Telegram to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
(March 21, 1956)

Source: Kau & Leung, The Writings of Mao Zedong 1949-1976, Vol. II
Pages 41-41
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Comment on Stalin
(April [6], 1956)

Source: RMRB (Sept. 6, 1963), 1 (quotation). Other Chinese Texts: HQ, 17 (Sept.
6, 1963), 8; Sugong lingdao, p. 9. Available English Translations: PR, 6:37 (Sept.
13, 1963), 8; Polemics of the International Communist Movement, p. 64.

This source is the first of nine open letters criticizing the Central Committee of the CPSU
on the de-Stalinization issue, published from September 1963 through July 1964. This
comment by Mao does not appear in the source as a direct quotation. According to a news
report in RMRB (Apr. 7, 1956), 1, Mao met with Mikoyan, then member of the Presidium
of the Central Committee of the CPSU and first vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers
of the USSR, in the company of the Soviet Ambassador P. F. Yudin, on April 6, 1956, when
the Soviet delegation headed by Mikoyan arrived in Beijing It is not altogether clear whether
this comment was made in a conversation held on that day or on subsequent days.

This is the first of several comments made by Mao specifically about Stalin in
.1956,. These comments (see also texts Apr. 1956; Aug. 30, 1956; Oct. 23, 1956(2),
and Nov. 30, 1956) relate closely to the two RMRB editorials in 1956 that dealt with
the issue of the PRC's assessment of the new developments in the international
Communist movement, and particularly with the Soviet Union's leadership in that
movement. These editorials are: “On the Historical Experience of the Dictatorship
of the Proletariat” (Apr. 5, 1956), and “Again on the Historical Experience of the
Dictatorship of the Proletariat” (Dec. 29, 1956). Neither was drafted by Mao
personally, but each bore the imprimatur of his thought.
It should be noted that this comment was made some two months after the
Twentieth Congress of the CPSU. (See text Feb. 9, 1956, source note.)

[Stalin’s] merits outweigh his faults; [we must] make a concrete analysis [of
Stalin’s case], an overall assessment [taking all aspects into account].

Reply to Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark
(April 10, 1956)

Source: RMRB (Apr. 11, 1956), 1. Other Chinese Text: XHBYK, 9 (May 6, 1956),
34-35. Available English Translations: NCNA, Daily Bulletin (Apr. 11, 1956),
28-29; FBIS, Daily Report (Apr. 11, 1956), AAA9.

At this time Aage Gregerson, who had been minister of the Kingdom of Denmark to the PRC,
was installed as ambassador. (See text Dec. 12, 1953.)