(March 1967)
The basic issue in the struggle between the two lines within our Party is whether, after the proletariat has seized political power, that is, after the victory of the new-democratic revolution, China should take the capitalist road or the socialist road. The bourgeoisie wants to take the capitalist road; this is very obvious. Within our Communist Party, we want to take the socialist road, but a section of people believe that China is a very poor and impoverished country, that the level of capitalist development in China is very low, that it cannot develop socialism, and that it must take the capitalist road for a period of time before taking the socialist road.

The question of which road to take existed in the early days after liberation, and it still exists now. The Soviet Union has been engaged in this for over fifty years, and this question still remains.

Chuan
This was an inner-Party directive drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.