Chapter 19 National Day Send Overseas Young Readers

Dear overseas children: How time flies, and it is the annual National Day, which is full of joy throughout the country!First of all, let me, with extreme joy, wish the children who are far away overseas to have the happiest holiday of our own! Children, there is a sentence in our ancient poem: "Every festive season misses relatives." That is to say, every good and happy festival, we will always fondly miss our relatives. Therefore, on this day when I think of you, I will also I would like to miss our friends in West Asia with you - the Iraqi people and their newly established republic.We warmly congratulate them on their victory from the bottom of our hearts, and sincerely wish that with the support of peace-loving countries and people all over the world, the liberation movement of the Arab nation will achieve complete success!

Children must already know that Iraq is one of the Arab countries in West Asia.Its capital, Baghdad, is not an unfamiliar name to us.The story we love and are familiar with - "Oriental Night Tale" is also "One Thousand and One Nights" The story of the story begins with the wonderful city of Baghdad.The friendly exchanges between the Iraqi people and us started more than a thousand years ago.At that time, Arab merchants often traveled between Yangzhou, Quanzhou and Guangzhou in southern China.They transported ivory, rhino horn, precious stones, spices, etc. to China, and shipped Chinese silk, porcelain, tea, etc. back to West Asia.

As early as the eighth century, there was a market dedicated to selling Chinese porcelain in Baghdad.The exchange of commodities has also brought about cultural exchanges between the two countries. In terms of literature, art, science, and technology, we have deeply influenced each other from a long time ago.I need not dwell on these facts here.What I want to say is that for more than a thousand years, we have had a long-standing friendship and close economic and cultural relations with the Arab people.However, since Western colonialism invaded the East like a rampant plague, under the oppression of the imperialists, our traditional friendship and economic ties with the Arab people have been brutally severed.But our fraternal sympathy with the Arab people and our hatred and anger towards the imperialists bind our blood-red hearts tightly together.

At the epoch-making Bandung Conference, the powerful new China, which stood up, resumed its close friendship with many Asian and African countries.Under the spiritual guidance of the Five Principles, our countries unite resolutely to oppose colonialism, defend peace and stop wars. Children, to stop wars, we must find out the root causes of wars.We know deeply from our own painful experience: Without colonialism, there would be no war, and aggressive colonialism is the evil root of war.We have found the root cause of the war, and we must fight it head-on like fighting the plague! On July 13th, news came from Iraq that made us rejoice. The Iraqi army and people overthrew the feudal rule of the Faisal dynasty, the running dog of the US and British imperialism, and established the Iraqi Republic!This is a victory for the Iraqi people, and also a great victory for the peace-loving people of the Arab world and the world!The Chinese people, who have been exploited and oppressed by imperialism and feudalism, cheer from the bottom of their hearts, and must resolutely use all their strength to support the just struggle of the Iraqi people against imperialism to defend national independence and freedom.

Children, the Iraqi people and the Arab people are not isolated, our friends are all over the world.The future world belongs to peace-loving people. We want to build a happy garden, where independent and free flowers bloom vigorously, and the poisonous weeds of colonialism will be uprooted by the strong hands of billions of peaceful people! You are our successors, and we need your nimble and strong little hands.The future world is ours, but it is also yours, and you will live in this world for a longer time.Let us all prepare for all good conditions for a better world in the future! Children, our dear motherland is leaping forward at a rapid pace in the ninth year of independence and freedom.We are happy, we are thankful.In addition to doing our best in the cause of our country's leap forward, we should also care for and support all the people who are struggling hard for their own national liberation, especially the Arab people who are at the forefront of the struggle against aggression.

Lay them in the bosoms of your innocent hearts!On this happy day of National Day, I know that the hearts of children are infinitely broad, let us unite tightly in the memory of them! I wish you continuous progress and always be happy. Your friend Bing Xin August 29, 1958, Beijing.