Bulletin on the Main Contents of the Conversation with Nyerere (Sichuan)
(March 25, 1974)

1. When Nyerere mentioned that the United States and the Soviet Union were not working for peace, Mao Zedong said: Peace is temporary; the future is hard to say. He also said: In short, so-called disarmament — after the First World War they said they would disarm, and the result was they talked out a Second World War. After the Second World War they again talked of disarmament, and several years have passed, yet no one has disarmed. But both sides say they want peace, and what is more, a lasting peace, or peace for a generation. A generation, well, is about half a century, fifty years. Why not talk about two generations? Because if they said that, their weapons would have no market. The big powers all live by selling weapons. In short, toward such slogans as “lasting peace,” we should take a look. It may be all right for a while, but if it is too long, it won’t do, because the social system has not changed. In short, this world is unstable. The reason they need to talk about peace is precisely that saying so is more advantageous to them. They also exploit the psychology of all peoples who fear a nuclear war, so many people accept the peace slogan. Particularly, after the First World War, everybody talked about peace, and the result was they talked out a Second World War. Now they are talking about peace again, and perhaps they will talk out some...[1]

[1] On March 25, 1974, Mao Zedong met with Tanzanian President Nyerere and other foreign guests. On April 13, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the “Bulletin on the Main Contents of Chairman Mao’s Conversation with President Nyerere.” The bulletin stated: “The main contents of Chairman Mao’s recent conversation with President Nyerere are extracted and reported below. Please combine this bulletin with Chairman Mao’s conversations with Kaunda and Boumediene to organize all cadres for serious study and comprehension.” On May 12, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China forwarded this bulletin.