(September 10, 1964)
On July 23, President de Gaulle criticized West Germany. I think this criticism is quite justified and serves as a wake-up call for West Germany to reflect on the fact that it has been too closely aligned with the United States. As for Britain, I believe it also deserves some criticism for being overly aligned with the U.S.
Several major powers hold nuclear weapons yet constantly talk about peace. You now possess nuclear weapons too, though in limited numbers and only recently. We do not yet have them, but no one can intimidate us; we have never accepted threats from superior military power. Even when our own strength was very small, we still refused to yield to such threats.
If you simply echo whatever others say, you might as well place Britain in the American camp. However, there are members within Britain’s Conservative Party who disagree with their government’s policies. The world is changing and cannot be controlled by just one or two great powers. Each country’s affairs should be managed by its own people, and no foreign interference should be permitted. You claim that we too have intervened in Southeast Asia, but so far our involvement has been limited to “verbal support”—that is, encouraging and backing anti-American guerrilla movements in the region. This is no secret; it is openly acknowledged. Wherever in the world there are guerrilla struggles against U.S. imperialism and local oppressors, we openly and unreservedly lend our support.
[1]
This is part of a conversation between Mao Zedong and the head of the French Technical Exhibition.
[2]
On July 23, 1964, at a press conference, French President Charles de Gaulle accused the United States of undermining the Geneva Accords and interfering in Indochinese affairs. He also criticized the Federal Republic of Germany’s foreign policy at the time, stating that it was not “a European and independent policy.”