Speech on Departure from Moscow

February 17, 1950

[Source: People's Daily, February 20, 1950.]

Dear Comrades and friends:

This time in Moscow, Comrade Zhou Enlai, the members of the Chinese delegation, and I met with Generalissimo Stalin and other comrades in responsible positions in the Soviet government. It is difficult for me to express in words the complete understanding and deep friendship that was established between us on the basis of the fundamental interests of the people of our two great nations. It is plain to see that the unity of the people of the two great countries, China and the Soviet Union, solidified by treaty, will be permanent and inviolable, and one which cannot be put asunder by anyone. Moreover, this unity will not only influence the prosperity of these two great countries, China and the Soviet Union but will surely also effect the future of humanity and the triumph of peace and justice all over the world.

During our sojourn in the Soviet Union we have visited many factories and farms. We have seen the great achievements of the workers, peasants and intellectuals of the Soviet Union in their undertaking of socialist construction; we have observed the work-style of combining a spirit of revolution with a spirit of realism and practicality which has been nurtured among the people of the Soviet Union through the teaching of Comrade Stalin and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This has confirmed the conviction which the Chinese Communists have always held: that the experience of the Soviet Union in economic and cultural construction and its experience in construction in other major areas will serve as an example for the construction of New China.

We have received warm and enthusiastic hospitality in Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, and in Leningrad, birth place of the October Revolution. As we leave this great capital of socialism, we wish particularly to express our sincerest gratitude to Generalissimo Stalin and to the government and people of the Soviet Union.

Long live the eternal friendship and the eternal cooperation between China and the Soviet Union.

Long live the people of the Soviet Union!

Long live the teacher of the world revolution and the true friend of the Chinese people — Comrade Stalin!

NOTES

1. Here Mao used the Chinese term liangongdang which is commonly used to refer to Bolshevik party

Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung