SHOULD BECOME GOOD FRIENDS*
{April 27, 1955)
Both China and Pakistan are countries in the East. There are many
common points among Eastern countries, as all of them have been oppressed
by Western countries. Among the countries in Asia and Africa only Japan is
an industrialized country, but now it is in a difficult position. The recent
Asian-African Conference'" was a success, its participating countries basically
united. The communique of the conference was adopted not by a majority
vote, but by consensus. Between China and Pakistan there has never been war,
nor are there any disputes. Trade is going on. China and Pakistan should
therefore become good friends.
If the Asian-African Conference had not been sponsored by the five
Colombo countries"" but by China, it could not have been held. Those people
believed in you, not in us, for ours is a country in which the Communist Party
is in power. But we Communists are not like what the United States has
depicted—people with disheveled hair, green faces and long teeth, fiendish
creatures with three heads and six arms. We are reasonable people. As you have
accepted U.S. military aid, India is afraid and we too are afraid. Ambassador
Ahmed says that Pakistan will never use such military aid against India or other
countries. It is good to have such assurance. Besides, your country has signed
the Manila Pact.'® We are not afraid of Pakistan, Thailand or the Philippines,
or even Britain and Australia, but the United States. Now we understand that
when Pakistan joined the Manila Treaty bloc, it did so for fear of aggression
from China. I hope you will gradually understand that China will not commit
aggression against others. I also hope that misunderstandings between our two
countries will be cleared up and relations between us will be improved. We
have already established diplomatic and trade relations with Pakistan. Though
diplomatic relations have not yet been established with Thailand and the
* These are excerpts from Mao Zedong's talk with Sultan-uddin Ahmed, Pakistan's
ambassador to China.
Philippines, we hope our relations with those countries can also be improved.
Premier Zhou Enlai had some contact with representatives of those countries
during the Asian-African Conference.
China is ready to live together in peace with all countries, including the
United States. In his statement Premier Zhou Enlai expressed our readiness to
sit down to negotiations with the Americans. During the Asian-African
Conference we talked about the Taiwan question to the five Colombo countries
and Thailand and the Philippines. All questions should be resolved through
negotiation, and it is not good to resort to fighting.
I hope Mr. Ambassador will soon settle down in Beijing and work for
improvement of relations between our two countries; you can contact the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs if you have any difficulties. For our part, we shall
enjoin the Chinese envoy and all the embassy staff in Pakistan to develop good
relations with the government of Pakistan.
(From the verbatim record)