This issue is to be left for discussion at the July conference. To this end, all comrades attending the conference should make use of the current period to conduct focused investigations into a number of key problems in the rural areas—such as the issue of mess halls, the issue of grain, the issue of the supply system, the issue of private plots on hillsides, the issue of the management of mountain forests at different levels, the issue of whether it is better for the brigade or the team to own draft oxen and farm tools, the issue of carrying out a comprehensive rectification campaign and resolutely making restitution in counties, communes, and brigades of the first and second categories, the issue of opposing the concept of bestowing favors and resolutely following the mass line, the issue of seeking advice from the masses and vigorously promoting the practice of investigation and study, the issue of restoring handicraft industries, and the issue of restoring supply and marketing cooperatives. They should put in ten to fifteen days of hard work, seeking truth from the masses, so that the May conference can accomplish the above tasks in a relatively thorough manner.

Regarding this circular, please ask Comrade Tian Jiaying[2] to cooperate in drafting it. We shall finalize our discussion tonight and send it out by telegram tomorrow. This is my earnest hope!

Mao Zedong
9:00 a.m., April 25
[1]
This conference was the Central Committee Working Conference later held at Lushan from August 23 to September 16, 1961.
[2]
Tian Jiaying, then Deputy Director of the Political Research Office of the CPC Central Committee and Mao Zedong’s secretary.

Letter to Deng Xiaoping
Manuscript of Mao Zedong’s letter to Deng Xiaoping.
On April 25, 1961, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai converse with Prince Souvanna Phouma, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Laos, and Prince Souphanouvong, Chairman of the Patriotic Front.

In April 1961, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping issue instructions on the report submitted by the Academy of Military Sciences requesting approval to publish the Selected Military Writings of Mao Zedong.

Selected Military Writings of Mao Zedong (internal edition) published by the Academy of Military Sciences.

Africa Is the Front Line of Struggle[1]
(April 27, 1961)
Africa is the front line of struggle. Some places in Asia are also front lines of struggle—for example, the Arab countries; also, the contradictions between Indonesia and imperialism remain unresolved; the struggle in Laos near Vietnam is very acute, and the struggle in southern Vietnam is also very acute; furthermore, there have recently been mass movements in South Korea. The nature of all these struggles is opposition to imperialism and its running dogs. Another example is Japan, where there were large-scale mass struggles last year. Eisenhower wanted to visit Japan but failed to go because the Japanese people shut the door on him. At that time, we welcomed him in the Taiwan Strait by firing artillery shells; on the day he arrived in Taiwan, our cannons fired all day long. The Taiwan issue remains unresolved because the United States has forcibly occupied Taiwan, so we are also a country in struggle. U.S. imperialism creates trouble everywhere. But in your Africa, the main troublemakers at present are imperialists such as Britain, France, Portugal, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Then there is Latin America. I recently met with a Cuban cultural delegation on the 19th of this month. At that time, we did not yet know that on that very day, Cuba had wiped out the invaders. Have you heard this news? Cuba won a victory. Latin America has a population of 200 million, your Africa also has a population of 200 million, and the Arab countries have a population of 80 million. We should all unite. I have heard news that at this Bandung Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Council meeting, there is a proposal to expand Afro-Asian solidarity into solidarity among Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
[1]
This is a talk by Mao Zedong with foreign guests from Guinea, Jordan, South Africa, Senegal, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), Uganda, and Kenya.