One is steel, one is machinery, and one is the military industry. If we are short of raw
materials, we may import some, but we will primarily rely on our own resources. With steel,
we can develop the machinery industry; with both the steel and machinery industries, we
can build military factories. It is very dangerous for a country to rely solely on foreign
countries for its weapons.
If we develop it ourselves, within ten to eight years, or at most a dozen years, we can lay a
rudimentary foundation. We must cultivate the mindset of self-reliance. Relying on foreign
consultants for everything and importing everything is not a viable option, in my opinion.
Our country has suffered this loss. During Chiang Kai-shek's time, he did nothing and relied
on foreign countries for everything. During that time, including the last years of the Qing
Dynasty, he only produced a few tens of thousands of tons of steel annually for decades.
This is why he lost the support of the people. Whether he was fighting the Japanese or us,
he relied primarily on the United States. In the past, he relied on Britain, and later on the
United States. Now, living in Taiwan, he sometimes criticizes the United States, but in reality,
he couldn't survive a single day without it.
We have made some progress compared to when Chiang Kai-shek ruled, but compared to
other industries, we still lag far behind. In many areas, we're still lagging behind, not to
mention industrial output per capita compared to countries like Britain, France, West
Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, Canada, and the Soviet Union. While we've made
progress in some areas, we still have a long way to go in others. If war breaks out, there's
nothing we can do but fight and see what happens next.
I hope that in a few decades, you will not rely on foreign countries politically, but also
economically and militarily—not on any foreign country at all—but on yourselves. I mean,
basically on yourselves. If you can't do that in a dozen years, a longer period will be fine. As
long as imperialism exists, there will always be trouble. When your foreign minister came, I
said to him, "You're a diplomat. What do you mean by complete and thorough
disarmament? Is there such a thing?" The truth is, on the contrary, there is no such thing as
complete and thorough expansion or disarmament.




[1] Parts 1 to 4 are part of Mao Zedong's conversation with a friendly delegation from the
Pakistani armed forces.