Conversation with Voroshilov at Tiananmen
(May 1, 1957)

Source: RMRB (May 2, 1957), 2.

For Voroshilov’s visits to China, see text April 15, 1957(1), source note. Although not clearly
indicated in the source, the occasion of this conversation was obviously the May 1 (May
Day) parade at the capital, Beijing, which is traditionally held in the public square in front
of Tiananmen, or the “Gate of Heavenly Peace.”

Voroshilov (reviewing the honor guard): These girls march in step just like trained
soldiers . . .
(As a troop of Young Pioneers¹ pass by) Ah yes! The children are our future.
China’s children are extremely lovable. As long as they are always ready to serve
the country, all problems will be solved . . .
(As formations of workers’ ranks pass by and he is greeted by the vision of
thousands of red flags fluttering in the breeze) These red flags represent the large
amounts of blood that the working class has shed for the sake of the revolution and
for the happiness of the human race of the world . . .
(As a team of workers marches past, bearing a model of a bridge) At Wuhan I
saw the Yangtze River Bridge.² It is simply terrific. There are still no such bridges
[anywhere else] in the world.
Mao: It was constructed with the help of the Soviet Union.
Voroshilov: We had only twenty-five people there, and there were several


hundred thousand Chinese people there. The real work was done by the Chinese
people themselves.
Mao: Your help was very important.
Voroshilov: It is easy to help people such as the Chinese. You merely have to
lend them a hand and they will accomplish a good deal themselves . . .
(Watching a model of an electric generator hoisted around in the parade by
a group of workers) This generator can activate the energy in the hearts of the
people . . .
(To Mao as a troop of peasants passes by) I visited the Peasant Training Institute3
at Guangzhou this time; to this day, the training institute is still very well preserved.
Mao: It's been thirty-two years now.
Voroshilov: Seeing this scene at Tiananmen today demonstrates the fact that
these thirty-two years have not been wasted. The efforts of the people over these
thirty-two years have now blossomed and are bearing fruit. . . China has achieved
so much in merely seven years since [its] Liberation . . . The reason that the people
are so happy, so joyous today is that all the things that no dynasty or emperor had
been capable of achieving in history have now all been achieved under the
leadership of the Communist Party. Only when there is a Communist Party are they
capable of achieving the results they have achieved today . . . .
(Reviewing some handicraft products) In such a big country as China, handicraft
industries are very important.
Voroshilov: China's capitalists truly amaze me. As I went to many places [in
China], many capitalists came to see me and said: "We feel lucky that there is
Marxism-Leninism and that there is the Communist Party; only because of this can
we lead such happy lives as we do now. We are determined to follow the socialist
path and to follow the Communist Party." These words truly astound me. Your
policy of transforming capitalists is simply too brilliant.
(Mao invites Voroshilov to rest)
Voroshilov: As long as I am standing together with you, Comrade Mao Zedong,
I feel as if I were younger by twenty-five or thirty years.
Mao (as students pass by): The world relies on young people.
Voroshilov: The young people are our future and our happiness.
Liu Shaoqi: There are many children of landlords and capitalists among the
students in China,4 but their class consciousness is very high.
Voroshilov: Ideological work is very important. As long as the problem of
ideology is solved, everything else will be all right.
(Noticing that the orchestra at the other end of Tiananmen had not moved for
hours) This can be achieved only by a disciplined people such as the Chinese. They
[the orchestra] are simply like trees that have grown from the ground, standing so
firm and not moving a bit for hours on end. . . . So many people are standing in the
square. They have stood there for such a long time. Did they have anything to eat?
Anything to drink?
(At the end of the parade)
Voroshilov: It is a very important matter to unite the strength of all the people
in the country and to undertake the construction of the country, and the Communist

APRIL – JUNE 1957 / 531

Party members should function as models in every aspect of the work. Every
movement, every act of the Communist Party members, is noticed by the people.
Whether it is a good impression or a bad one, it will be remembered forever by the
people.

Notes

1. The Young Pioneers refers to the organization known officially as the Zhongguo
shaonian xianfeng dui (Chinese Young Pioneer Corps). In the 1930s, the CPC began to
organize young (teenage) units in its base areas, according to the local (xiang or xian) unit,
and under the jurisdiction of the Qingnian jiuguo tuan (The National Salvation Youth
League). During the War of Resistance Against Japan period, it came to be known as the
Shaonian kangri xianfeng dui (Young Vanguard Against Japan Corps). In October 1949,
returning to a more civilian, boy-scout type of existence, the organization came to be known
as the Zhongguo shaonian ertong dui (Chinese Youth and Children’s Team). It was formed
under the leadership of the New Democratic Youth League. All young people, boys and girls
from ages nine to fifteen, were allowed to join the organization as young people (ages twelve
to fifteen) or as children (ages nine to twelve). At the Youth League Congress in June 1953,
the name was officially changed to “Zhongguo shaonian xianfeng dui.”
2. Voroshilov is speaking of the construction of the bridge connecting Hanyang and
Wuchang. (See text June 1956, notes 6 and 7.) The bridge was still under construction at the time
of this conversation and would be completed in October 1957. On October 15, 1957, it was
opened to traffic. The planning and survey work on the bridge began as far back as 1950, and the
actual construction project began in September 1955. In addition to the double-decked, 1,700-
meter main bridge crossing over the Yangtze River from Hanyang to Wuchang, with one deck
for railroad transportation and the other for motor, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic, the project also
included the building of two bridges across the Han River, and a number of overpasses for
railroads in the area. Owing to the scale of the project and to its geographically critical
location—Wuhan is known as the “connector of nine provinces”—this was considered the most
representative engineering achievement of the PRC in the 1950s. For information on the bridge
at the time of its completion, see RMRB (1958), pp. 561–563.
3. See text Sept. 25, 1956, note 4.
4. Liu is echoing a remark made by Mao in a January 18, 1957 speech. See text Jan. 18,
1957, paragraph 8.