September 30 1954

Soviet-Chinese relations. 1952-1955

Speech by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU N.S. Khrushchev at a ceremonial meeting in Beijing dedicated to the fifth anniversary of the founding of the PRC. September 30, 1954

Archive: News. 1954. 1 Oct.
87.

Dear comrades!

Allow me to congratulate you on a wonderful holiday - the fifth anniversary of the historic victory of the revolution in China and the proclamation of the People's Republic in your country. On behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, on behalf of the entire Soviet people, our delegation conveys cordial fraternal greetings and warm wishes of success to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, Chairman of the People's Republic of China Comrade Mao Zedong, the State Council of the People's Republic of China, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and all the great Chinese people.

The peoples of the Soviet Union and the people's democracies, all progressive mankind greeted with great joy the great victory of the Chinese people, who five years ago overthrew the hated Kuomintang regime and created a free and independent People's Republic of China. This historic victory of the Chinese people is an outstanding event not only in the life of China, but also in the history of all mankind.

The industrious and talented Chinese people have created enormous material and cultural wealth. However, he could not use these riches due to the fact that his fate was ruthlessly controlled by the feudal classes that dominated the country and foreign invaders. The imperialist monopolies sought to perpetuate the enslavement of China, to turn it into a market for their goods, into a source of cheap labor and raw materials, into a colonial country without rights.

The Chinese people have never put up with the oppressed and disenfranchised position of their native country.

The great Lenin, deeply sympathizing with the Chinese people and highly appreciating their revolutionary traditions, said that the Chinese people know how "not only to dream of freedom and equality, but to fight against the age-old oppressors of China." The entire history of the Chinese people is filled with heroic and selfless struggle for their liberation.

The Chinese people were not alone in their heroic struggle. On his side were the solidarity and support of the freedom-loving peoples of the world, who ardently desired the success of the Chinese revolution.

International imperialism spared no effort to stifle the revolutionary movement of the masses. The imperialists supported the feudal regime in China in every possible way, using it as a weapon in the struggle against the growing people's revolution.

The oppressors of China, the foreign imperialists, have always feared the unity of the great people of your country. What they wanted was not a single, cohesive, strong China, but a fragmented, weak, strife-torn country that would be easy prey for foreign monopolies.

An ancient Chinese proverb says: if all the people breathe, there will be a storm; if the people stamp their feet, there will be an earthquake. The imperialists feared this storm of people and indignation most of all. With incredible cruelty, they suppressed the movement for the unity and independence of China. The imperialists used every means to divide the Chinese people. In this anti-popular cause, they relied on the feudal landowners and the comprador bourgeoisie, who, in the struggle against their own people, united with the imperialists. The American and Japanese imperialists waged a particularly fierce struggle against the Chinese people. For almost a decade and a half, the Chinese people have waged a just war of liberation against the Japanese imperialists, who have occupied large areas of China. The Japanese invaders were not helped by the internal traitors of the Chinese people, neither the abundant supply of strategic raw materials to the aggressors by the imperialists of various states, nor the collusion with the Kuomintang clique on joint actions against the Chinese workers and peasants who fought for the freedom and independence of their homeland. After the defeat of the Nazi hordes in the West and the end of the war in Europe, the Soviet Army came to the aid of the Chinese people in their struggle against the Japanese imperialists.

Taking advantage of the expulsion of the Japanese invaders from Chinese soil, the US imperialists intensified their intrigues against the Chinese people. They decided that the time had come for them to sit on the neck of the Chinese people, and openly took the corrupt Kuomintang government under their wing. It is known that only from 1945 to 1949 the United States of America spent more than six billion dollars to maintain the regime of Chiang Kai-shek. However, dollars were unable to save the rotten anti-people regime of Chiang Kai-shek. A revolutionary storm broke out, and the great Chinese people threw out the foreign invaders from their land, and along with them the Chinese reaction.

The victory of the Chinese revolution was the logical result of the stubborn long-term struggle of the broad masses of the people. This struggle against imperialism and domestic reaction has been consistently and firmly led by the glorious Communist Party of China for more than three decades, expressing and defending the vital interests of the people.

The Chinese Communist Party has united in its ranks and gathered around itself the best sons and daughters of the great Chinese people. She went through a glorious, heroic path of struggle. The Party grew and strengthened in a fierce struggle against the enemies of the people. The entire history of the Chinese revolution has graphically confirmed that the Communist Party of China is a wise and experienced leader and teacher of the working masses, a mighty organizing and guiding force leading the Chinese people from victory to victory.

For many years the Communist Party of China has been headed by Comrade Mao Zedong, the great son and leader of the Chinese people, the chairman of the truly people's government of the People's Republic of China. The fruitful and many-sided activity of Comrade Mao Zedong is seen by the Chinese people as an expression of the justice and wisdom of the leadership of the glorious Communist Party of China, its loyalty to Marxism-Leninism, its selflessness and heroism in serving the people, in the struggle for their happiness, for the prosperity of the People's Republic of China. The people highly value and deeply respect the experienced leaders of the Communist Party and the government of the People's Republic of China. Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai and other outstanding figures for their great services to the Party, their Motherland and the Chinese people. During the years of the great Chinese revolution, they went through a glorious school of struggle against the internal and external enemies of the Chinese people. And now that great China has embarked on the path of building socialism, they also selflessly devote all their strength, knowledge and experience to the cause of building a new mighty People's Republic of China, to the cause of peace, democracy and socialism. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in tackling the gigantic tasks of transforming the country set before the Party and the people by history, is an example of unity, Marxist-Leninist steadfastness and collective leadership.

With the formation of the People's Republic, the Chinese people gained freedom, independence and national sovereignty. For the first time in its centuries-old history, the working people of China took power into their own hands, formed a truly people's government based on the support of the entire people, forever destroyed the domination of imperialist and feudal forces, and embarked on the path of fundamental socio-economic transformations.

The past five years have shown the whole world the great vitality and might of the People's Republic of China. The system of the democratic dictatorship of the people, in which the leading role belongs to the working class, has been strengthened in the country. The alliance between the working class and the peasantry, the unshakable political foundation of the state and the main source of all the successes of the Chinese people, has been strengthened. All the democratic and patriotic forces of the Chinese people rallied even more closely under the banner of the united people's democratic front.

The great Chinese people have achieved historic victories in building a new life. In the shortest possible time, the national economy, which had been destroyed by the long-term war, the rule of the foreign imperialists and their reactionary Kuomintang agents, was restored. The people's democratic state carried out the socialist nationalization of large industrial and transport enterprises and banks. The creation of a state, socialist sector in the economy, which is a pillar in building the foundations of socialism, was ensured.

The Communist Party of China put forward to the Chinese people a program for transforming China from an agrarian country into an industrial country, a program for the gradual transition to socialism, determined the general line in the transition period, which is to gradually carry out the socialist industrialization of the country, gradually carry out the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicraft industry, as well as capitalist industry and trade.

For years, the best people in China have dreamed of industrializing the country. These dreams were not given to be realized under the conditions of reactionary regimes. Today, the Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party, are successfully accomplishing the tasks of industrializing the country. This is the only sure way to turn China into a mighty power with a prosperous economy.

Soviet people know from their own experience that building a modern industry in a country that inherited a backward industry from the past is a complex and difficult task. But the guarantee that the Chinese people will be able to successfully industrialize the country is the indestructible alliance between the working class and the peasantry, which is growing day by day, and the great labor enthusiasm of the entire Chinese people.

The Soviet people, knowing that their fraternal help contributes to the successful solution of the problems of China's industrialization, rejoice at the remarkable achievements of the Chinese working people and wish them from the bottom of their hearts even greater success in the great cause of the socialist transformation of the country.

Thanks to the wise policy of the Communist Party of China, the agrarian question, the main question of the Chinese revolution, has been resolved. Over three hundred million Chinese peasants, who for centuries have turned their backs on the landlords, received 47 million hectares of land free of charge. The dream of generations of the Chinese peasantry about land and free labor has come true. In alliance with the heroic working class of China, the working peasantry has forever thrown off the oppression of the feudal lords and colonialists and is now successfully building a new free life. The people's power abolished the feudal system of taxes and opened up enormous opportunities for the development of all the productive forces of agriculture. The agrarian reform destroyed the main brake on the economic, political and cultural development of the country - feudal relations in the countryside. China's agriculture is steadily advancing along the path of growth, its productive forces are growing, and the material well-being of the many millions of working peasants is continuously improving.

An important factor in the development of agriculture is the organization of rural workers into labor mutual aid groups and agricultural production cooperatives. These are the first shoots of socialism in the Chinese countryside. The advantages achieved as a result of joint work: the growth of productivity, the increase in incomes, raise the prestige of rural production cooperatives among the peasant masses. This is evidenced by the significant growth of cooperatives over the past year.

The People's Government and the Communist Party of China are also concerned about utilizing the enormous opportunities available to individual farming. Increasing the production activity of individual peasant farms and mobilizing them to fight for high yields play a very important role in increasing the country's agricultural output.

The industrialization of the country will make it possible to equip agriculture with modern equipment - tractors, combines, automobiles and other machines, which will undoubtedly contribute to the development of agriculture, to lighten the work of the peasants and increase its productivity, and to increase the prosperity of the Chinese peasants.

Significant progress has been made in resolving the national question. All the peoples of the country have rallied into one great family of free and equal peoples. In the People's Republic of China, new relations among all nationalities based on complete equality, fraternal friendship and mutual assistance are growing and strengthening.

On the basis of ongoing democratic reforms and economic successes, the material well-being of the people is improving. The incomes of the workers and the laboring peasantry increased. For the first time in the history of the country, social insurance was introduced, hundreds of thousands of working families were relocated to comfortable apartments. Enormous funds are spent on irrigation and land reclamation construction.

The Chinese people have the oldest culture in the world, dating back several millennia. He made a major contribution to the development of world civilization. The Soviet people treat your culture with deep respect and study it.

Before the victory of the people's revolution, access to the knowledge and riches of national culture and art was closed to the masses in China. Now a real cultural revolution is taking place in your country.

On September 20, the National People's Congress, expressing the will of the entire Chinese people, unanimously adopted the constitution of the People's Republic of China, which was warmly approved by the people. Allow me to congratulate you on this historic event and wish the people of China continued success in building a new life.

The People's Republic of China is a great state of people's democracy, led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China, reflecting the great achievements of the Chinese people, consolidates the democratic principles of the People's Democratic State, defines the rights and duties of the citizens of the Republic, and opens up wonderful prospects for building a new life in China. For the first time in Chinese history, the rights to work, rest, and education are recognized as the sacred rights of workers. All these historical gains of the Chinese people are legally enshrined in the constitution of the People's Republic of China, which is rightly called the constitution of the struggle to build a socialist society in China.

Dear comrades and friends! You have set yourself a huge challenge. The transition to a socialist society means a mighty growth of all the productive forces of the country, the development of culture, and the rise to an unprecedented height of the material well-being of the people.

We are confident that these tasks will be accomplished because the entire Chinese people, to whom the revolution has opened up inexhaustible creative possibilities, are interested in this. Liberated from centuries of oppression, the people have straightened their mighty back and are ready to work miracles with their inexhaustible energy.

There is no such force in the world that could stop the victorious movement of the courageous and industrious Chinese people along the path of national upsurge and the flourishing of their homeland, along the path of building socialism. We are sure of this because the Chinese people are led by a truly people's government, which has no other goal than serving its people. We are sure of this because at the head of the Chinese people, at the head of the People's Republic of China, is the tried and battle-hardened Chinese Communist Party. We are sure of this because the People's Republic of China is an integral part of the mighty camp of peace and democracy, in which friendship and mutual support help the peoples to successfully solve the tasks facing them.

Back in the old days, many of the best Russian people attached great importance to the friendly relations between Russia and China. The idea of friendship and union between the Chinese and Russian peoples was vividly expressed by the great Russian scientist Mendeleev. He wrote: "The closest alliance between Russia and China could serve as a great guarantee both for the further peaceful development of both countries and for the rule of peace throughout the world."

The sincere feelings of the Soviet people for the great Chinese people were correctly identified by Alexei Maksimovich Gorky, saying: "We are brothers in spirit."

The Soviet people have always deeply sympathized with the national liberation struggle of the Chinese people against foreign oppressors and supported it in every way. As early as 1919, the Soviet government outlined the foundations of its foreign policy towards China. It renounced all the privileges seized by tsarism in China and proclaimed a policy of friendship between the Soviet and Chinese peoples.

During the Second World War, the friendship of the great peoples of the USSR and China was sealed by the jointly shed blood of Chinese and Soviet soldiers in the struggle against imperialist Japan. The formation of the People's Republic of China created favorable conditions for eternal friendship and all-round political, economic and cultural cooperation between the peoples of the Soviet Union and China. The unshakable basis for this fraternal friendship was the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance concluded on February 14, 1950 between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China during the stay in Moscow of the Chinese government delegation headed by Comrade Mao Zedong.

The ardent wish of the great son of the Chinese people, Sun Yat-sen, who devoted his whole life to the struggle for the freedom and independence of his homeland, has come true. In his address to the Central Executive Committee of the USSR on March 11, 1925, Sun Yat-sen wrote: “As I say goodbye to you, dear comrades, I want to express the hope that the day will soon come when the USSR will welcome a friend and ally in mighty free China, and that in the great struggle for liberation of the oppressed peoples of the world, both allies will go hand in hand to victory.”

For five years now, the peoples of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China have been walking hand in hand, selflessly helping each other, and friendship between them has turned into such a powerful force in the cause of maintaining and strengthening peace throughout the world, which is not and has not been equal in the history of mankind. The desire of our peoples to continue to develop and strengthen friendship and fraternal cooperation has found expression in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, this document of great historical significance.

The friendship, alliance and mutual assistance of our great peoples are based on complete equality, mutual respect for national interests, on a sincere desire to help each other and achieve a general economic upswing. The indestructible alliance and fraternal friendship of the Soviet and Chinese peoples are an example of the completely new international relations that have been established between the countries of the socialist camp. Our friendship is the living embodiment of proletarian internationalism, for the cause for whose triumph we are fighting is the cause of all progressive mankind.

The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China have established a broad system of economic relations. Trade between the USSR and China has increased many times over in recent years. The Soviet government, at the request of the government of the People's Republic of China, provided extensive assistance for the implementation of China's economic construction plans. Until the end of 1959, the Soviet Union will take part in the construction and reconstruction of 141 large industrial enterprises. We Soviet people consider it our fraternal duty to help our friend and brother, the Chinese people, strengthen their people's democratic state and build socialism. That is why each of your successes in building a new China pleases the Soviet people to no end. The Chinese people can be firmly convinced that the Soviet people will continue to be their reliable and faithful friend and will render them all possible assistance and support in the struggle for the further strengthening and development of the People's Republic of China.

Common goals in the struggle for socialism and communism, common tasks in the struggle for peace among peoples, the free and independent development of all peoples, the ideology of friendship among peoples - all this enormously accelerates the rapprochement of nations, makes the unity of free peoples indissoluble. The role of fraternal friendship between the peoples of the USSR and the PRC is great. The point is not only that this is a friendship between two great peoples, numbering over eight hundred million people, although this circumstance is of world-historical significance. The fact is that the struggle for great social transformations has multiplied the gigantic creative forces of our peoples a hundredfold and united us in a single striving.

For the peoples of the Soviet Union, the banner of peace and friendship between peoples is sacred. It is also sacred to our great friend, the Chinese people. The main concern and the most ardent desire of the peoples of our countries is to live in peace and friendship with all peoples. The camp of peace, democracy and socialism has a solid support in the form of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. The unanimity, friendship and joint struggle of these two great powers for peace and progress are now exerting an ever more decisive and far-reaching influence on the destinies of the whole world. All progressive humanity is with us. We do not want war, but if the imperialists who have lost their self-control dare to unleash a war against us, then imperialism will suffer a complete collapse. We are firmly convinced of this. “Let,” as Comrade Mao Zedong says, “all imperialist aggressors and warmongers shudder in the face of our great friendship!”

The successes in building communism in the Soviet Union and the achievements of the People's Republic of China, the common struggle of the democratic countries for peace and friendship among peoples - this has an enormous impact on the entire course of historical events, on the development of all mankind.

The countries of the socialist camp are consistently pursuing a peace-loving foreign policy, which proceeds from Lenin's thesis on the possibility of coexistence between the socialist and capitalist systems. They are making every effort to reduce tension in international relations, strengthen the security of peoples, establish lasting and lasting peace throughout the world, and expand business ties with all interested countries. Everyone knows that the Soviet Union during the Second World War successfully cooperated with the United States of America, Great Britain, France and other countries, waging a joint struggle against Nazi Germany and imperialist Japan. Even now we have no issues on which, with goodwill on both sides, we could not come to a just solution in the interests of all peoples.

The Soviet Union is now, as always, consistently pursuing a policy of peace, striving to resolve all disputed issues by peaceful means, through negotiations. Thanks to the efforts of the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China and other peace-loving states, the war in Korea and Vietnam was stopped. We have found a common language with all countries that want to preserve peace and seek to resolve disputed issues through negotiations. Such a policy is in the fundamental interests of the peoples who do not want war and resolutely oppose the intrigues of aggressive forces. As is known, the Soviet Union is persistently seeking to reduce armaments in all states and to ban atomic, hydrogen and other types of weapons of mass destruction of people.

But we cannot fail to realize that the enemies of peace aim to plunge mankind into a new world war, to disrupt the peaceful construction of the peoples of democratic countries. The imperialist aggressors continue their provocations in order to increase international tension. Numerous facts show that the gentlemen, accustomed to building their prosperity on the exploitation of the oppressed peoples, have not abandoned their attempts to enslave the peoples who have escaped from the yoke of imperialism.

The peace-loving peoples know that the imperialist aggressors are trying to impose their domination on the peoples of Asia, to kindle a hotbed of war here. The imperialists are supporting and arming the Kuomintang gangs that have dug in on the Chinese island of Taiwan, which has been seized by the American military. They tried to provoke a war against China by launching aggression in Korea. But the army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the valiant Chinese volunteers cooled the ardor of the aggressors. The immortal feat of the Chinese People's Volunteers, who came to the aid of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at a difficult time, forever sealed the fraternal alliance and friendship of the Chinese and Korean peoples and was the clearest evidence of the indestructible ties that bind the peoples of Asia. This is the sign of a new era that has begun in the East, which means the determination of the peoples of Asia to gain and defend their national freedom and independence. The heroic People's Liberation Army of China, hardened in the battles for the liberation of its homeland from the anti-people reactionary landlord army of Chiang Kai-shek and the American and other imperialists who tormented China, has grown into a formidable force for enemies. Fighting for the great cause of the liberation of her people, she defeated a powerful army equipped with modern technology, and became the most beloved brainchild of her people. The glorious People's Liberation Army of China is a reliable guarantee of the country's independence in the fight against imperialism and the defense of the motherland.

The United States of America is doing everything to prevent the Chinese people from fully restoring the territorial integrity of their homeland and liberating the island of Taiwan, a legitimate and inalienable part of China. And this is done despite the fact that in a number of international documents, in particular in the Cairo Declaration of December 1, 1943, the United States publicly recognized the territorial integrity of China, and the island of Taiwan as an integral part of China. A U.S. State Department declaration issued in February 1950 stated that if the U.S. government were now to seek to change the situation of Taiwan, "it would be interpreted by almost everyone in the Chinese continent, and also throughout Asia, as an attempt by our government to separate Formosa (i.e. Taiwan) from China, violating our obligations.” The US ruling circles, violating their obligations, occupied Taiwan and turned it into their military base for attacking mainland China and suppressing the national liberation movement of the peoples of Asia.
The Soviet Union understands and understands the aspirations of the government of the People's Republic of China, the desire of all 600,000,000 Chinese people to liberate the island of Taiwan, which is an integral part of Chinese territory.

When the working people of our country, having defeated the capitalists, were just beginning to build their people's socialist state, international imperialism threw all its strength into strangling our young Soviet republic and tearing it to pieces. But all the attempts of the imperialist brigands failed. The enemies of the Soviet socialist state were defeated, and our Soviet workers' and peasants' power was established as an unshakable force. The Soviet people, in spite of all the intrigues of their enemies, liberated their entire land from interventionists and internal counter-revolution and created a mighty multinational socialist state of working people - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. That is why the Soviet people express their deep sympathy for the great Chinese people in their noble cause and support their determination to free their brothers, still languishing under the yoke of the Kuomintang clique on the island of Taiwan, to liquidate the traitorous gang of Chiang Kai-shek that had dug in there. This is the exercise of China's sovereignty. We firmly believe that the truth will prevail. Taiwan will be liberated and reunited with all of its great country, the People's Republic of China.

The People's Republic of China entered the international arena as a great power. The role and influence of China has become such an international force that prevents the imperialists from continuing to enslave the peoples of Asia and turn Asia into a hotbed of a new world war.

For every sane person who wants to take into account the facts, the natural course of history, it is clear that without the participation of the People's Republic of China it is now impossible to solve international problems and achieve a reduction in tension in international relations and a peaceful settlement of disputed issues.

The Geneva Conference, where the powerful voice of the true representatives of the peoples of Asia sounded, showed the enormous role of the People's Republic of China in resolving international problems. The role of the People's Republic of China at the Geneva Conference was new evidence of its increased influence and international prestige as a great power, and its peace-loving position won the ardent support of all the freedom-loving peoples of the world.

The People's Republic of China initiated consultations among the countries of Asia with the aim of undertaking joint efforts through appropriate mutual obligations to preserve the peace and security of the countries of Asia. This noble initiative of our great ally was supported by the Soviet Union, the People's Democracies, India, Burma and other countries. The practical implementation of this initiative of the People's Republic of China was the talks between the Premier and Foreign Minister of China, Comrade Zhou Enlai, and the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of India, Mr. Nehru. During these negotiations, principles were developed that can be taken as the basis of relations not only between China and India, but between all countries. These principles consist of the following five provisions: mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty; non-aggression; non-interference in each other's internal affairs; equality and mutual benefit; peaceful coexistence*.

The Soviet Union believes that if these principles are accepted by all countries, then the peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems will be ensured and the threat of a new world war will give way to peace and mutual trust.

But the aggressive forces of the imperialist states adhere to other principles. They are trying to put together various aggressive groups both in Europe and in Asia. This is precisely the goal pursued by the organizers of the recent conference in Manila, who decided to put together a new military grouping of the colonial powers in order to maintain their economic and political positions in Asia. This conference in Manila and the treaty signed there cannot be regarded otherwise than as actions directed against the interests of security in Asia and the Far East, and at the same time against the interests of freedom and national independence of the peoples of Asia.

The aggressive circles of some states, and above all the United States, are trying with all their might to keep the People's Republic of China out of participation in the settlement of international problems. The absurdity of this policy, which prevents the People's Republic of China from taking its rightful place in the United Nations, has now become particularly evident.

There is a saying among your people: only a blind man cannot see Mount Taishan. But it turns out that there are people who not only do not see Mount Taishan, but generally do not want to notice the country in which this mountain is located. But what can you do! Because of this, a great country, on whose territory a quarter of all mankind lives, will not cease to exist.

There are objective laws of history, laws of the development of human society. They are not subject to either dollars or US senators. They are stronger than the opinions of the Nixons and the Knowlands, the Radfords and the McCarthys. The Chinese people will never allow either foreign monopolies or national traitors to return to their native land. He vigilantly guards his great conquests, vigilantly stands guard over the cause of peace and the security of peoples. Let the enemies of the world rage and rage. People's China is following its true path, exercising an ever-increasing influence on the development of world history.

Comrades!

The victory of the revolution opened a new era in the history of China. After the Great October Socialist Revolution, the victory of the Chinese people's revolution is the most outstanding event in world history, marked by a new powerful blow to the entire world imperialist system. In the words of I.V. Stalin, the Chinese revolution "is a steam hammer blow on imperialism."

Great is the significance of the victory of the revolution in China and its influence on the struggle of the oppressed peoples of Asia for their national freedom and independence. The victory of the Chinese revolution shows that old Asia, whose lot was hopeless oppression and the enslavement of peoples by foreign forces, is irrevocably a thing of the past. No black forces of imperialism and reaction will be able to thwart that great process of rebirth of the peoples of Asia, which is one of the most important features of our time and which opens up inspiring prospects for a further upsurge in the struggle for peace and the progress of all mankind.

The peoples of the colonial and dependent countries see in the victory of the Chinese revolution, as well as in the successes of the Chinese people in building a new life, a vivid example of what great deeds a people is capable of when it has become the master of its own destiny.

Dear comrades, friends!

At the head of the Chinese people's struggle for a free and happy life is the glorious Communist Party of China. She saved China from becoming a disenfranchised colony. It honorably justified the hopes of the working class. Only the party of the working class has been able to lead the Chinese people to national liberation, to the creation of a single, powerful Chinese state that has taken its rightful place among the peoples of the world. This significant fact once again confirms the great liberation mission of the working class, the only class capable of leading the peoples' liberation struggle under imperialism in close alliance with the peasantry and carrying this struggle to a victorious end. The Chinese Communist Party has deservedly won the trust of the entire Chinese people.

Guided by Marxist-Leninist theory and creatively combining this theory with the practice of the Chinese anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution, the Communist Party of China has succeeded in actually becoming the leader and organizer of the masses. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, a united national people's democratic front was born and strengthened, which included representatives of all sections of the country's population and was based on the alliance of the working class and the peasantry.

The Chinese Communist Party developed the wise strategy and tactics of the Chinese revolution and drew the broad masses of the people into the liberation struggle. It has become a great force in rallying the entire Chinese people, all their healthy, patriotic forces, in the struggle against imperialism, for the establishment and consolidation of a people's democratic state, and for carrying out great revolutionary transformations. Today, the Communist Party of China, which has shown the Chinese people the right path to socialism, is successfully leading the struggle of the Chinese people for the industrialization of the country and for building the foundations of a socialist society. We are confident that, under the leadership of its Central Committee, the Communist Party of China will achieve new glorious victories on the path of building socialism.

* During Zhou Enlai's visit to Delhi in June 1954, a joint communiqué was signed outlining the five principles of peaceful coexistence.

Telegram from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the PRC, Chairman of the PRC Mao Zedong, the State Council of the PRC and the Central Committee of the CPC. September 30, 1954

Archive: News. 1954. 1 Oct.
88.*

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, on behalf of the peoples of the Soviet Union, send you and the entire Chinese people their fraternal greetings and heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The world-historic victory of the Chinese people's revolution ended an entire era of the heroic struggle of the Chinese people for their freedom and independence, against the rule of foreign imperialism and feudal reaction. Broad prospects for the comprehensive development of the economy, the flourishing of national culture, and the growth of the material well-being of the working people have opened up before the Chinese people.

Over the past five years, as a result of selfless labor, the working people of China, under the leadership of the Communist Party, have achieved outstanding success in building and strengthening the people's democratic system. The agrarian reform was completed, which put an end to feudal oppression in the country. All branches of the national economy are steadily advancing along the path of improvement, and the material and cultural standard of living of the entire people is rising. Having restored the economy, the Chinese people have now begun the socialist industrialization of the country and the gradual implementation of socialist transformations in agriculture, industry and trade.

The Communist Party and the People's Government have rallied the Chinese people into a mighty and invincible force. In the struggle against the imperialist oppressors, against the forces of internal counter-revolution, an indestructible alliance of workers and peasants has been formed and strengthened.

The session elected the Chairman of the People's Republic of China (Mao Zedong became unanimous) and his deputy (Zhu De), the Standing Committee of the NPC, and also appointed the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China (Zhou Enlai) and approved the composition of the State Council.

foundation of the people's democratic system. The great constitution of the Republic of China, adopted by the National People's Congress, consolidated the successes of the Chinese people and determined the path of the country's advance towards socialism.

As a result of the victory of the people's revolution and the successes achieved over the past five years in building a new life, the People's Republic of China has become a powerful factor in the liberation struggle of all the oppressed peoples against the forces of imperialist reaction and colonial enslavement, for their freedom and national independence. The People's Republic of China entered the world arena as a great power and became a mighty force in the common struggle of the freedom-loving peoples for international security and world peace.

The inspirer and organizer of the outstanding successes of the Chinese people is the heroic Communist Party of China. Faithful to the banner of Marxism-Leninism and to the cause of proletarian internationalism, the Communist Party of China is leading the great Chinese people to new victories.

The peoples of the Soviet Union are celebrating the historic victories of the fraternal Chinese people with great joy.

With all our hearts we wish the Communist Party of China, the people's government, the working class, the peasantry, the intelligentsia and all the working people of the People's Republic of China new successes in the struggle for complete victory over the enemies of the Chinese people, for turning China into a mighty socialist power.

May the indestructible friendship and close cooperation between the peoples of the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union grow stronger and develop!

Long live the Communist Party of China, the tried leader of the Chinese people!

Long live the government of the People's Republic of China!

Glory to the great Chinese people!

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR

Council of Ministers of the USSR

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

* In September 1954, at the first session of the National People's Congress of the first convocation, the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and five organic laws were adopted, which determined the principles for the formation, construction and operation of state bodies of the PRC.