Oppose Foreign Interference, Implement the Eight Principles [1]
(June 14, 1964)
The issue for Africa now is to seek independence, to oppose foreign interference, and to achieve independence in military, political, economic, and cultural aspects. We all must oppose foreign interference. Our country is now engaged in construction, and it will take several decades to catch up with the advanced world level. For Africa as a whole, catching up with the level of Western countries will also take several decades. If we can catch up in a few decades, that will be considered very fast. Those developed capitalist and imperialist countries in the West all have a history of construction spanning several hundred years. They took several hundred years to build what they have now; for us to catch up in a few decades, isn't that time quite short? We must have confidence. Some people say that colored races are inferior to the white race. I think they are wrong. Once the colored races awaken, they may even do better than the West. The places with the largest populations in the world are Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Among the people of Europe and North America, there are also many who do not oppose us. Among the American people, many are in favor of our side. For example, some American experts are working here as editors and translators, and some are helping us teach in our foreign language schools. During our War of Resistance Against Japan, there was a Canadian doctor [2] who worked here with us and later sacrificed his life. We should view their governments and monopoly capitalists separately from the broad masses of their people.


Your country, like ours, has nothing and yet has everything. First, you have the people; second, you are a large country in Africa with excellent land suitable for agriculture and animal husbandry; third, you probably have abundant underground mineral resources. Among these, the foremost is that you have the people, very good people.


You in Africa are very hopeful, and the people of the whole world are watching your rise. Not to speak of ancient history, just compare ten years ago and ten years later, and the difference is enormous. Ten years ago, in 1952, Egypt overthrew the Farouk dynasty, and the Suez Canal had not yet been reclaimed. Ten years ago, there was no Bandung Conference yet. The world is changing quite rapidly.


History and the future belong not only to the people of Africa and Asia but also to all the people of Europe and the Americas. I am speaking of the people, not those big capitalists.


We must implement the Eight Principles [1]. If we fail to carry out any one of them, it won't do, detrimental to you and detrimental to us. What good would it do us to go abroad and exploit others? We ourselves are still an oppressed people, meaning that Taiwan has not yet been liberated. We are still an underdeveloped country ourselves. Would it be proper to set our minds on taking advantage of foreigners? If any Chinese person does bad things in your country, just tell us, and we will recall him. You can also expel him.


Among the people we send out, there may be some bad ones. We must inspect the work. If we find anyone treating foreign countries with a bad attitude, we must order him to correct his mistake; if he refuses to change, we will transfer him back. We also have people who have run off to capitalist countries, those who are not accustomed to socialism and want to flee. Letting a few flee is alright; we have too many people anyway.


Between us, we treat each other as equals, speak the truth, and do not put on a front while doing something else behind the back.