I approve the construction of this dam. The current documented concept is one thing.
Unforeseen difficulties and problems will arise during construction, and that is another. At
that time, we must be prepared to revise the design.

[1] This comment was written on a draft of the Central Committee of the Communist Party
of China's reply to the Wuhan Military Region and the Hubei Provincial Revolutionary
Committee on December 24, 1970, regarding the construction of the Gezhouba Water
Conservancy Project. Zhou Enlai stated in his report that in October of the previous year, the
Chairman had said in Wuhan that the proposal to build the Three Gorges Dam was
inappropriate during the current period of war preparation. Later, they considered building
the Gezhouba Low Dam downstream near Yichang. The Wuhan Military Region and the
Hubei Provincial Revolutionary Committee submitted a report on this in October of this year,
requesting that it be included in the Fourth Five-Year Plan. The Central Political Bureau
discussed the proposal and approved it in principle at its November meeting. The draft
Central Committee reply submitted by Zhou Enlai stated that the Central Committee
approved your proposal for the construction of the Gezhouba Water Conservancy Project on
the Yangtze River in Yichang. It instructed the Wuhan Military Region and the Hubei
Provincial Revolutionary Committee to lead the project, with participation from relevant
departments such as the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power, the Ministry of
Transportation, the First Ministry of Machine Building, and the Yangtze River Basin Planning
Office. A strong construction command team was to be formed to conduct on-site design.
The design proposal was to be submitted to the State Construction Commission for approval
within this year. To save time, you may immediately organize your forces and begin
construction preparations.











1970: Writings and Speeches
Mao Zedong
Contents

Title
Date
Page
Number
Introduction

Comments on Jiang Qing's Not Needing to Serve as Honorary
Principal of the Beijing May 7th Art School
January
Comments on Kang Sheng's report forwarding Chen Yuan's
letter
January
Comments on the Central Committee's Draft Directive on
Combating Counter-Revolutionary Sabotage Activities
January
Long March (poem)
January
Comments on the Outline of the Speech Criticizing Wang
Ming's Capitulationism
February 4
Comments on the Central Committee's Draft Notice on
Opposing Extravagance and Waste
February
Comments on the Central Committee's Draft Notice on
Convening a Symposium on Party Rectification and Building
February
Comments on the request for the establishment of the State
Council Cultural Group
March 13
Comments on Zhou Enlai's Report on the Convening of the
Fourth National People's Congress and Other Issues
March 14
Comments on the Hunan-Guizhou Railway Route Selection
March
Comments on Constitutional Amendment and Other Issues
March
Comments on the Date of the Sino-US Talks
March
Comments on the Central Committee's Draft Notice on the
Investigation of the "May 16" Incident
March
Elegy on a wreath dedicated to Strong
April 2
Comments and revisions to the article submitted for review by
the editorial department of two newspapers and one
magazine, "Leninism or Social Imperialism?"
April 3
Comments on no longer serving as the President of the country April 12
Comments on the Report on the Launch of China's First Man-
Made Satellite
April 24
Conversation with Le Duan
May 11
People of the world unite to defeat the U.S. aggressors and all
their running dogs
May 20
Comments on the Wuhan Military Region Party Committee's
Report on the Situation of Focusing on the Field
May
Comments on the Central Committee's Draft Instructions on
the Report on Party Rectification and Party Building at Beijing
May



Erqi Locomotive Works and Shanghai No. 17 National Cotton
Mill
Comments on the Central Committee's Draft Directive on
Launching a Campaign to Increase Production and Practice
Thrift
May
Comments on Two Documents on Teaching Reform in Science
and Engineering Universities
June 5
Modern weapons cannot scare the people
June 11
Minutes of a conversation with Mahagoub, head of the
Sudanese government friendship delegation
June 24
Comments on the Minutes of the National Symposium on Key
Steel Enterprises and the Report on the Coal Industry
Conference
June
Temporarily withhold publication of Mao Zedong's remarks on
healthcare work
June 26
Inscription for the Staff of the Railway Corps Headquarters
June 27
Imperialism is afraid of the Third World
July 11
International affairs should be resolved through consultation
July 13
We need to study the reasons for our navy's backwardness
July 29
Comments on the Liu Shaoqi and Wang Guangmei Special
Investigation Team's Report on the Handling of Wang
Guangmei
July
Telegram from Mao Zedong and Others Congratulating
Romania on the 26th Anniversary of its Liberation
August 22
My Opinion
August 31
Comments on the Politburo's Report on the Discussion of the
Central Committee's Draft Directive on the Socialist
Transformation of Tibet
August
Telegram from Mao Zedong and Others Congratulating the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam on the 25th Anniversary of its
Declaration of Independence
September 1
Comments on the Report on the Discovery of a Large Salt Mine
in Jiangxi
September 2
Speech at the closing meeting of the Second Plenary Session of
the Ninth CPC Central Committee"
September 6
Comments on the Draft Communiqué of the Second Plenary
Session of the Ninth CPC Central Committee
September 6
Telegram from Mao Zedong and Others Congratulating the
22nd Anniversary of the Founding of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea
September 8
Comments on the Central Committee's Notice on Organizing
Extensive Mass Discussion of the Draft Constitutional
Amendment
September
Comments on the Central Committee's Notice on Organizing
Extensive Mass Discussion of the Draft Constitutional
Amendment
September



On issues such as naval warfare
September 25 60
Comments on the reading problem of senior party cadres
September 27 61
A Review of the Decision to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid
Korea
October 10
Comments and annotations on Wu Faxian's self-criticism letter
October14
Comments and annotations on Ye Qun's self-criticism letter
October 15
Comments on the Central Committee's Draft Notice on
Convening Local Party Congresses at All Levels
October
Comments on agreeing to meet with American writer Edgar
Snow
October
Condolence Message on the Death of Charles de Gaulle
November 11
Conversation with Pakistani President Yahya
November 13
Comments on the Publication of "My Opinions"
November
Comments on the Beijing Garrison's Summary Report on the
Troops' Combat Readiness Camping and Training
November -
December
Telegram from Mao Zedong and Others Congratulating the
26th Anniversary of the Liberation of Albania
November 28
Don’t ask foreigners to accept Chinese ideas
December 6
Comments on the Central Committee's Draft Notice on
Strengthening Work Safety
December
Comments on the 38th Army's report on Chen Boda's anti-
Party crimes
December 16
Minutes of a Meeting with Edgar Snow
December 18
Comments on holding a Successful North China Conference
December 19
Telegram from Mao Zedong and Others Congratulating the
National Liberation Front of South Vietnam on its Tenth
Anniversary
December 19
Comments on Reference News, Issue 4377
December 22
Comments on Yao Wenyuan's report on his recent study and
other issues
December 29
Reprint of a British Guardian article regarding China's
sovereignty over the East China Sea continental shelf
December 30
Comments on Approving the Construction of the Gezhouba
Water Conservancy Project
December