Distributed
Comment on the Material "How the Foreign Bourgeoisie Discusses the Sino-Soviet Divergence" [1]
(January 12, 1960)
Distribute to all comrades [2] for reading and study. It contains many excellent passages.
Mao Zedong
January 12
Chuan

--- Notes

This material was published in an internal reference document compiled and printed on January 9, 1960. It mainly consists of excerpts from reports and statements in the foreign bourgeois press over the past year or so concerning Sino-Soviet relations, summarized into 16 issues. Under the headings of the following issues, Mao Zedong personally added emphasis marks: 1. The Soviet Union fears war, stresses détente, conciliation, and peaceful coexistence; China does not fear tension, "does not renounce armed resistance," and opposes "pacifism." 2. The Soviet Union believes "the U.S. government, like its people, desires peace" and adopts a pro-American policy; China "does not trust the United States" and adheres to an anti-American policy. 4. The Soviet Union advocates "luring" nationalist countries "to spontaneously move toward socialism" and "refuses to fan the flames of anti-imperialism"; China wants to unite anti-imperialist forces to strike at the United States, supports national liberation movements, and advocates waging revolutionary struggles. 9. China insists on criticizing modern revisionism; Khrushchev believes there is no need to "swat flies." 11. The Soviet Union feels "anxiety" over China's Great Leap Forward. 12. The People's Communes are "a challenge to the Soviet leadership."
[2] Refers to the comrades then attending the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in Shanghai.