Comments on the Reports in the Newspapers of Czechoslovakia and Other Countries Regarding Our Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee (September 4, 1959)

Comrades Qiaomu and Lengxi [1]: These two items [2] seem suitable for publication via wire service by Xinhua News Agency and People’s Daily, among others, in order to boost morale and counter the propaganda of certain Soviet elements. Please consider accordingly. Mao Zedong September 4

Based on the manuscript. Notes [1] Qiaomu refers to Hu Qiaomu, who at that time served as an alternate member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and as Mao Zedong’s secretary. Lengxi refers to Wu Lengxi, then President of the Xinhua News Agency and Editor-in-Chief of People’s Daily.

[2] These refer to a telegram sent on August 31, 1959, by the Chinese Embassy in Czechoslovakia to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, and another telegram dated August 30, 1959, from the Chinese Embassy in the German Democratic Republic to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The main content of the Czechoslovakian embassy’s telegram was as follows: (1) From August 28 to 30, the central newspapers of Czechoslovakia continued to report on our Party’s Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee and the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, giving prominent coverage with striking headlines. The key points emphasized were: (a) China has achieved great successes; (b) People’s communes are excellent; (c) The resolutions of the Eighth Plenary Session are correct. (2) Some newspapers published commentaries, the main points of which were: (a) They pointed out the significance of the Eighth Plenary Session; (b) They stressed the magnitude of China’s achievements; (c) They analyzed the reasons behind these great successes; (d) They commented on our adjustment of the plan; (e) With regard to the struggle against rightist opportunism, apart from Red Rights, no other newspapers made any mention of it. The telegram from the embassy in the GDR stated that the newspapers of all political parties, major mass organizations, and the armed forces in the GDR attached great importance to the communiqué and resolutions of our Eighth Plenary Session, and their line of publicity was basically in line with the spirit of our communiqué. All the papers emphasized that last year saw an unprecedented Great Leap Forward and that this year would continue along those lines. They also undertook explanatory work and offered positive assessments concerning our revision of the 1959 plan. At the same time, they consciously helped us counter the propaganda of Western newspapers. On September 5, 1959, People’s Daily published two Xinhua News Agency dispatches titled “People’s Communes Promote the Comprehensive Development of the Rural Economy” and “China Is Building Socialism with Unstoppable Momentum,” which respectively reported on the aforementioned reactions in the press of Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic Republic.