Now some big countries are bullying us, for example in the navy and air force. They have
occupied the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, so we have to build up a navy. China was a
poor country and had no industry in the past. Now we have some, but not much. In about
fifteen or twenty years, things may get better.
Imperialism is not to be feared. Our own experience, your experience, and the current
experience of fighting in Southeast Asia have all proved this. These experiences have proved
that imperialism is very powerful, but it is afraid of small countries and medium-sized
countries. Some countries say that our country is a big country, but I say no, it is a medium-sized country, just like you. They are afraid of us, but they are afraid of our future, not our
present. This is the so-called "potential power". The so-called "potential" means that the
"power" is still sleeping there. I don't know when it will wake up, but they will be nervous.
Our navy and air force were formed by people drawn from the army, so they are not experts
and have never done it. There is no enemy attack yet. If the enemy attacks, how can we
fight? We can fight guerrilla warfare. We have experience in the army's guerrilla warfare in
the past. The method is to fight if we can win, and run if we can't win. There are only two
sentences, and there is no other way. Once we run, the enemy will chase us. When the time
is right, it will be easy to fight, that is, we can win, so we will fight. China is a large country,
and the people are on our side. It is difficult for the enemy to scout. There is no other way.
We can only station troops everywhere. If we station too many, we can't deploy them. If we
station too few, we will be eaten up. I think the same method is used on the sea. It's just that
this military port is not good. We can't run from the military port. We have to think of other
ways.


(1) Parts 1 to 3 of this item are part of a conversation between Mao Zedong and Pakistani
Navy Commander Muzaffar Hassan.