It is possible to ask the Vietnamese side for their opinions. They may think that this is a good
way to put it, or they may think that a more obscure way is better. I cannot yet tell what
their intentions are.

[1] On March 3, 1971, Zhou Enlai sent Mao Zedong his draft of a speech to be delivered at a
mass rally in Hanoi, Vietnam, and the Joint Communiqué of the Parties and Governments of
China and Vietnam (Chinese draft) for review, and proposed that the red-lined parts of the
two documents were new formulations, which should be considered. The red-lined passage
in Zhou Enlai’s speech at the mass rally in Hanoi reads: “Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia are
close neighbours of China. We will never allow U.S. imperialism to do whatever it wants
there. If U.S. imperialism insists on following the path of expanding its war of aggression in
Indochina, the Chinese people will take all necessary measures, even at the cost of the
greatest national sacrifice, to fully support the Vietnamese people’s war to resist the U.S.
and save the country, and to fully support the people of the three Indochinese countries’
war to resist the U.S. and save the country, until the U.S. invaders are completely defeated.”
The red-lined passage in the Joint Communiqué of the Parties and Governments of China
and Vietnam (Chinese draft) reads: “The Chinese people will never allow U.S. imperialism to
act recklessly and do whatever it wants in Indochina.” If U.S. imperialism continues along the
path of expanding its war of aggression in Indochina, the Chinese people will take all
necessary measures, even at the cost of the greatest national sacrifice, to fully support the
Vietnamese people and the peoples of the Indochinese countries and thoroughly defeat the
U.S. invaders. Zhou Enlai's speech and the joint communiqué were published in the People's
Daily on March 10 and 11, 1971, respectively.