CHOU EN-LAI

REPORT TO THE TENTH NATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA

(Delivered on August 24 and Adopted on August 28, 1973)


Comrades!

The Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China is convened at a time when the Lin Piao anti-Party clique has been smashed, the line of the Party's Ninth National Congress has won great victories and the situation both at home and abroad is excellent.

On behalf of the Central Committee, I am making this report to the Tenth National Congress. The main subjects are: On the line of the Ninth National Congress, on the victory of smashing the Lin Piao anti-Party clique and on the situation and our tasks.

 

ON THE LINE OF THE NINTH NATIONAL CONGRESS

The Party's Ninth Congress was held when great victories had been won in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution personally initiated and led by Chairman Mao.

In accordance with the theory of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought on continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat, the Ninth Congress summed up the experience of history as well as the new experience of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution criticised Liu Shao-chi's revisionist line and reaffirmed the basic line and policies of the Party for the entire historical period of socialism. As comrades may recall, when the Ninth Congress opened on April 1, 1969, Chairman Mao issued the great call, "Unite to win still greater victories." At the First Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee on April 28 of the same year, Chairman Mao once again clearly stated, "Unite for one purpose, that is, the consolidation of the dictatorship of the proletariat." "We must ensure that the people throughout the country are united to win victory under the leadership of the proletariat." In addition he predicted, "Probably another revolution will have to be carried out after several years." Chairman Mao's speeches and the political report of the Central Committee adopted at the congress formulated a Marxist-Leninist line for our Party.

As we all know, the political report to the Ninth Congress was drawn up under Chairman Mao's personal guidance. Prior to the congress, Lin Piao had produced a draft political report in collaboration with Chen Po-ta. They were opposed to continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat, contending that the main task after the Ninth Congress was to develop production. This was a refurbished version under new conditions of the same revisionist trash that Liu Shao-chi and Chen Po-ta had smuggled into the resolution of the Eighth Congress, which alleged that the major contradiction in our country was not the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, but that "between the advanced socialist system and the backward productive forces of society." Naturally, this draft by Lin Piao and Chen Po-ta was rejected by the Central Committee. Lin Piao secretly supported Chen Po-ta in the latter's open opposition to the political report drawn up under Chairman Mao's guidance, and it was only after his attempts were frustrated that Lin Piao grudgingly accepted the political line of the Central Committee and read its political report to the congress. However, during and after the Ninth Congress, Lin Piao continued with his conspiracy and sabotage in spite of the admonishments, rebuffs and efforts to save him by Chairman Mao and the Party's Central Committee. He went further to start a counter-revolutionary coup d'etat, which was aborted, at the Second Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee in August 1970, then in March 1971 he drew up the plan for an armed counter-revolutionary coup d'etat entitled Outline of Project "571", and on September 8, he launched the coup in a wild attempt to assassinate our great leader Chairman Mao and set up a rival central committee. On September 13, after his conspiracy had collapsed, Lin Piao surreptitiously boarded a plane, fled as a defector to the Soviet revisionists in betrayal of the Party and country and died in a crash at Undur Khan in the People's Republic of Mongolia.

The shattering of the Lin Piao anti-Party clique is our Party's greatest victory since the Ninth Congress and a heavy blow dealt to enemies at home and abroad. After the September 13th incident, the whole Party, the whole Army and the hundreds of millions of people of all nationalities in our country seriously discussed the matter and expressed their intense proletarian indignation at the bourgeois careerist, conspirator, double-dealer, renegade and traitor Lin Piao and his sworn followers, and pledged resolute support for our great leader Chairman Mao and the Party's Central Committee which he headed. A movement to criticise Lin Piao and rectify style of work has been launched throughout the country. The whole Party, Army and people have been conscientiously studying Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought, conducting revolutionary mass criticism of Lin Piao and other swindlers like him, and settling accounts with the counter-revolutionary crimes of these swindlers ideologically, politically and organisationally, and have raised their own ability to distinguish genuine from sham Marxism. As facts showed, the Lin Piao anti-Party clique was only a tiny group which was extremely isolated in the midst of the whole Party, Army and people and could not affect the situation as a whole. The Lin Piao anti-Party clique has not stemmed, nor could it possibly have stemmed the rolling torrent of the Chinese people's revolution. On the contrary, what it did further aroused the whole Party, Army and people to "unite to win still greater victories."

Thanks to the movement to criticise Lin Piao and rectify style of work, the line of the Ninth Congress is more deeply rooted among the people. The line of the Ninth Congress and the proletarian policies of the Party have been implemented better than before. New achievements have been made in struggle-criticism-transformation in all realms of the superstructure. The working style of seeking truth from facts and following the mass line, and the glorious tradition of modesty, prudence and hard work, which were for a time impaired by Lin Piao, have been further developed. The Chinese People's Liberation Army, which won fresh merit in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, has made new contributions in strengthening the preparations against war and in taking part in revolution and construction together with the people. The great revolutionary unity of the people of all nationalities led by the proletariat and based on the worker-peasant alliance is stronger than ever. Having rid itself of the stale and taken in the fresh, our Party, with a membership of 28 million, is now an even more vigorous vanguard of the proletariat.

Spurred by the movement to criticise Lin Piao and rectify style of work, the people of our country overcame the sabotage by the Lin Piao anti-Party clique, surmounted serious natural disasters and scored new victories in socialist construction. Our country's industry, agriculture, transportation, finance and trade are doing well. We have neither external nor internal debts. Prices are stable and the market is flourishing. There are many new achievements in culture, education, public health, science and technology.

In the international sphere, our Party and government have firmly implemented the foreign policy laid down by the Ninth Congress. Our revolutionary friendship with fraternal socialist countries and with the genuine Marxist-Leninist Parties and organisations of various countries and our co-operation with friendly countries have been further strengthened. Our country has established diplomatic relations with an increasing number of countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. The legitimate status of our country in the United Nations has been restored. The policy of isolating China has gone bankrupt; Sino-U.S. relations have been improved to some extent. China and Japan have normalised their relations. Friendly contacts between our people and the people of other countries are more extensive than ever; we assist and support each other, impelling the world situation to continue to develop in the direction favourable to the people of all countries.

Revolutionary practice since the Ninth Congress and chiefly the practice of the struggle against the Lin Piao anti-Party clique have proved that the political and organizational lines of the Ninth Congress are both correct and that the leadership given by the Party's Central Committee headed by Chairman Mao is correct.

 

ON THE VICTORY OF SMASHING THE LIN PIAO ANTI-PARTY CLIQUE

The course of the struggle to smash the Lin Piao anti-Party clique and the crimes of the clique are already known to the whole Party, Army and people. So, there is no need to dwell on it here.

Marxism-Leninism holds that inner-Party struggle is the reflection within the Party of class struggle in society. The Liu Shao-chi renegade clique collapsed and the Lin Piao anti-Party clique sprang out to continue the trial of strength with the proletariat. This was an acute expression of the intense domestic and international class struggles.

As early as January 13, 1967, when the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was at high tide, Brezhnev, the chief of the Soviet revisionist renegade clique, frantically attacked China's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in his speech at a mass rally in Gorky Region and openly declared that they stood on the side of the Liu Shao-chi renegade clique, saying that the downfall of this clique was a big tragedy for all real communists in China, and we express our deep sympathy to them." At the same time, Brezhnev publicly announced continuation of the policy of subverting the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, and ranted about "struggling . . . for bringing it back to the road of internationalism." (Pravda, January 14, 1967) In March 1967 another chief of the Soviet revisionists said even more brazenly at mass rallies in Moscow that "sooner or later the healthy forces expressing the true interests of China will have their decisive say," "and achieve the victory of Marxist-Leninist ideas in their great country." (Pravda, March 4 and loy 1967) What they called "healthy forces" are nothing but the decadent forces representing the interests of social-imperialism and all the exploiting classes; what they meant by "their decisive say" is the usurpation of the supreme power of the Party and the state; what they meant by "victory of ideas" is the reign of sham Marxism-Leninism and real revisionism over China; and what they meant by the "road of internationalism" is the road of reducing China to a colony of Soviet revisionist social-imperialism. The Brezhnev renegade clique has impetuously voiced the common wish of the reactionaries and blurted out the ultra-Rightist nature of the Lin Piao anti-Party clique.

Lin Piao and his handful of sworn followers were a counter-revolutionary conspiratorial clique "who never showed up without a copy of Quotations in hand and never opened their mouths without shouting 'Long Live' and who spoke nice things to your face but stabbed you in the back." The essence of the counter-revolutionary revisionist line they pursued and the criminal aim of the counterrevolutionary armed coup d'etat they launched were to usurp the supreme power of the Party and the state, thoroughly betray the line of the Ninth Congress, radically change the Party's basic line and policies for the entire historical period of socialism, turn the Marxist-Leninist Chinese Communist Party into a revisionist, fascist party, subvert the dictatorship of the proletariat and restore capitalism. Inside China, they wanted to reinstate the landlord and bourgeois classes, which our Party, Army and people had overthrown with their own hands under the leadership of Chairman Mao, and to institute a feudal-comprador-fascist dictatorship. Internationally, they wanted to capitulate to Soviet revisionist social-imperialism and ally themselves with imperialism, revisionism and reaction to oppose China, communism and revolution.

Lin Piao, this bourgeois careerist, conspirator and double-dealer, engaged in machinations within our Party not just for one decade but for several decades. On his part there was a process of development and self -exposure, and on our part there was also a process of getting to know him. Marx and Engels said in the Manifesto of the Communist Party that "all previous historical movements were movements of minorities, or in the interest of minorities. The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority." Chairman Mao has made "working for the interests of the vast majority of people of China and the world" one of the principal requirements for successors to the cause of the proletarian revolution, and it has been written into our Party Constitution. To build a party for the interests of the vast majority or for the interests of the minority? This is the watershed between proletarian and bourgeois political parties and the touchstone for distinguishing true Communists from false. Lin Piao joined the Communist Party in the early days of China's new-democratic revolution. Even at that time he was pessimistic about the future of the Chinese revolution. Right after the Kutien Meeting [December 1929 -Tr.], Chairman Mao wrote a long letter A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire to Lin Piao, trying seriously and patiently to educate him. But, as the facts later proved, Lin Piao's bourgeois idealist world outlook was not at all remoulded. At important junctures of the revolution he invariably committed Right opportunist errors and invariably played double-faced tricks, putting up a false front to deceive the Party and the people. However, as the Chinese revolution developed further and especially when it turned socialist in nature and became more and more thoroughgoing, aiming at the complete overthrow of the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat in place of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and the triumph of socialism over capitalism, Lin Piao and his like, who were capitalist-roaders in power working only for the interests of the minority and whose ambition grew with the rise of their Positions, overestimating their own strength and underestimating the strength of the people, could no longer remain under cover and therefore sprang out f or a trial of strength with the proletariat. When under the baton of Soviet revisionism he attempted to have his "decisive say" in order to serve the needs of domestic and foreign class enemies, his exposure and bankruptcy became complete.

Engels rightly said, "The development of the proletariat proceeds everywhere amidst internal struggles. . . . And when, like Marx and myself, one has fought harder all one's life long against the alleged socialists than against anyone else (for we only regarded the bourgeoisie as a class and hardly ever involved ourselves in conflicts with individual bourgeois), one cannot greatly grieve that the inevitable struggle has broken out. (Frederick Engels' letter to August Bebel, October 28, 1882)

Comrades!

In the last fifty years our Party has gone through ten major struggles between the two lines. The collapse of the Lin Piao anti-Party clique does not mean the end of the two-line struggle within the Party. Enemies at home and abroad all understand that the easiest way to capture a fortress is from within. It is much more convenient to have the capitalist-roaders in power who have sneaked into the Party do the job of subverting the dictatorship of the proletariat than for the landlords and capitalists to come to the fore themselves; this is especially true when the landlords and capitalists are already quite odious in society. In the future, even after classes have disappeared, there will still be contradictions between the superstructure and the economic base and between the relations of production and the productive forces. And there will still be two-line struggles reflecting these contradictions, i.e., struggles between the advanced and the backward and between the correct and the erroneous. Moreover, socialist society covers a considerably long historical period. Throughout this historical period, there are classes, class contradictions and class struggle, there is the struggle between the socialist road and the capitalist road, there is the danger of capitalist restoration and there is the threat of subversion and aggression by imperialism and social-imperialism. For a long time to come, there will still be two-line struggles within the Party, reflecting these contradictions, and such struggles will occur ten, twenty or thirty times. Lin Piaos will appear again and so will persons like Wang Ming, Liu Shao-chi, Peng Teh-huai and Kao Kang. This is something independent of man's will. Therefore, all comrades in our Party must be fully prepared mentally f or the struggles in the long years to come and be able to make the best use of the situation and guide the struggle to victory for the proletariat, no matter how the class enemy may change his tactics.

Chairman Mao teaches us that "the correctness or incorrectness of the ideological and political line decides everything." If one's line is incorrect, one's downfall is inevitable, even with the control of the central, local and army leadership. If one's line is correct, even if one has not a single soldier at first, there will be soldiers, and even if there is no political power, political power will be gained. This is borne out by the historical experience of our Party and by that of the international communist movement since the time of Marx. Lin Piao wanted to "have everything under his command and everything at his disposal," but he ended up in having nothing under his command and nothing at his disposal. The crux of the matter is line. This is an irrefutable truth.

Chairman Mao has laid down for our Party the basic line and policies for the entire historical period of socialism and also specific lines and policies for specific work. We should attach importance not only to the Party's lines and policies for specific work but, in particular, to its basic line and policies. This is the fundamental guarantee of greater Victories for our Party.

Having summed up the experience gained in the ten struggles between the two lines within the Party and particularly the experience acquired in the struggle to smash the Lin Piao anti-Party clique, Chairman Mao calls on the whole Party, "Practise Marxism, and not revisionism; unite, and don't split; be open and aboveboard, and don't intrigue and conspire." He thus puts forward the criterion for distinguishing the correct line from the erroneous line, and gives the three basic principles every Party member must observe. Every one of our comrades must keep these three principles firmly in mind, uphold them and energetically and correctly carry on the two-line struggle within the Party.

Chairman Mao has constantly taught us: It is imperative to note that one tendency covers another. The opposition to Chen Tu-hsiu's Right opportunism which advocated "all alliance, no struggle" covered Wang Ming's "Left" opportunism which advocated "all struggle, no alliance. The rectification of Wang Ming's "Left" deviation covered Wang Ming's Right deviation. The struggle against Liu Shao-chi's revisionism covered Lin Piao's revisionism. There were many instances in the past where one tendency covered another and when a tide came, the majority went along with it, while only a few withstood it. Today, in both international and domestic struggles, tendencies may still occur similar to those of the past, namely, when there was an alliance with the bourgeoisie, necessary struggles were forgotten and when there was a split with the bourgeoisie, the possibility of an alliance under given conditions was forgotten. It is required of us to do our best to discern and rectify such tendencies in time. And when a wrong tendency surges towards us like a rising tide, we must not f ear isolation and must dare to go against the tide and brave it through. Chairman Mao states, "Going against the tide is a Marxist-Leninist principle." In daring to go against the tide and adhere to the correct line in the ten struggles between the two lines within the Party, Chairman Mao is our example and teacher. Every one of our comrades should learn well from Chairman Mao and hold to this principle.

Under the guidance of the correct line represented by Chairman Mao, the great, glorious and correct Communist Party of China has had prolonged trials of strength with the class enemies both inside and outside the Party, at home and abroad, armed and unarmed, overt and covert. Our Party has not been divided or crushed. On the contrary, Chairman Mao's Marxist-Leninist line has further developed and our Party grown ever stronger. Historical experience convinces us that "this Party of ours has a bright future." Just as Chairman Mao predicted in 1966, "If the Right stage an anti-Communist coup d'etat in China, I am sure they will know no peace either and their rule will most probably be short-lived, because it will not he tolerated by the revolutionaries, who represent the interests of the people making up more than 90 per cent of the population." So long as our whole Party bears in mind historical experience and upholds Chairman Mao's correct line, all the schemes of the bourgeoisie for restoration are bound to fail. No matter how many more major struggles between the two lines may occur, the laws of history will not change, and the revolution in China and the world will eventually triumph.

ON THE SITUATION AND OUR TASKS

Chairman Mao has often taught us: We are Still in the era of imperialism and the proletarian revolution. On the basis of fundamental Marxist principle, Lenin made a scientific analysis of imperialism and defined "imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism." Lenin pointed out that imperialism is monopolistic capitalism, parasitic or decaying capitalism, moribund capitalism. He also said that imperialism intensifies all the contradictions of capitalism to the extreme. He therefore concluded that "imperialism is the eve of the social revolution of the proletariat," and put forward the theories and tactics of the proletarian revolution in the era of imperialism. Stalin said, "Leninism is Marxism of the era of imperialism and the proletarian revolution." This is entirely correct. Since Lenin's death, the world situation has undergone great changes. But the era has not changed. The fundamental principles of Leninism are not outdated; they remain the theoretical basis guiding our thinking today.

The present international situation is one characterised by great disorder on the earth. "The wind sweeping through the tower heralds a rising storm in the mountains." This aptly depicts how the basic world contradictions as analysed by Lenin show themselves today. Relaxation is a temporary and superficial phenomenon, and great disorder will continue. Such great disorder is a good thing for the people, not a bad thing. It throws the enemies into confusion and causes division among them, while it arouses and tempers the people, thus helping the international situation develop further in the direction favourable to the people and unfavourable to imperialism, modern revisionism and all reaction.

The awakening and growth of the Third World is a major event in contemporary international relations. The Third World has strengthened its unity in the struggle against hegemonism and power politics of the superpowers and is playing an ever more significant role in international affairs. The great victories won by the people of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia in their war against U.S. aggression and for national salvation have strongly encouraged the people of the world in their revolutionary struggles against imperialism and colonialism. A new situation has emerged in the Korean people's struggle for the independent and peaceful reunification of their fatherland. The struggles of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples against aggression by Israeli Zionism, the African peoples' struggles against colonialism and racial discrimination and the Latin American peoples' struggles for maintaining 200-nautical-mile territorial waters or economic zones all continue to forge ahead. The struggles of the Asian, African and Latin American peoples to win and defend national independence and safeguard state sovereignty and national resources have further deepened and broadened. The just struggles of the Third World as well as of the people of Europe, North America and Oceania support and encourage each other. Countries want independence, nations want liberation, and the people want revolution - this has become an irresistible historical trend.

Lenin said that "an essential feature of imperialism is the rivalry between several Great Powers in the striving for hegemony." Today, it is mainly the two nuclear superpowers - the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. - that are contending for hegemony. While hawking disarmament, they are actually expanding their armaments every day. Their purpose is to contend f or world hegemony. They contend as well as collude with each other. Their collusion serves the purpose of more intensified contention.

Contention is absolute and protracted, whereas collusion is relative and temporary. The declaration of this year as the "year of Europe" and the convocation of the European Security Conference indicate that strategically the key point of their contention is Europe. The West always wants to urge the Soviet revisionists eastward to divert the peril towards China, and it would be fine so long as all is quiet in the West. China is an attractive piece of meat coveted by all. But this piece of meat is very tough, and for years no one has been able to bite into it. It is even more difficult now that Lin Piao the "superspy" has fallen. At present, the Soviet revisionists are "making a feint to the east while attacking in the west, and stepping up their contention in Europe and their expansion in the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and every place their hands can reach. The U.S.-Soviet contention for hegemony is the cause of world intranquillity. It cannot be covered up by any false appearances they create and is already perceived by an increasing number of people and countries . it has met with strong resistance from the Third World and has caused resentment on the part of Japan and West European countries. Beset with troubles internally and externally, the two hegemonic powers -the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. -find the going tougher and tougher. As the verse goes, "Flowers fall off, do what one may," they are in a sorry plight indeed. This has been further proved by the U.S.-Soviet talks last June and the subsequent course of events.

"The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history." The ambitions of the two hegemonic powers - the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. - are one thing, but whether they can achieve them is quite another. They want to devour China, but find it too tough even to bite. Europe and Japan are also hard to bite, not to speak of the vast Third World. U.S. imperialism started to go downhill after its defeat in the war of aggression against Korea. It has openly admitted that it is increasingly on the decline; it could not but pull out of Viet Nam. Over the last two decades, the Soviet revisionist ruling clique, from Khrushchov to Brezhnev, has made a socialist country degenerate into a social-imperialist country. Internally, it has restored capitalism, enforced a fascist dictatorship and enslaved the people of all nationalities, thus deepening the political and economic contradictions as well as contradictions among nationalities. Externally, it has invaded and occupied Czeehoslovakia, massed its troops along the Chinese border, sent troops into the People's Republic of Mongolia, supported the traitorous Lon No l clique, suppressed the Polish workers' rebellion, intervened in Egypt, causing the expulsion of the Soviet experts, dismembered Pakistan and carried out subversive activities in many Asian and African countries. This series of facts has profoundly exposed its ugly features as the new Czar and its reactionary nature, namely, "socialism in words, imperialism in deeds." The more evil and foul things it does, the sooner the time when Soviet revisionism will be relegated to the historical museum by the people of the Soviet Union and the rest of the world.

Recently, the Brezhnev renegade clique has talked a lot of nonsense on Sino-Soviet relations. It alleges that China is against relaxation of world tension and unwilling to improve Sino-Soviet relations, etc. These words are directed to the Soviet people and the people of other countries in a vain attempt to alienate their friendly feelings for the Chinese people and disguise the true features of the new Czar. These words are above all meant for the monopoly capitalists in the hope of getting more money in reward for services in opposing China and communism. This was an old trick of Hitler's, only Brezhnev is playing it more clumsily. If you are so anxious to relax world tension, why don't you show your good faith by doing a thing or two - for instance, withdraw your armed forces from Czechoslovakia or the People's Republic of Mongolia and return the four northern islands to Japan? China has not occupied any foreign countries' territory. Must China give away all the territory north of the Great Wall to the Soviet revisionists in order to show that we favour relaxation of world tension and are willing to improve Sino-Soviet relations? The Chinese people are not to be deceived or cowed. The Sino-Soviet controversy on matters of principle should not hinder the normalisation of relations between the two states on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. The Sino-Soviet boundary question should be settled peacefully through negotiations free from any threat. "We will not attack unless we are attacked; if we are attacked, we will certainly counter-attack" this is our consistent principle. And we mean what we say.

We should point out here that necessary compromises between revolutionary countries and imperialist countries must be distinguished from collusion and compromise between Soviet revisionism and U.S. imperialism. Lenin put it well, "There are compromises and compromises. One must be able to analyse the situation and the concrete conditions of each compromise, or of each variety of compromise. One must learn to distinguish between a man who gave the bandits money and firearms in order to lessen the damage they can do and facilitate their capture and execution, and a man who gives bandits money and firearms in order to share in the loot." ("Left-Wing" Communism, an Infantile Disorder) The Brest-Litovsk Treaty concluded by Lenin with German imperialism comes under the former category; and the doings of Khrushchov and Brezhnev, both betrayers of Lenin, fall under the latter.

Lenin pointed out repeatedly that imperialism means aggression and war. Chairman Mao pointed out in his statement of May 20, 1970, "The danger of a new world war still exists, and the people of all countries must get prepared. But revolution is the main trend in the world today." It will be possible to prevent such a war, so long as the peoples, who are becoming more and more awakened, keep the orientation clearly in sight, heighten their vigilance, strengthen unity and persevere in struggle. Should the imperialists be bent on unleashing such a war, it will inevitably give rise to greater revolutions on a world-wide scale and hasten their doom.

In the excellent situation now prevailing at home and abroad, it is most important for us to run China's affairs well. Therefore, on the international front, our Party must uphold proletarian internationalism, uphold the Party's consistent policies, strengthen our unity with the proletariat and the oppressed people and nations of the whole world and with all countries subjected to imperialist aggression, subversion interference, control or bullying and form the broadest united front against imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism, and in particular, against the hegemonism of the two superpowers - the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. We must unite with all genuine Marxist-Leninist Parties and organisations the world over, and carry the struggle against modern revisionism through to the end. On the domestic front, we must pursue our Party's basic line and policies for the entire historical period of socialism, persevere in continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat, unite with all the forces that can be united and work hard to build our country into a powerful socialist state, so as to make a greater contribution to mankind.

We must uphold Chairman Mao's teachings that we should "be prepared against war, be prepared against natural disasters, and do everything for the people" and should "dig tunnels deep, store grain everywhere. and never seek hegemony,' maintain high vigilance and be fully prepared against any war of aggression that imperialism may launch and particularly against surprise attack on our country by Soviet revisionist social-imperialism. Our heroic People's Liberation Army and our vast militia must be prepared at all times to wipe out any enemy that may invade.

Taiwan Province is our motherland's sacred territory, and the people in Taiwan are our kith and kin. We have infinite concern for our compatriots in Taiwan, who love and long for the motherland. Our compatriots in Taiwan can have a bright future only by returning to the embrace of the motherland. Taiwan must be liberated. Our great motherland must be unified. This is the common aspiration and sacred duty of the people of all nationalities of the country, including our compatriots in Taiwan. Let us strive together to attain this goal.

 

Comrades!

We must be aware that although we have achieved great successes in socialist revolution and socialist construction, we are always lagging behind the needs of the objective situation. We still f ace very heavy tasks in our socialist revolution. The tasks of struggle-criticism-transformation in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution need to be carried on in a thoroughgoing way on all fronts. More efforts are required to overcome the shortcomings, mistakes and certain unhealthy tendencies in our work. Our whole Party must make good use of the present opportune time to consolidate and carry forward the achievements of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and work well in all fields.

First of all, we should continue to do a good job of criticising Lin Piao and rectifying style of work. We should make full use of that teacher by negative example, the Lin Piao anti-Party clique, to educate the whole Party, Army and the people of all nationalities of our country in class struggle and two-line struggle, and criticise revisionism and the bourgeois world outlook so that the masses will be able to draw on the historical experience of the ten struggles between the two lines in our Party, acquire a deeper understanding of the characteristics and laws of class struggle and two-line struggle in the period of socialist revolution in our country and raise their ability to distinguish genuine from sham Marxism.

All Party members should conscientiously study works by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin and by Chairman Mao, adhere to dialectical materialism and historical materialism, combat idealism and metaphysics and remould their world outlook. Senior cadres, in particular, should make greater efforts to "read and study conscientiously and have a good grasp of Marxism,,, try their best to master the basic theories of Marxism, learn the history of the struggles of Marxism against old and new revisionism and opportunism of all descriptions, and understand how Chairman Mao has inherited, defended and developed Marxism-Leninism in the course of integrating the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete practice of revolution. We hope that through sustained efforts "the vast numbers of our cadres and the people will be able to arm themselves with the basic theories of Marxism."

We should attach importance to the class struggle in the superstructure, including all spheres of culture, transform all parts of the superstructure which do not conform to the economic base. We should handle correctly the two types of contradictions of different nature. We should continue to carry out in earnest all of Chairman Mao's proletarian policies. We should continue to carry out well the revolution in literature and art, the revolution in education and the revolution in public health, and the work with regard to the educated youth who go to mountainous and other rural areas, run the May 7th cadres schools well and support all the newly emerging things of socialism.

Economically ours is still a poor and developing country. We should thoroughly carry out the general line of going all out, aiming high and achieving greater, faster, better and more economical results in building socialism, and grasp revolution and promote production. We should continue to implement the principle of "taking agriculture as the foundation and industry as the leading factor" and the series of policies of walking on two legs, and build our country independently and with the initiative in our own hands, through self-reliance, hard struggle, diligence and thrift. Marx pointed out that "the greatest productive power is the revolutionary class itself." One basic experience from our socialist construction over more than two decades is to rely on the masses. In order to learn from Taching in industry and to learn from Tachai in agriculture, we must persist in putting proletarian politics in command, vigorously launch mass movements and give full scope to t e enthusiasm, wisdom and creativeness of the masses. On this basis, planning and coordination must be strengthened, rational rules and regulations improved and both central and local initiative further brought into full play. Party organisations should pay close attention to questions of economic policy, concern themselves with the well-being of the masses, do a good job of investigation and study, and strive effectively to fulfil or over-fulfil the state plans for developing the national economy so that our socialist economy will make still greater progress.

We should further strengthen the centralised leadership of the Party. Of the seven sectors industry, agriculture, commerce, culture and education, the Army, the government and the Party - it is the Party that exercises overall leadership. Party committees at all levels should study on Strengthening the Party Committee System, methods of Work of Party Committees and other writings by Chairman Mao, sum up their experience and further strengthen the centralised leadership of the Party ideologically, organisationally as well as through rules and regulations. At the same time the role of revolutionary committees and mass organisations should be brought into full play. We should strengthen the leadership given to primary organisations in order to ensure that leadership there is truly in the hands of Marxists and in the hands of workers, poor and lower-middle peasants and other working people, and that the task of consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat is fulfilled in every primary organisation. Party committees at all levels should apply democratic centralism better and improve their art of leadership. It should be emphatically pointed out that quite a few Party committees are engrossed in daily routines and minor matters, paying no attention to major issues. This is very dangerous. If they do not change, they will inevitably step on to the road of revisionism. It is hoped that comrades throughout the Party, leading comrades in particular, will guard against such a tendency and earnestly change such a style of work.

The experience with regard to combining the old, the middle-aged and the young in the leadership, which the masses created during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, has provided us with favourable conditions for training millions of successors to the revolutionary cause of the proletariat in accordance with the five requirements put forward by Chairman Mao. Party organisations at all levels should keep on the agenda this fundamental task which is crucial for generations to come. Chairman Mao says, "Revolutionary successors of the proletariat are invariably brought up in great storms." They must be tempered in class struggle and two-line struggle and educated by both positive and negative experience. Therefore, a genuine Communist must be ready to accept a higher or lower post and be able to stand the test of going up or stepping down many times. All cadres, veteran and new alike, must maintain close ties with the masses, be modest and prudent, guard against arrogance and impetuosity, go to any post as required by the Party and the people and firmly carry out Chairman Mao's revolutionary line and policies under every circumstance.

Comrades! The Tenth National Congress of the Party will have a far-reaching influence on the course of our Party's development. We will soon convene the Fourth National People's Congress. Our people and the revolutionary people of all countries place great hopes on our Party and our country. We are confident that our Party, under the leadership of Chairman Mao, will uphold his proletarian revolutionary line, do our work well and live up to the expectations of our people and the people throughout the world!

The future is bright; the road is tortuous. Let our whole Party unite, let our people of all nationalities unite, be resolute, fear no sacrifice and surmount every difficulty to win victory!

Long live the great, glorious and correct Communist Party of China!

Long live Marxism - Leninism - Mao Tsetung Thought!

Long live Chairman Mao! A long, long life to Chairman Mao!


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