Comrade Foster:

Thank you very much for your letter of December 19, 1958. In your passionate letter, I see the soul of the great Communist Party of the United States, and the soul of the great American working class and the American people.

The Chinese people understand that U.S. imperialism has done many bad things to China and to the whole world, but it is only the ruling clique of the United States that is bad, while the American people are very good. Among the Americans, although many have not yet awakened, the bad elements are only a small minority, and the overwhelming majority are good people. The friendly relations between the Chinese people and the American people will eventually break through the obstacles created by the Dulles[1] clique and develop ever more extensively.

Although the Communist Party of the United States is temporarily in a not very favorable position, your struggle is of great significance and will surely bear rich fruit in the future. The night has an end. The reactionary forces of the United States are now running into walls everywhere, showing that their days are numbered. The present situation in your country, where the enemy is strong and we are weak, is entirely a temporary phenomenon, and it will certainly change in the opposite direction.

Please allow me, on behalf of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people, to extend heartfelt greetings to you—a glorious fighter and leader of the American working class—and to wish you a speedy recovery. If it is possible for you, I warmly welcome you to come to China for medical treatment and recuperation.

With communist salutations!

Mao Zedong
January 17, 1959

[1] Dulles, then U.S. Secretary of State.