Chapter 56 Conversation with the Black African Youth Delegation[1]

(July 12, 1958) You are welcome to come. There are very few friends from Africa.We are all Asian and African countries, countries participating in the Bandung Conference[2].Our Asia, Africa, and Latin America, these three regions were all oppressed by imperialism in the past.Africa and Asia are very close, and there is only a small river in between, the Suez Canal, which can be crossed with one foot. The world belongs to the oppressed people, and the oppressors have no future.The Western imperialists oppress the people.Countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America also have local oppressors. For example, the government of Turkey is not smart, and the government of Lebanon is not smart. Chiang Kai-shek is not a good person in China, and there are bad people in Japan.However, the oppressors are a minority, and the good people are still in the majority. This is a matter of nine fingers and one finger.Even in Western countries, good people are in the majority, and in France, good people are in the majority and oppressors are in the minority.A few oppressors are afraid of a good man with nine fingers against a bad man with one finger.

The difference between the people and the rulers is very important, and it can only be clearly distinguished after decades or even a hundred years of observation.We have been oppressed by imperialism for more than a hundred years before we realized this.For decades, the Chinese believed that all foreigners were bad.It is not easy for you to realize this, and only by realizing this can you win.You realize this, and you are close to victory.Most nationalities are oppressed nationalities, and minorities are oppressors. Western imperialists think they are civilized and say that the oppressed are barbaric.But we did not occupy other people's land, nor did Africa occupy Europe.Europe occupied Africa, which is very civilized? Europe is not as good as Africa, isn’t it barbaric for them to occupy other people’s places? Imperialism occupied China, which is very barbaric.We, China, have not occupied other countries in the past and are not now, and we will not occupy the United States and Britain as colonies in the future, so we have always been a civilized country.So are you.You will not occupy France, the United States, Britain, or Germany after liberation.They like to say that we are dirty, unclean, and unhygienic.I can't even see it, we're a little cleaner.Be confident and look down on European and American imperialism, they don't count.

The imperialists have long spread that they are civilized, noble and hygienic.This also has an impact in the world, such as the existence of a slave mentality.We have also been slaves of imperialism, and after a long time, our spirit will be affected.Now some people in our country still have this kind of spiritual influence, so we widely publicize the breaking of superstition among the people of the whole country.In the past, there was fear of the United States among Chinese people, and its influence should be eliminated.Do any of you have a law-phobia? There must be, France has been promoting that stuff, and there will always be people following it.We must gradually get rid of this kind of thinking among the people.

You are welcome to take a walk around China.China is still a backward country, and we are now beginning to transform this backwardness.Over time, we will have more factories.When you come to China next time, you can see if China has made any progress.A liberated people can create anything.Once you are liberated, you too can create anything.Comrade Chen Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, told me just now that Morocco cannot buy machines from France and the United Kingdom. France and the United Kingdom refuse to sell them machine tools. Morocco wants to buy machines from China, and they welcome our machines very much.France, England, and Belgium are very close to Morocco, but they don't sell machines to them.We sell them machines.

After a country is liberated, it should have its own industry. Both light and heavy industries should be developed, and at the same time, agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry should be developed.Forests are precious resources.After liberation, China developed its own industry and manufactured its own machines.How about your countries? Do you have national capital? Can you manufacture machines yourself? My works, the situation in China, can only be used as your reference, and you should act according to the actual situation in your country.Of course, you can also take a look at the situation in China, such as Shanghai and Beijing.However, you must do things according to your country's own situation. A nation has its own history and its own environment.In this regard, we have suffered in the past, copying the experience of foreign countries, that is, copying the experience of the Soviet Union. As a result, we lost almost all the base areas in the south and had to go on the Long March, which caused great losses to the revolution.Both Marx and Lenin once said that their theories are only guides for action and directions, and should not be regarded as dogmas. [3] But some of our comrades just don't understand this point, and only after suffering losses and hardships did they understand.We walked a lot during the Long March. We walked on two legs, and the entire distance was equal to the axis of the earth. It was 12,500 kilometers from China to the United States.We made a mistake at that time, and Chiang Kai-shek forced us to go so far and come to the north.After this, we have learned a lesson, knowing that the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism should be believed, but it must be combined with the actual situation of the Chinese revolution.Afterwards, as soon as they were combined, they became effective, and the battle was won.

Published based on the transcript of the conversation kept by the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] This is the main part of the conversation. [2] Bandung Conference, see note [2] on page 148 of this volume. [3] See Lenin's "On Tactics".The original text is: "Marx and Engels always said, 'Our doctrine is not a dogma, but a guide to action'". (Volume 3 of "Selected Works of Lenin", People's Publishing House, 1995 edition, p. 24)