Endorsement of Huan Xiang's Analysis and Outlook on the International Situation After the Collapse of the Four-Power Summit Conference[1]
(June 7, 1960)

Print and distribute to all comrades at the Shanghai Conference [2]. This document is very well said.

Mao
Zedong
June 7

Published based on the manuscript.

Notes

[1] This endorsement was written on a telegram sent by Huan Xiang, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of the Chinese Chargé d'Affaires Office in the United Kingdom, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 28, 1960. The telegram analyzed and provided an outlook on the international situation after the collapse of the Four-Power Summit Conference of the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. Its main points were: (1) From the incident of the American aircraft's intrusion into the Soviet Union to the collapse of the Paris Four-Power Summit Conference, a nineteen-day period of tortuous and sharp struggle thoroughly exposed the nonsense that "Eisenhower is Grandpa Peace," profoundly criticized the erroneous policy, prevalent internationally over the past year, of harboring illusions about Western imperialism and abandoning struggle, served as an extremely powerful and vivid education for people throughout the world striving for peace, and was a great encouragement to the struggle against imperialism and the United States. (2) Over the past nineteen days, the Soviet Union's policy toward U.S. imperialism gradually shifted from one of simple reconciliation and appeasement to one of resolute exposure and tough struggle; this was mainly brought about step-by-step by the arrogant pressure of U.S. imperialism. (3) After the summit conference broke up, Khrushchev's attitude suddenly softened again. Based on this situation, it can be inferred that the shift in the Soviet Union's struggle strategy was primarily the logical result of the development of the spy plane incident itself, rather than a genuinely comprehensive and profound new understanding of fundamental issues such as the nature of imperialism, war, and peace. Therefore, vacillation and hesitation will likely be unavoidable for some time. Of course, the possibility of a gradual change should also be recognized. (4) This struggle caused the United States to lose face greatly throughout the world, further shook the leadership position of U.S. imperialism in the Western camp, exacerbated the contradictions among the imperialists, and caused confusion and quarrels within the Western camp. (5) The Soviet Union's struggle also deepened the confusion and quarrels within the imperialist countries. (6) The West is very afraid that the impact of this struggle will further strengthen the unity of the socialist camp, especially between China and the Soviet Union. Therefore, it is concentrating the spearhead of the Cold War on China. The primary focus of the Cold War is to intensify efforts to sow discord in Sino-Soviet relations. Under these circumstances, we should handle issues related to Sino-Soviet relations with great caution.

[2] The Shanghai Conference refers to the upcoming enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee was held in Shanghai from June 8 to 18, 1960.