Foundation. We are like the poor and beggars; if we put on fine clothes and go out for a stroll,
Meng: In my view, it is precisely because of nuclear weapons that World War III has been prevented from breaking out.
Mao: I have said that the atomic bomb is a paper tiger.
Meng: Currently, many people in Britain are demonstrating and marching, demanding a ban and destruction of nuclear weapons. I tell them that the first step should be to withdraw foreign troops, followed by disarmament, and only as the very last step should nuclear weapons be destroyed.
Mao: Could we perhaps reach an agreement similar to the one banning chemical weapons—such as during World War II, when everyone agreed not to use them? Would it be possible to also refrain from using nuclear weapons?
Meng: That is not yet feasible. First, we must eliminate the mutual suspicion and lack of trust between the East and the West. To achieve this, troops need to be withdrawn back to their respective home countries. This is why I do not have time to visit Japan—I must first promote the implementation of my Three Principles.
Mao: Very well, once the Three Principles are realized, then we can proceed to ban nuclear weapons.
Meng: I have spoken with Marshal Chen Yi, expressing my hope that he would discuss this matter with the Soviet Union, urging them to also support my Three Principles.
Mao: He is going to Geneva to attend the conference on the Laotian issue. There, he may meet Gromyko and have an opportunity to talk. I approve of this.
Refers to the conference held in Geneva from May 16, 1961, to July 23, 1962, to discuss a peaceful resolution of the Laotian problem, also known as the “Expanded Geneva Conference.” The 1954 Geneva Agreement had stipulated Laos’s neutral status and principles such as respecting Laos’s sovereignty, independence, unity, territorial integrity, and non-interference in its internal affairs. However, the United States violated this agreement by intervening in and invading Laos, triggering the Laotian civil war in 1960. In order to peacefully resolve the Laotian issue, Prince Sihanouk, Head of State of Cambodia, proposed convening this conference. Participating countries included those from the 1954 Geneva Conference—Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, South Vietnam, China, the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France—as well as India, Canada, Poland, Thailand, and Burma. The conference ultimately resulted in the signing of the “Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos” and the “Protocol to the Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos.”

On September 24, 1961, Mao Zedong swam across the Yangtze River.

Archival photo
In 1961, Mao Zedong conversed with Wang Renzhong and Hu Yaobang in Wuhan.