Comments on the People’s Daily Editorial Draft
“The Path of the Japanese People’s Struggle for Independence”
(July 14, 1952)
Comrade Shaoqi:
This piece should be themed around celebration; therefore, I have changed the title and added a concluding paragraph of encouragement and congratulation. (I) The lengthy section [1~i] is not very pertinent to the main theme, but it can still be used as is; it would be difficult to make substantial revisions.
Mao Zedong
July 14
[l]
Mao Zedong revised the editorial’s title to “Celebrating the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Japanese Communist Party.” At the end of the draft, he added the following passage: “The glorious and heroic Japanese Communist Party has accumulated rich experience over its thirty-year history. This party is armed with Marxism-Leninism, it is closely linked to the masses, and it has mastered the weapons of criticism and self-criticism.
Therefore, we have every reason to believe that it is capable of leading the Japanese people’s revolution to victory.
On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the Japanese Communist Party, we Chinese Communists and the Chinese people hereby extend our heartfelt congratulations in a spirit of fraternal friendship.”
This editorial was published in the People’s Daily on July 15, 1952.