Faith In Victory Is Derived From Struggle


FAITH IN VICTORY IS DERIVED FROM STRUGGLE*
{October 20, 1965)
You have put up a good fight, both in the south and in the north. People
the world over are supporting you, including those who have awakened and
some of those who have not yet awakened. The present world is not one of
peace and tranquility, but that is not because you Vietnamese or we Chinese
have invaded the U.S.
Not long ago the Japanese newspapers Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri
Shimbun carried several reports sent back from South Vietnam by Japanese
correspondents. American papers called these reports unjust, thus instigating
a debate. What I have mentioned is not the Akahata of the Japanese
Communist Party, but Japan's bourgeois newspapers. It can be seen that public
opinion is unfavorable to the U.S. Demonstrations by the American people,
mainly the intellectuals at present, against the Vietnamese policy of the U.S.
government have been developing.
However, these are external conditions; settlement of the issue still
depends on your fighting. Of course, it can also be achieved through negotia
tions. There were negotiations in Geneva, but the Americans didn't keep their
word afterward. We likewise had negotiations with Chiang Kai-shek and the
U.S. Rusk once said that the U.S. and China have held the most numerous
negotiations. But we stick to one point, that is, the U.S. must withdraw from
Taiwan; other questions aren't difficult to solve. The U.S. doesn't agree. The
ten years of negotiations between China and the U.S. still harp on the same
issue. We will not concede on this. The U.S. suggested exchanging visits of a
press delegation with us. It said we could start with minor things, then solve
the major questions. We insisted that we ought to begin with the major
questions; the minor ones will not be difficult.
Formerly you evacuated your armed forces from the south in accordance
with the Geneva agreement.'® In consequence, the enemy there killed at
* This is the major part of Mao Zedong's talk with a Party and government delegation
from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
random, so you reengaged in armed struggle. At the beginning, you put
political struggle before armed struggle. We agreed with you. At the second
stage you carried on political struggle in parallel with armed struggle. This we
also agreed with. At the third stage you put armed struggle first with political
struggle as auxiliary. We further agreed with you. As I see it, as the enemy
escalates the war, you escalate your fighting as well. You may have a little
difficulty in the next two or three years, but it's hard to say; things may not
be this way. At any rate, this factor must be taken into consideration. If you
have made all preparations, you won't be too far from the original estimate,
even if the most difficult situation occurs. Isn't that fine? Therefore, what is
basic is: One, strive for the best and two, prepare for the worst.
You may refer to the experience of Algeria. When the war there was going
into its fourth or fifth year, some leaders began to worry about it. Prime
Minister Abbas came to me, saying that Algeria had a rather small population,
only ten million, among whom one million had already been killed; the enemy
maintained an army of 800,000 men, while their regular army was composed
of merely 30,000 or 40,000—fewer than 100,000 men even if the guerrilla
forces were included. I told them then that the enemy would surely collapse,
and the population would grow if they persevered till victory. The French
troops withdrew after negotiations, and they have now completed the with
drawal, leaving but a few naval bases. In Algeria it was a national democratic
revolution led by the bourgeoisie. Both you and we are Communists, and
concerning the questions of mobilizing the masses and carrying out a people's
war, Algeria is different from you and us.
Some specific questions in connection with a people's war that I men
tioned in my writings are affairs of ten or 20 years ago. You are meeting new
situations at present, so a lot of your ways of dealing with them are and ought
to be different from ours in the past. We learned how to fight step by step
and frequently suffered defeat in the beginning; it was not so smooth as for
you.
I haven't yet taken note of what questions you are going to discuss with
the U.S. I heed only how to fight the Americans and how to expel them. You
may negotiate with them at a certain time, but you ought not to lower your
tone; always keep it at a high key. You must be prepared to be deceived by
the enemy.
We support you to win final victory. Faith in victory is derived from
fighting, from struggle. For instance, the Americans are subject to attack and
this experience can be gained only through fighting them. The Americans are
subject to attack, I said, and they can be defeated. We must breakdown that
sort of myth, that the Americans cannot be attacked or defeated. We both
have had a lot of experience. Both you and we fought the Japanese; you also
fought the French, and now you are fighting the Americans.
The Americans have trained and educated the Vietnamese people, and
they have likewise educated us and people the world over. In my opinion, it
would be no good without the Americans; it is necessary to have this teacher.
One must learn from the Americans if one wants to defeat them. The works
of Marx didn't teach us how to fight the Americans, nor did Lenin's books.
We chiefly learn from the Americans.
The Chinese people and the peoples of the whole world are supporting
you. The more friends, the better.
(From the verbatim record)