that we are loyal to the people,that we are both determined and able to build up ourcountry together with the people, and that we haveachieved great successes and will achieve still greaterones. The vast majority of the bourgeoisie and intel-lectuals who come from the old society are patriotic ;they are willing to serve their flourishing socialistmotherland, and they know that if they turn awayfrom the socialist cause and the working people ledby the Communist Party, they will have no one to relyon and no bright future to look forward to :

People may ask : Since Marxism is accepted, bythe majority of the people in our country as the guid-ing ideology, can it be criticized? Certainly it can .As a scientific truth, Marxism dears no criticism .

Ifit did, and could be defeated in argument, it wouldbe worthless . In fact, aren't the idealists criticizingMarxism every day and in all sorts of ways? As forthose who harbour bourgeois and petty bourgeoisideas and do not wish to change, aren't they also criti-cizing Marxism in all sorts of ways?

Marxists shouldnot be afraid of criticism from any quarter. Quitethe contrary, they need to steel and improve them-selves and win new positions in the teeth of criticismand the storm and stress of struggle.

Fighting againstwrong ideas is like being vaccinated - a man developsgreater immunity from disease after the vaccine takeseffect. Plants raised in hot-houses are not likely tobe robust . Carrying out the policy of letting a hun-dred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought

52

contend will not weaken but strengthen the leadingposition of Marxism in the ideological field .

What should our policy be towards non-Marxistideas? As far as unmistakable counterrevolu-tionaries and wreckers of the socialist cause are concerned, the matter is easy : we simply deprive themof their freedom of speech . But it is quite a differentmatter when we are faced with incorrect ideas amongthe people . Will it do to ban such ideas and givethem no opportunity to express themselves? Cer-tainly not. It is not only futile but very harmful touse crude and summary methods to deal with ideolo-gical questions among the people, with questionsrelating to the spiritual life of man. You may banthe expression of wrong ideas, but the ideas will stillbe there . On the other hand, correct ideas, if pam-pered in hot-houses without being exposed to the ele-ments or immunized from disease, will not win outagainst wrong ones . That is why it is only by em-ploying methods of discussion, criticism and reasoningthat we can really foster correct ideas, overcomewrong ideas, and really settle issues .

The bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie are boundto give expression to their ideologies . It is inevitablethat they should stubbornly persist in expressingthemselves in every way possible on political andideological questions . You can't expect them not todo so. We should not use methods of suppression toprevent them from expressing themselves, but should

58

allow them to do so and at the same time argue withthem and direct well-considered criticism at them.

There can be no doubt that we should criticize allkinds of wrong ideas . It certainly would not do torefrain from criticism and look on while wrong ideasspread unchecked and acquire their market . Mistakesshould be criticized and poisonous weeds foughtagainst wherever they crop up. But such criticismshould not be doctrinaire . We should not use the met-aphysical method, but strive to employ the dialecticalmethod . What is needed is scientific analysis andfully convincing arguments . Doctrinaire criticismsettles nothing . We don't want any kind of poisonousweeds, but we should carefully distinguish betweenwhat is really a poisonous weed and what is really afragrant flower . We must learn together with themasses of the people how to make this careful distinc-tion, and use the correct methods to fight poisonousweeds.

While criticizing doctrinairism, we should at thesame time direct our attention to criticizing revision-ism . Revisionism, or rightist opportunism, is a bourgeois trend of thought which is even more dangerousthan doctrinairism . The revisionists, or right oppor-tunists, pay lip-service to Marxism and also attack"doctrinairism." But the real target of their attackis actually the most fundamental elements of Marxism.They oppose or distort materialism and dialectics, op-pose or try to weaken the people's democratic dictator-ship and the leading role of the Communist Party,

54

oppose or try to weaken socialist transformation andsocialist construction . Even after the basic victoryof the socialist revolution in our country, there arestill a number of people who vainly hope for a restora-tion of the capitalist system . They wage a struggleagainst the working class on every front, includingthe ideological front. In this struggle, their right-hand men are the revisionists .

On the surface, these two slogans -let a hundredflowers blossom and a hundred schools of thoughtcontend -have no class character : the proletariat canturn them to account, so can the bourgeoisie and otherpeople . But different classes, strata and social groupseach have their own views on what are fragrantflowers and what are poisonous weeds .

So what, fromthe point of view of the broad masses of the people,should be the criteria today for distinguishing betweenfragrant flowers and poisonous weeds?

In the political life of our country, how are ourpeople to determine what is right and what is wrongin our words and actions? Basing ourselves on theprinciples of our Constitution, the will of the over-whelming majority of our people and the politicalprogrammes jointly proclaimed on various occasionsby our political parties and groups, we believe that,broadly speaking, words and actions can be judgedright if they :

(1) Help to unite the people of our various na-tionalities, and do not divide them;

55

(2) Are beneficial, not harmful, to socialist trans~formation and socialist construction;

(3)

Help to consolidate, not undermine or weaken,the people's democratic dictatorship ;

(4)

Help to consolidate, not undermine or weaken,democratic centralism ;

(5) Tend to strengthen, not to cast off or weaken,the leadership of the Communist Party ;

(6) Are beneficial, not harmful, to internationalsocialist solidarity and the solidarity of the peace-loving peoples of the world.

Of these six criteria, the most important are thesocialist path and the leadership of the Party. Thesecriteria are put forward in order to foster, and nothinder, the free discussion of various questions amongthe people . Those who do not approve of thesecriteria can still put forward their own views andargue their case . When the majority of the peoplehave clear-cut criteria to go by, criticism and self-criticism can be conducted along proper lines, andthese criteria can be applied to people's words andactions to determine whether they are fragrant flowersor poisonous weeds. These are political criteria . Nat-urally, in judging the truthfulness of - scientifictheories or assessing the aesthetic value of works ofart ; other pertinent criteria are needed, but these sixpolitical criteria are also applicable to all activities inthe arts or sciences . In a socialist country like ours,can there possibly be any useful scientific or artisticactivity which runs counter to these political criteria?

58

All that is set out above stems from the specifichistorical conditions in our country . Since conditionsvary in different socialist countries and with differentCommunist Parties, we do not think that other coun-tries and Parties must or need to follow the Chineseway.

The slogan "long-term co-existence and mutualsupervision" is also a product of specific historicalconditions in our country . It wasn't put forward allof a sudden, but had been in the making for severalyears . The idea of long-term co-existence had beenin existence for a long time, but last year when, thesocialist system was basically_ established, the sloganwas set out in clear terms.

Why should the democratic parties of the bour-geoisie and petty bourgeoisie be allowed to exist sideby side with the party of the working class over a longperiod of time? Because we have no reason not toadopt the policy of long-term co-existence with allother democratic parties which are truly devoted tothe task of uniting the people for the cause of socialismand which enjoy the trust of the people.

As early as at the Second Session of the NationalCommittee of the People's Political Consultative Con-ference in June 1950, I put the matter in this way :

"The people and the People's Government haveno reason to reject or deny the opportunity to anyoneto make a living and give their services to the country, so long as he is really willing to serve the people,really helped the people when they were still in diffi-

cu~ties, did good things and continues to do them con-sistently without giving up halfway."

What I defined here was the political basis for thelong-term co-existence of the various parties . It isthe desire of the Communist Party, also its policy, toexist side by side with the other democratic partiesfor a long time to come. Whether these democraticparties can long exist depends not merely on whatthe Communist Party itself desires but also on thepart played by these democratic parties themselvesand on whether they enjoy the confidence of the,people.

Mutual supervision among the various parties hasalso been a long-established fact, in the sense thatthey advise and criticize each other . Mutual supervision, which iS obviously not a one-sided matter,means that the Communist Party should exercisesupervision over the other democratic parties, and theother democratic parties should exercise supervisionover the Communist Party. Why should the otherdemocratic parties be allowed to exercise supervisionover the Communist Party? This is because for aparty as much as for an individual there is great needto hear opinions different from its own. We all knowthat supervision over the Communist Party is mainlyexercised by the working people and Party member-ship . But we will benefit even more if the otherdemocratic parties do this as well . Of course, adviceand criticism exchanged between the CommunistParty and the other democratic parties will play a

68

positive role in mutual supervision on:y when theyconform to the six political criteria given above . Thatis why we hope that the other democratic parties willall pay attention to ideological remoulding, and strivefor long-term co-existence and mutual supervisionwith the Communist Party so as to meet the needs ofthe new society .

9. CONCERNING DISTURBANCES CREATED BY SMALLNUMBERS OF PEOPLE

In 1956, small numbers of workers and studentsin certain places went on strike . The immediatecause of these disturbances was the failure to satisfycertain of their demands for material benefits, of whichsome should and could be met, while others were outof place or excessive and therefore could not be metfor the time being. But a more important cause wasbureaucracy on the part of those in positions of leader-ship . In some cases, responsibility for such bureau-cratic mistakes should be placed an the higher authori-ties, and those at lower levels should not be made tobear all the blame. Another cause for these disturb-ances was that the ideological and political educa-tional work done among the workers and students wasinadequate . In the same year, members of a smallnumber of agricultural co-operatives also created dis-turbances, and the main causes were also bureaucracyon the part of the leadership and lack of educationalwork among the masses .

S9

It should be admitted that all too often some peo-ple are prone to concentrate on immediate, partial andpersonal interests, they do not understand or do notsufficiently understand long-range, nation-wide andcollective interests . Because of their lack of~ ex-perience in political and social life, quite a number ofyoung people can't make a proper comparison betweenthe old and new China ; it is not easy for them tothoroughly comprehend what hardships the people ofour country went through in the struggle to freethemselves from oppression by the imperialists andKuomintang reactionaries, or what a long period ofpainstaking work is needed before a happy socialistsociety can be established . That is why politicaleducational work should be kept going among themasses in an interesting and effective way. We shouldalways tell them the facts about the difficulties thathave cropped up and discuss with them how to solvethese difficulties .We do not approve of disturbances, because con-

tradictions among the people can be resolved in ac-cordance

with

the

formula

"unity- criticism -unity," while disturbances inevitably cause losses andare detrimental to the advance of socialism . We be-lieve that our people stand for socialism, that theyuphold discipline and are reasonable, and will notcreate disturbances without reason . But this does notmean that in our country there is no possibility of themasses creating disturbances . With regard to thisquestion, we should pay attention to the following :

60

(1)

In order to get rid of the root cause of disturb-ances, we must stamp out bureaucracy, greatly im-prove ideological and political education, and dealwith all contradictions in a proper way. If this isdone, there won't usually be any disturbances .

(2)

If disturbances should occur as a result of badwork on our part, then we should guide those involvedin such disturbances on to the correct path, make useof these disturbances as a special means of improvingour work and educating the cadres and the masses,and work out solutions to those questions which havebeen neglected in the past. In handling any disturb-ances, we should work painstakingly, and should notuse over-simplified methods, nor declare the matterclosed before it is thoroughly settled. The guidingspirits in disturbances should not be removed fromtheir jobs or expelled without good reason, except forthose who have committed criminal offences or activecounter-revolutionaries who should be dealt with ac-cording to law. In a big country like ours, it isnothing to get alarmed about if small numbers of peo-ple should create disturbances ; rather we should turnsuch things to advantage to help us get rid of bureau-cracy .

In our society, there is also a small number of peo-ple who are unmindful of public interests, refuse tolisten to reason, commit crimes and break the law .They may take advantage of our policies and distortthem, deliberately put forward unreasonable demandsin order to stir up the masses, or deliberately spread

B1

rumours to create trouble and disrupt social order .We do not propose to let these people have their way .On the contrary, proper legal action must be takenagainst them. The masses demand that these per-sons be punished. Not to do so will run counter topopular will .

10. CAN BAD THINGS BE TURNED INTO GOOD THINGS?

As I have said, in our society, it is bad when groupsof people make disturbances, and we do not approveof it . But when disturbances do occur, they force usto learn lessons from them, to overcome bureaucracyand educate the cadres and the people. In this sense,bad things can be turned into good things . Disturb-ances thus have a dual character . All kinds of dis-turbances can be looked at in this way.

It is clear to everybody that the Hungarian eventswere not a good thing. But they too had a dualcharacter . Because our Hungarian comrades tookproper action in the course of these events, what wasa bad thing turned ultimately into a good thing . TheHungarian state is now more firmly established thanever, and all other countries in the socialist camp havealso learned a lesson .

Similarly, the world-wide anti-Communist andanti-popular campaign launched in the latter half of1956 was of course a bad thing . But it educated andsteeled the Communist Parties and the working classin all countries, and thus turned out to be a good thing .

62

In the storm and stress of this period, a number ofpeople resigned from the Communist Parties in manycountries . Resignations from the Party reduce Partymembership and are, of course, a bad thing, but thereis a good side to this also . Since the vacillating ele-ments unwilling to carry on have withdrawn, thegreat majority of staunch Party members are morefirmly united for the struggle . Isn't this a goodthing?

In short, we must learn to take an all-round viewof things, seeing not only the positive side of thingsbut also the negative side . Under specific conditions,a bad thing can lead to good results and a good thingto bad results . More than two thousand years agoLao Tzu said : "It is upon bad fortune that good for-tune leans, upon good fortune that bad fortunerests ." When the Japanese struck into China, theycalled this a victory . Huge areas of China's ter-ritory were seized, and the Chinese called this a defeat .But China's defeat carried within it the seeds of vic-tory, and Japan's victory carried within it the seedsof defeat . Hasn't this been proved by history?

People all over the world are now discussing wheth-er or not a third world war will break out. In re-gard to this question, we must be psychologically prepared, and at the same time take an analytical view :We stand resolutely for peace and oppose war. Butif the imperialists insist on unleashing another war,we should not be afraid of it . Our attitude on thisquestion is the same as our attitude towards all dis-

turbances: firstly, we are against it ; secondly, we arenot afraid of it .

The First World War was followed by the birth ofthe Soviet Union with a population of 200 million .The Second World War was followed by the emergenceof the socialist camp with a combined population of900 million . If the imperialists should insist onlaunching a third world war, it is certain that severalhundred million more will turn to socialism ; thenthere will not be much room left in the world for theimperialists, while it is quite likely that the wholestructure of imperialism will utterly collapse .

Given specific conditions, the two aspects of a con-tradiction invariably turn into their respective op-posites as a result of the struggle between them.Here, the conditions are important . Without specificconditions, neither of the two contradictory aspectscan transform itself into its opposite . Of all theclasses in the world the proletariat is the most eagerto change its position ; next comes the semi-proletariat,for the former possesses nothing at all, while the lat-ter is not much better off. The present situation inwhich the United States controls a majority in theUnited Nations and dominates many parts of theworld is a transient one, which will eventually bechanged . China's situation as a poor country deniedher rights in international affairs will also bechanged - a poor country will be changed into a richcountry, a country denied her rights into a countryenjoying her rights - a transformation of things into

their opposites. Here, the decisive conditions are thesocialist system and the concerted efforts of a unitedpeople.

11 . THE PRACTICE OF ECONOMY

Here I wish to speak briefly on practising economy.We want to carry on large-scale construction, but ourcountry is still very poor- herein lies a contradiction .One way of resolving this contradiction is to make asustained effort to practise strict economy in everyfield .

During the san fan movement in 1952, we foughtagainst corruption, waste and bureaucracy, and theemphasis was on combating corruption. In 1955 weadvocated the practice of economy with considerablesuccess ; our emphasis then was on combating undulyhigh standards for non-productive projects in capitalconstruction, and economy in the use of raw materialsin industrial production . But at that time economyas a guiding principle was not conscientiously carriedout in all branches of the national economy, nor ingovernment offices, army units, schools and people'sorganizations in general . This year we have calledfor economy and elimination of waste in every respectthroughout the country .

We still lack experience in construction . Duringthe past few years great successes have been achieved,but there has also been waste. We must graduallybuild a number of large-scale modern enterprises as

B5

the mainstay of our industries ; without these we shallnot be able to turn our country into a modern indus-trial power in several decades . But the majority ofour enterprises should not be built in this way ; weshould set up a far greater number of small and me-dium enterprises and make full use of the industriesinherited from the old society, so as to effect thegreatest economy and do more things with less money.Since the principle of practising strict economy andcombating waste was put forward in more emphaticterms than before by the Second Plenary Session ofthe Central Committee of the Communist Party ofChina in November 1956, good results have been ob-tained . This economy drive must be carried out ina thorough, sustained way . Just as it is with criticismof our other faults and mistakes, combating waste islike washing our face . Don't people wash their facesevery day?

The Chinese Communist Party, the otherdemocratic parties, democrats not affiliated to anyparty, intellectuals, industrialists and business men,workers, peasants and handicraftsmen - in short, allthe 600 million people of our country - must increaseproduction, practise economy, and combat extrava-gance and waste . This is of first importance botheconomically and politically . A dangerous tendencyhas shown itself of late among many of our person-nel -an unwillingness to share the joys and hard-ships of the masses, a concern for personal positionand gain. This is very bad . One way of overcomingthis dangerous tendency is, in our campaign, to in-

88

crease production and practise economy, to streamlineour organizations and transfer cadres to lower levelsso that a considerable number of them will return toproductive work. We must see to it that all ourcadres and all our people constantly bear in mind that,while ours is a big socialist country, it is an economi-cally backward and poor country, and that this is avery great contradiction . If we want to see Chinarich and strong, we must be prepared for severaldecades of intensive effort which will include, amongother things, carrying out a policy of building ourcountry through hard work and thrift - of practisingstrict economy and combating waste .

12 . CHINA'S PATH TO INDUSTRIALIZATION

In discussing our path to industrialization, I amhere concerned principally with the relationship be-tween the growth of heavy industry, light industryand agriculture . Heavy industry is the core ofChina's economic construction . This must be affirmed.But, at the same time, full attention must be paid tothe development of agriculture and light industry .

As China is a great agricultural country, with overeighty per cent of its population in the villages, itsindustry and agriculture must be developed simul-taneously. Only then will industry have raw ma-terials and a market, and only so will it be possibleto accumulate fairly large funds for the building upof a powerful heavy industry . Everyone knows that

light industry is closely related to agriculture . With-out agriculture there can be no light industry . Butit is not so clearly understood that agriculture pro-vides heavy industry with an important market . Thisfact, however, will be more readily appreciated as thegradual progress of technological improvement andmodernization of agriculture calls for more and moremachinery, fertilizers, water conservancy and electricpower projects and transport facilities for the farms,as well as fuel and building materials for the ruralconsumers . The entire national economy will benefitif we can achieve an even greater growth in our agri-culture and thus induce a correspondingly greaterdevelopment of light industry during the period ofthe Second and Third Five-Year Plans . With thedevelopment of agriculture and light industry, heavyindustry will be assured of its market and funds, andthus grow faster. Hence what may seem to be aslower pace of industrialization is actually not so, andindeed the tempo may even be speeded up. In threefive-year plans or perhaps a little longer, China's an-nual steel output can be raised to 20,000,000 tons ormore from the peak pre-liberation output of some-thing over 900,000 tons in 1943 . This will gladdenpeople both in town and countryside .

I do not propose to talk at length on economic ques-tions today. With barely seven years of economicconstruction behind us, we still lack experience andneed to get more.

We had no experience to start within revolutionary work either, and it was only after

we had taken a number of tumbles and learned ourlesson that we won nation-wide victory . What wemust do now is to cut the time we take to gain ex-perience in economic construction to less than it tookus to get experience in revolutionary work and not paysuch a high price for it . We'll have to pay some sortof price, but we hope that it will not be as high as thatpaid during the revolutionary period . We mustrealize that a contradiction is involved in this ques-tion between the objective laws of development ofsocialist economy and our subjective understanding,a contradiction which needs to be resolved in prac-tice . This contradiction will also manifest itself as acontradiction between different persons, that is, a con-tradiction between those who have a relatively accurateunderstanding of objective laws and those whoseunderstanding of them is relatively inaccurate; andso this is also a contradiction among the people. Everycontradiction is an. objective reality, and it is our taskto understand it and resolve it as correctly as we can .

In order to turn our country into an industrialpower, we must learn conscientiously from the ad-vanced experience of the Soviet Union. The SovietUnion has been building socialism for forty years, andwe treasure its experience .

Let us consider who designed and equipped somany important factories for us . Was it the UnitedStates? or Britain? No, neither of them. Only theSoviet Union was willing to do so because it is a so-cialist country and our ally .

In addition to the Soviet

B9

Union, some brother countries of Eastern Europe alsogave us assistance . It is perfectly true that we shouldlearn from the good experience of all countries, so-ctalist or capitalist, but the main thing is still to learnfrom the Soviet Union.

Now, there are two different attitudes in learningfrom others . One is a doctrinaire attitude : trans-planting everything, whether suited or not to the conditions of our country . This is not a good attitude .Another attitude is to use our heads and learn thosethings which suit conditions in our country, that is,to absorb whatever experience is useful to us . Thisis the attitude we should adopt.

To strengthen our solidarity with the Soviet Union,to strengthen our solidarity with all socialist coun-tries- this is our fundamental policy, herein lies ourbasic interest .

Then, there are the Asian and Africancountries, and all the peace-loving countries and peo-ples -we must strengthen and develop our solidaritywith them. United with these two forces, we willnot stand alone . As for the imperialist countries, weshould also unite with their peoples and strive to co-exist in peace with those countries, do business withthem and prevent any possible war, but under no cir-cumstances should we harbour any unrealistic notionsabout those countries.

~~~3!!~l~J~~v~~~l~dhl~"

~~cw~~w~c~~ ~t~7#up~s-IY I96o#7l1~i~77Cg1Wl

if5 :

(3~ >ioso--"i00050