SUCCESS OF THE KOREAN ARMISTICE
NEGOTIATIONS HINGES ON WHETHER
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IS SINCERE*
(February 14, 1952)
We will not encroach on any country. The struggle waged by the Chinese
People's Volunteers in Korea is for the purpose of repulsing the acts of
aggression of the U.S. imperialists advancing toward our borders. In the
armistice negotiations between the two belligerent sides, held at Kaesong and
then Panmunjom since July last year, the representatives of the Korean
People's Army and the Chinese People's Volunteers have made greatest efforts
to promote the success of the negotiations. Had it not been for the deliberate
procrastination of the American side, the negotiations would have succeeded
long ago. The success or failure of future negotiations still hinges on whether
the U.S. government is sincere about resolving the Korean question peacefully.
If the U.S. government is sincere, as we are, about resolving the Korean
question by peaceful means, then it will be possible for the armistice negotiations to succeed.
(From the original manuscript)
* This is a paragraph added by Mao Zedong to the draft of a speech to be delivered
by Zhou Enlai at a meeting in commemoration of the second anniversary of the signing of
the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance.