Telegram of Congratulations from Mao Zedong et al. on the Tenth Anniversary of the Liberation of the German Democratic Republic (May 6, 1955)

To Comrade Wilhelm Pieck, President of the German Democratic Republic, Comrade Johannes Dieckmann, Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Chamber of the German Democratic Republic, Comrade Otto Grotewohl, Prime Minister of the German Democratic Republic:

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the liberation of the German people, the Chinese people and the Government of the People's Republic of China extend warm congratulations to you, and through you, to the fraternal German people and the Government of the German Democratic Republic.

After the Soviet army smashed the Hitler fascist rule, the German people, under the leadership of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, carried out various democratic reforms and established their own German Democratic Republic. For five years, the people of the German Democratic Republic have victoriously built a new life with their own creative labor, and have achieved great successes in political, economic, and cultural fields. The German Democratic Republic has become a strong bastion for the German people in their struggle for unification, peace, democracy, and independence.

Disregarding the national interests of the German people, the ruling cliques of the United States and Britain are actively reviving German militarism, deepening the division of Germany, and attempting to turn West Germany into a new source of war. The recent ratification of the Paris Agreements [1] has greatly increased the danger of a new war, and the peace of Europe and the world is suffering a serious threat.

The Chinese people fully support all necessary measures taken by the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic, and other peace-loving countries in Europe to safeguard their own security and to maintain peace in Europe and the world, and firmly believe that the powerful unity of the countries of the socialist camp headed by the Soviet Union will surely completely shatter all imperialist war plans, and the just cause of the German people will surely be victorious.

We wish the German people new victories in the struggle to prevent the implementation of the Paris Agreements and in the cause of building the German Democratic Republic.

Mao Zedong, Chairman of the People's Republic of China
Liu Shaoqi, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China
Zhou Enlai, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China

Beijing, May 6, 1955

Published in the *People's Daily* on May 8, 1955.

Note:
[1] Refers to the agreements signed in Paris, France, in October 1954 by the United States, Britain, France, and other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with the Federal Republic of Germany. See note [2] on page £¸ of this volume.