The question of unity.

If there is no consensus in the understanding of the situation, there can be no unity. For unity within the Party, we must first clarify the issues and unify our thinking. Some comrades lack a comprehensive analysis of the situation; we must help them recognize what has been gained and what has been lost.

We must clarify the issues. Some say the General Line is fundamentally wrong. The so-called General Line is nothing more than more, faster, better, and more economical. More, faster, better, and more economical cannot possibly be wrong.

If we explain the principles clearly and lay out the issues, we can always have seventy percent of the people under the General Line.

We must acknowledge shortcomings and mistakes. From a partial perspective, from the perspective of a single issue, it may be ten fingers, nine fingers, seven fingers, or three fingers, two fingers. But from the overall perspective, it is only a matter of one finger. From the perspective of the overall situation, it is just like this: nine fingers and one finger.

I always tell foreign comrades to please come back in ten years to see if we are correct. Because whether a line is correct or not is a matter of practice; it requires time and must be proven by the results of practice. We should say we still lack experience in construction; we need at least another ten years. In the meetings of this past year, we have always analyzed and resolved issues, upheld the truth, and corrected errors. Some comrades in the Party do not understand the overall situation. We must explain to them: from the perspective of certain specific facts, it is true that the losses outweigh the gains, but on the whole, one cannot say that the losses outweigh the gains. Gaining experience always requires paying tuition.