Remarks During the Audience with Delegations from Iraq, Iran, and Cyprus (May 9, 1960) Chairman Mao Zedong conversed with friends from Iraq, Iran, and Cyprus about the situation and experiences of the peoples of various countries in their struggle against imperialism and its lackeys. Chairman Mao stated that U.S. imperialism is currently the greatest imperialist force in the world, with its puppets operating in many nations. Those whom imperialism supports are precisely those who are spurned by the broad masses of the people. Figures such as Chiang Kai-shek, Syngman Rhee, Nobusuke Kishi, Fulgencio Batista, Sa’id, and Adnan Menderes have either already been overthrown by the people or will soon be so. The peoples of these countries, when they rise up to oppose the lackeys of U.S. imperialism and other imperialist powers, are in fact opposing the reactionary rule of imperialism itself.

Chairman Mao noted that the Japanese people are now taking action; large-scale demonstrations are being held by vast numbers of Japanese citizens—bigger than ever before—to protest the aggressive military alliance treaty concluded between the Kishi government and U.S. imperialism. The Chinese people firmly support this struggle of the Japanese people. Chairman Mao emphasized that the just struggles of the peoples of all countries have received, and will continue to receive, the resolute support of the 650 million Chinese people. He further declared that the lifespan of imperialism is drawing to a close: having committed every conceivable evil, the imperialists will never be forgiven by the oppressed peoples of the entire world. To defeat the reactionary rule of imperialism, Chairman Mao said, it is essential to forge a broad united front, uniting all forces that can be united—excluding the enemy—and to persist in arduous struggle.

The friends from Iraq, Iran, and Cyprus expressed their gratitude to Chairman Mao for the audience and the conversation, affirming their determination to join with the Chinese people and with the peoples of the whole world in a common front against imperialism. Finally, Chairman Mao raised his glass to toast the further unity of the peoples of the world, to the victory of the Japanese people’s struggle, and to the triumph of the worldwide struggle against imperialism and its lackeys. Printed according to the May 10, 1960, news report in the People’s Daily.

Notes  [1] On the afternoon of May 9, 1960, in Zhengzhou, Mao Zedong received for an audience Iraqi cultural and workers’ delegations, an Iranian trade union delegation, and a delegation from the Cyprus Workers’ Federation, all of whom were visiting China at the time.

[2] Syngman Rhee was then president of South Korea; he was ousted in a military coup in 1961 and fled to the United States. Nobusuke Kishi was Japan’s prime minister at the time; he announced his resignation on June 23, 1960. Fulgencio Batista had served as president of Cuba’s dictatorial regime; on New Year’s Day 1959, the day before Fidel Castro led his revolutionary forces to liberate Havana, he fled to the Dominican Republic. Sa’id had been prime minister under Iraq’s Hashemite monarchy; he was killed in July 1958. Adnan Menderes was Turkey’s prime minister at the time; he was arrested during a coup on May 27, 1960.

[3] This refers to the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between Japan and the United States, signed in Washington on January 19, 1960. The treaty replaced the Japan–U.S. Security Treaty signed in San Francisco on September 8, 1951, and is therefore also known as the “New Japan–U.S. Security Treaty.” Its main provisions included “developing Japan’s capacity to resist armed attack”; obligating Japan to protect U.S. forces stationed in Japan when confronting “common dangers”; granting the United States continued rights to maintain troops and use military bases in Japan; and “encouraging economic cooperation” between the two countries, among other clauses.