The World May Maintain Peace for a Considerable Period of Time[1]
(January 22, 1956)

Your country was forged through struggle, built through perseverance. Imperialism fears struggle—this is something we share with you. In the past, we had very little, only millet and rifles, while our enemies had airplanes and cannons. Yet millet and rifles triumphed over airplanes and cannons. This is a fundamental principle from ancient times to the present: the weak but progressive defeat the strong but backward.

Your country, like ours, is on the front line and often under great tension. As journalists, you must be especially tense. We never know when the United States might strike us—perhaps even tomorrow. We don’t know when the United States might drop an atomic bomb. Will they or won’t they? Atomic bombs are no more formidable than swords and guns—do you believe that? In ancient times, wars fought with swords and guns lasted three hundred years. During the Han Dynasty, China’s population was fifty million, but after the wars, only ten million remained. In the Tang Dynasty, the population grew again to fifty million, but after An Lushan’s rebellion,[2] it once more dropped to just over ten million. Wars fought with cold weapons dragged on for a long time, caused massive casualties, and left vast stretches of land uninhabited. European history may have seen similar situations. Later, during the Napoleonic era, rifles were developed that could shoot eight hundred meters. Then came cannons. Wars fought with hot weapons shortened the duration and reduced destruction. Nowadays, wars can generally be resolved in three or four years.

We must be prepared. We have no atomic bombs and do not want war. The Soviet Union has them but also does not want war. However, if the imperialists drop atomic bombs, we are prepared to fight. The result of such a war would be that Europe, Asia, and Africa would come over to our side, and all three continents would adopt socialism. With three-fifths of the world under our control, only the Americas and Australia would remain for them—and even then, it is uncertain whether Central and South America would stay with them. Thus, we could fight first and rebuild afterward. We have not yet completed our construction, so we might as well fight for five years, losing at most one Five-Year Plan, and perhaps we would build even better afterward. Because by then, our territory would be much larger, with all of Europe, Asia, and Africa coming over. We should consider this possibility—if they attack, it might even be a good thing. If they want to fight, let them; they cannot intimidate us. We have openly said these things to capitalist countries, and we have grounds for saying them—we are not boasting. In World War II, they suffered losses, while socialism gained prestige. Therefore, in a third world war, socialism would certainly expand, and they would suffer even greater losses. This is the first scenario—the one in which they choose to fight.

The second scenario is that they do not fight. They, too, study history, and the likelihood of not fighting is high. No one supports war. Our side is growing stronger, with Nehru[3] included, and the wall we are building is getting thicker and higher. What we are doing now is building this wall—making it higher and thicker.

The third scenario involves working on the middle countries and also within the enemy camp. There is no secret to this—we aim to isolate them. The world may maintain peace for a considerable period of time. Yugoslavia and our country should work for peace, strengthening ourselves while winning over others. We believe it is possible to maintain peace for ten years. But we are not Eisenhower’s[4] chief of staff; we must take the first scenario into account so that we do not suffer losses. We must prepare for sudden incidents, but we will never fire the first shot. We will do everything in our power to strive for peace. Both sides should write more articles and broadcast positive messages.

On January 22, 1956, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai met with Yugoslav Ambassador to China Popović and viewed gifts presented by President Tito.

[1] Parts I and II are excerpts from Mao Zedong’s conversation with a delegation of Yugoslav journalists.
[2] In 755 AD, Tang military commander An Lushan and his subordinate Shi Siming launched a rebellion, capturing the Tang capital Chang’an. This event is historically known as the "An-Shi Rebellion."
[3] Nehru was then serving as Prime Minister of India.
[4] Eisenhower was then serving as President of the United States.