To Rectify Taiwan is to Enforce Family Discipline
(September 6, 1958)
Study it, see what shortcomings there are, whether it can be published like this. The Soviet Union still has to make its position known. It sees that we have not yet made our position known, we have not written an editorial, and no government official has spoken. Starting this afternoon, this thing will be broadcast, and the mass movement will arise. All you democratic parties, consider it. Tomorrow afternoon there may be a mass rally in Beijing, and there will be in other places too. This is our own affair. Tomorrow afternoon, will you ascend Tiananmen, is that all right? Prepare today, and you can still prepare tomorrow morning. Those with a prepared text can read it, and those without one can also say a few words.

At least the United States is on the defensive. It hastily deployed troops; one aircraft carrier was transferred from the Philippines and has not yet arrived, some were transferred from Hawaii, and some were transferred from Japan. It sincerely hopes that we will not land on Jinmen. That thing of theirs is a noose, they have been ensnared by it, making it difficult for them. Taiwan is a big noose that has ensnared it, and Jinmen and Mazu are also a noose. This Chairman Jiang of ours, he has deployed one-third of his forces; there are one hundred and ten thousand men on the two islands, of which ninety-five thousand are on Jinmen Island, and fifteen thousand are on Mazu Island. And Jinmen Island is surrounded on three sides by our artillery fire. Jinmen is only three kilometers from the mainland. Jinmen Island has turned Xiamen into a dead port, and Mazu Island has blocked the mouth of the Min River at our Fuzhou. This thing must be dealt with. Our dealing with Jinmen is a matter of family discipline; this is our internal affair. Of course, dealing with Taiwan is also a matter of family discipline, but you, the United States, have troops in that place, so I will not go there for the time being. You, the United States, were so cold in past negotiations, which were suspended for several months; now you want to talk, well then, we can talk. If we don't fight, it doesn't want to talk. This noose must be tightened a bit; when it feels the pain, it says, all right, all right, let's talk. If you don't tighten it, it won't talk.

The United States says they have already decided to withdraw from Jinmen and Mazu, but Chiang Kai-shek will not withdraw. If you don't withdraw, I will strike; if you do withdraw, then I can choose not to strike. If you withdraw completely, I can choose not to fire a single shot. This is also a difficult matter for Chiang Kai-shek; he is afraid that once he withdraws, it will cause disintegration and affect the morale of the people and the troops, and he will also lose these two pieces of land, and his territory will not be large. I hear the Americans have also advised him to withdraw, I don't know if it's true or false. If you don't withdraw now, we will keep on striking anyway. We can strike once every few weeks or every few days, or once every month or two. One strike would be tens of thousands of artillery shells, or we can fire some sporadic shells every day, firing something like one hundred or two hundred shells.

The United States wants to trade Jinmen and Mazu for Taiwan; we, in principle, cannot trade Taiwan. If you give Jinmen and Mazu to us, and Taiwan becomes an independent country, this thing is surely not permissible! All you gentlemen present, is it permissible? In principle, it is surely not permissible. As for liberation, in which year it will be liberated, we have not set a date. Neither the National People's Congress nor the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has passed a resolution that it must be liberated in a certain year and a certain month. However, in principle, Taiwan must be liberated. This thing is related to the steel that Comrade Li Fuchun spoke of; you only have this little bit of steel right now!

This has been deliberated. Some viewpoints have been consistent; for several years we have held such viewpoints. The good thing now is that with this strike of ours, we have struck out a negotiation with the United States; it has opened this door. It seems that if it does not talk now, it will be in an untenable position. It is tense every day, not knowing what we are going to do. Well then, let's talk. Regarding matters with the United States, speaking of the overall situation, they should still be resolved through negotiation, still be resolved peacefully. We are all peace-loving people. That thing from Dulles the day before yesterday was very hard at the beginning but soft at the end; it was loud thunder but small raindrops.