You should study the issue of the democratic parties and decide whether they should still
exist. One issue is understanding, and the other is the issue of the national bourgeoisie.
Some say they should no longer exist and no interest will be paid. I say no. Some small
capitalists don't want interest, but the big capitalists are unwilling to accept it. They should
receive some interest.
Democratic parties must exist. Some places say they don't need them anymore, but there's
no need to rush. There's a famous person in Hunan named Zhou Shizhao, an old classmate
of mine. Zhou Shizhao came to Tiananmen Square on May Day. I asked him if the democratic
parties still existed. He was quite an honest man, and he said there were active counterrevolutionaries within the democratic parties, and some had a history of counterrevolutionary behaviour. This was speaking of individuals. As for the democratic parties, they
haven't tried to overturn verdicts, nor have they issued directives. As democratic parties,
they can still exist. But as for individuals within the democratic parties, some have problems,
and a few have very serious ones. There are leftists, centrists, and rightists among them.
Don't generalise and say that all democratic figures are good or bad.
Some democratic figures have been subjected to struggle and criticism, and some have been
dragged out for a year or two, and their problems haven't been resolved. Not only have the
problems of the democratic figures remained unresolved, but the problems of things like the
"May 16th" incident haven't been resolved either. Some have even been suspended. None
of the democratic parties should be suspended. During our nation's Cultural Revolution,
certain irregularities occurred where democratic parties were dissolved. What benefit did
that serve? The word ‘delay’ does not resolve the issue. The existing problems can be
further understood, investigated, and addressed after the suspensions have been lifted.

8 Bu Zhanya (1918 –1999) was a founding colonel of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, having joined the
Communist Party of China in May 1938. In September 1952, he went to North Korea to participate in the War
to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. In March 1955, he was appointed political commissar of the 135th
Division. In 1956, he entered the Political Academy of the People's Liberation Army. In 1957, he was appointed
political commissar of the 134th Division. In April 1970, he served as deputy director of the Hunan Provincial
Revolutionary Committee, deputy political commissar of the Guangzhou Military Region and first political
commissar of the Hunan Provincial Military Region, and secretary of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the
Communist Party of China in November 1970. In October 1972, he was suspended from his position as
secretary of the provincial party committee by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on suspicion
of involvement in the September 13, 1971 Incident, i.e. Lin Biao’s attempted coup. In March 1973, he was
transferred as the deputy political commissar of the Lanzhou Military Region (term of office from July 1973 to
February 1979). The Hunan Provincial Party Committee issued Document No. 23 in 1982, believing that Bu
Zhanya had made mistakes during his work in Hunan, but it was not a matter of participating in counterrevolutionary conspiracy activities. In August 1983, he resigned to recuperate.



Not only should you sing the "Three Disciplines and Eight Points for Attention," you should
also explain them and act in accordance with their requirements. Find a few copies of "The
Internationale"; it has everything. Tomorrow, recite the "Internationale," discuss them, and
have a conversation. Don't compare every line to every phrase; focus on the most pressing
requirements for the day and act accordingly. We've sung "The Internationale" for fifty years,
yet some within our Party have engaged in splitting activities ten times. Even if we don't
draw conclusions this time, it's still a splitting action. I think there could be ten, twenty, or
even thirty more. Do you believe it? You may not, but I do. Will there be no struggle in
communism? I don't believe it. In communism, there will still be struggle, but it will be a
struggle between the new and the old, between right and wrong. The nature of the struggle
may change in communism, but even ten or even tens of thousands of years from now,
mistakes will still exist. But by then, cultural levels will be higher, and those who make
mistakes will be more aware and able to recognise and correct them in a timely manner. No
matter what happens to people who make mistakes, don't kill them. When carrying out
struggle, criticism, and reform, do it in a gentle manner.