PEKI 4Jonuory 2?, 7no

DeYelop ProductiYe ForsesAnd Continue the Revolution|[

4.

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llow llid ilarr and Engels llilferentiateEurope's Political Forees?

- Answering questions regording the "Renmin Riboo"orticle on the theory of the three worlds

Shanghai: A Coostol lndustrial Base

PEKINGREVIEW

,L 4. [q.#TBEUING ZHoUBAO.

THE WEEN

Premier Borre Visits ChinoVice-Choirmon Teng Ying-choo Visits Phnom PenhBright Prospects for lron ond Steel ProductionMore Exports Thon lmports

ARIICIES AND DOCUMENIS!s It Necessory b Deyclop the Productive Forces in Continuing the Revolution?

- Lin KongShanghoi: A Cooul lndustriol BoseChinese Press Survey:

Afforestotion in the CopitolReoders' Comments

Explonotory Notes to Volume V of "Selected Works of Moo Tsetung" (3)Three-World Theory: Questions & Answers: How Did Morr ond Engels Dil-

lerentiote Europe's Politicol Forcer in thc Lotter Holl ol the t9th Century?Oil Struggle Develops in Depth - Hsin PingWhy Dges Moscow Resort to Lies ond Slonders Over Kompucheo-Viet Nom

Armed Conflict?-A commentory by Hsinhuo CorrespondentThe Unemployment Problem in Western Countries - Hsin Ping

aROUND THE WORTD. Three-World .Jheory: Closs Line lor Present-Doy lnternotionol Communist

Movement

Kompucheo: 10th Anniversory of Founding of Revolutionory Army CelebrotedBolivio: Fighting for Democrotic RightsEgypt-lsroel Tolks: lsroeli Obstructions

ON THE HOME FRONICommune- or Brigode-Run. EnterprisesStoring GroinMorning in Peking

Yol. 21, No. I lonuory tt, TYto

Published in English, French, Spanish,Japanese, German and Arabic edifions

CONTENTS

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Published cvery Fridoy by PEKING REVIEW, Peklng (37), ChinoPost Office Registrotion No. 2.922

Printad in the People'3 Republic of Chino

Premier Barre Yisits China

"I have brought you thesalute of the Republic ofFrance." This was what FrenchPremier Raymond Barre saidwhen he came down the rampand' met Chairman Hua Kuo-feng who was at the plane-sideto welcome him.

Vice-Premiers Teng lIsiao-ping and Ku Mu, Minister ofFoieign Affairs Huang Hua andMinister of Foreign Trde LiChiang"-were also, present atPeking Airport to welcome Pre-mier Raymond Barre and Ma-dame Barre, Minister of ForeignAffairs Louis de Guringaud,

Minister of Foreign TradeAndre Rossi and MadameRossi.

While shaking hands with'Vice-Premier Teng Hsiao-ping,Premier Barre said: "This isthe fir{ time we meet, but myFrench friends.often spoke tome about you in the pastseveral years."

Coming from the secondworld, the French Premier paida fiveday official visit to Chinastarting from January 19. Onthe evening of the distinguishedguests' arrival in Peking, Vice-Premier Teng Hsiao-ping hosteda grand banquet given bY the

WEEK

State Council in their honour.Vice-Pr'emier Teng and PremierBarre both spoke on the occa-sion. (For highlights of theirspeeches see box below.) Whilein Pe'king, Premier Barre heldtalks with Vice-Premier Tengand they attended the sign-ing ceremony of an agree-ment on science and iechnologybetween the Governments ofChina and France, signed bythe foreign ministers of bothcountries.

January 21 wais a busy dayfor the French friends. Chair-man Hua met Premier Barreand hisr entourage in the after-noon and exchanged viewswith him on the developmentof friendly relations betweenChina and France and on in-ternational issues of commonconcern. During the meeting,Chairman Hua accepted withpleasure President Giscardd'Estaing's invitation to visitFrance and expressed the hopethat President Giscard willvisit China at a time convenientfor him. To the dozens ofFrench journalists who wergbusy colering and taking shotsof the meeting between theleaders of the two countrieqChairman Hua said: "I requestyou, on your return home, toconvey our regards to theFrench people. The French peo-ple have a glorious traditionand the French nation is a greatnation."

THE

C.onfronted with the threot of su!,erpoirer oggression ond ex-ponsion, the existence of on increqsingly united ond strong Europeis in the interests of the Europeon people We oppreciote theefforts of the French Government _to promote the unity of Western'Europe. ;Tene Hsioo-ping

lndeed, both Chino ond Fronce treosurr their own notionol ln-dependence, ond 'they do not ollow. the superpowers to dictote tothem oi ride rougjhshod'over them. Both believe thot, in order todefend notionol independdnce ond security, it is necessorf in thistroubled world to strengthen'their defence copobility ond oppose onyqttampt of hegemonism to weoken their defence.-feng Hsioo-ping

The relotions between Fron"" ond Chino ore good ond they condevelop further. lt is our duty to extend ond deepen our co-operotion, This co-operotion seems to me to conform not only tothe possibilities but olso to the fundomentol interests of our twopeoples.-Roymond Bone

Amgng these principles, I mention in porticulor respect fornotionol independence.ond identity, renouncement of blocs, rejec-tion of oll ottempts to bring pressure to beor upon other countries,ond the right for eoch country or o number of countries freelygrouped together to solve their own problems free from outsideinterference. - Roymond Borrc

lr"""rVn, lW)

That evening, Premier andMadame Ba,rre gave a grandreciprocal banquet. On theafternoon of January 22, Vice-Chairman of the StandingCommittee of the NationalPeople's Congress Teng Ying-chao met with Prernier andMadame Barre. Before theirdeparture for home, the Frenchguests toured northeast Chinaand Shanghai.

Yice-Chairman TengYing-chao YisitsPhnom Penh

Teng Ying-chao, Member ofthe Central Committee 'of theCommunist Party of China andVice-Chairman of the StandingCommittee of the National Peo-ple's Congress, was accorded awarm welcome by the Com-munist Party, the Governmentand people of Kampuchea whenshe paid a 3-day friendship virsitto Democratic Kampuchea lastweek. In the years of ragingwar when Kampuchea wasfighting for national liberation,Vice-Chairman Teng hadcherished the wish to visit thecountry as a comrade-in-armsof the Kampuchean people.Last year when Secretary PolPot of the Central Committee ofthe Communist Party of Kam-puchea visited China, he per-sonally extended an invitationto her. Now this wish has cometrue.

On the day of her arrival atPhnom Penh, Pochentong Air-port was permeated with a

4

ln delending the country, we hove surmounted ond ore over'coming obstocles to fight ond sofeguord our socred ierritories. -Nuon Cheo

We Kompucheon people cherish theL.desire to enioy dignity osthe moster of the lond, liod on independent; free ond peoceful lifeond build the country in occordonce with our profound ospirotignsond in the woy we hove chosen. We Kompucheon people ore filledwith the most ordent ond justified potriotism.-Nuon Cheo

Our froternol close ond deep friendship is bosed on Morxism'Leninisrn ond proletorion internotionolism ond hos stood the test ofprotrocted struggles. -- Teng Ying-choo

Democrotic Kompucheo is on independent ond sovereign sbte.The just couse of the Kompucheon people in upholding the FivePrinciples of Peoceful Coexistence ond in sofeguording the independ-ence, sovereignty ond territoriol integrity of their own country iswinning brood sympothy ond support from the people of the wholeurcrld. - Teng Ying-choo

warm atmosphere of revolution-ary friendship and militantsolidarity between Kampucheaand China. PoI Pot, Secretaryof the C.P.K. Central Com-mittee and Prime Minister ofthe Government of DemocraticKampuchea, and Nuon .Chea,Deputy Secretary of the C.P.K.Central Committee and Chair-man of the Permanent Com-mittee of the People's Congressof Kampuchea, were at the air-port to welcome her. Thatevening, the Kampuchean hostsgave a grand banquet in herhonour. Chairman Nuon Cheasaid at the banquet: "Today, we

welcome in high spirits Vice-Chairman Teng Ying-chao, be-cause she is not only a nobleenvoy of the glorious Com-munist Party of China, the Na-tional People's Congress and theChinese Government, but alsoan intimate comrade-in-arrns ofthe late and beloved Premier

Chou En-Iai." (See speectthighlights in box above.)

Before the banquet, Vice-Chairman Teng called onSecretary PoI Pot and otherKampuchean Party and govern-ment leaders at the StatePalace. They had a very cor-dial and friendly conversa-tion. Before leaving Kampucheafor home, Vice-Chairman Tengand other Chinese guests, ac-companied by Chairman NuonChea, visited Siem Reap in thenorthern part of Kampuchea onJanuary 20.

Bright Prospects for lron

China's iron and steel in-dustry got off to a flying startthis year. Production plans forthe first half of January wereoverfulfilled, with daily outputeonsistently high and stable.Major.iron and steel products in

Peking Ret>ieut, No. 4

the first ten .days registered'substantial increases over tJresame period of last year and theoutput of steel, in particular,was up by more than 120 percent.

The situation is so good thatit has surpassed all expectations.Take for instance the city ofTangshan where a strong earth-quake in summer 1976 causedheavy damage to its iron andsteel works. But after more thana year of arduous efforts, theworkers there have successfullyrestored and developed produc-tion.

. By December last year,the city's average daily steeloutput had reached 2,710 tons,which was well over the pre-quake level.

Like the other industrialdepartments, China,s iron andsteel industry was in a state ofstagnation, fluctuation and evenback-sliding when the ,,gang offour" was running wild. Withthe downfall of the gang, itsfollowers in the Ministry ofMetallurgical Industry and inthe key enterprises were dis-missed from office. Since then,things have begun to turn forthe better and a big leap for-ward is taking shape. In his re-cent talks with reporters, thenewly appointed Minister ofMetallurgical Industry Tang Kedeclared that the goal was todevelop the metallurgical indus-try at high speed, with topquality and by advanced stand-ards and strive to catch upwith and surpass the United

Januar'lt 27. 1978

States by the end of thiscentury.

Developing the metallurgicalindustry as fast as possible isof paramount importance toputting an end to the backwardstate of China's economy andrealizing the modernization ofagriculture, industry, nationaldefenee and science and tech-nolog;7. Unless we achieve ahigh-qieed development . of oureconomy, our country will notbe powerful enough and wouldbe subjected to foreign ag-gression- But what doeshigh speed mean? The par-ticipants in the nationallearn-from-Taching conferenceof the metallurgical industrywhich had recently closed inPeking were of the unanimousopinion that high speed meansChina should rank among theworld's most advanced coun-tries in the iron and steel in-dustry before the end of thiscentur5r.

l,lore Exports Thanlmports

Last year saw the overfulfil-ment of state plans for bothexports and imports whose totalvolumes were over 12 per centhigher than in the previousyear. ltrith exports exceedingimports, there was a favourable

balance of foreign exchange.'Heavy and light industrial

products, minerals and textiles

accounted for 63 per cent of thetotal exlrcrts and farm and side.line products 3? per cent. In-dustrial exports included crudeoil, coal, machine tools, cottoncloth and silk fabrics as well asarts and crafts which are export

items of long standing.

With a view to learning fromother countries and acceleratingsocialist construction, Chinaalso imported some equipmentand technology for oil explora-tion and coal mining and forchemical fertilizer plants, Eowergeneration, the petrochemicalindustry and steel rolling mills.

IN THE WTWS

o Premier Hua Kuo-feng onJanuary 14 sent .a message toHis Highness Sheikh Jaber Ah-med al Sabah, warmly con-gratulating him on his ascensionto the Emirate of the State ofKuwait.

o Soong Ching Ling, Vice-Chairman of the Standing Com-mittee of the National PeoPIe'sCongress, on JanuarY 19 gave a

dinner at her residence in hon-our of Madame WelthY Fisher,an American friend, and herCanadian assistant Miss SallYSwenson.

o Premier Hua on January22 sent a message to. BulentEcevit, congratulating him onhis assumption of the office ofPrime Minister of the Republicof Turkey.

ls It llecessary to lleuelop the ProductiueForees in Gontinuing the Reuolution?

by Lin Kang

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lTlO develop the social productive forces is oneI of the basic tasks of the dictatorstrip of the

proletariat, and to bring about such develop-ment, with technical innovations and tdchnicalrevolution as the prime mover, constitutes animportant aspect of continuing the revolutionunder the proletarian dictatorship.

Sociotism Colts for Developmcnt olProductivc Forccc

Some people do not understand why theproductive forces, techniques, production toolsand the like should have anything to do withclass struggle. In their eyes, "rtvolution" irsalways a political conc.ept in a society wherethere are classes and class struggle. It is, there-fore, necessary to get this question clear: In asocialist country like China, whish is not de-veloped economically, can we ultimately defeatand eliminate the bourgeoisie and ensure thetransition from socialism to communism simplyby carrying on the struggle in the superstruc-ture and not rapidly developing the social pro-ductive forces?

Marx and Engels held that socialist revolu-tion was possible only in countries where,capi-talism was highly developed. Ihis thesis wasbased on the conditions of their time. Laterwhen conditions ehanged with the emergenceof imperialism, it gave way to the new thesisthat socialist revolution could triumph first inone country, even if it was economically back-ward.

6

In his article Out Retsolutioz written in1923, I-enin castigated the revisionist view ofsome.people who, on the ground that "the de-velopment of the productive forces of Russiahas not attained the l,evel that makes socialismpossibtre," refused to seize political power evenwhen the situation for revolution was ripe andthe proletariat had made every preparation forit. At the same time, he pointed out dearlythat the productive forces must be of a suffi-ciently high level in order to realize socialisin,that is, to firmly establiih the socialist system,and he maintained that this was an "in@ntro-vertible proposition." L€nin said that afterseizing political power, the proletariat must useit to subdue the enemy and develop the socialproductive forces.so as to achieve the loftygoal of the revolution.

Comrade Mao Tsetung taught us in thesanre way. As soon as victory was basically,won in the soeialist transformation of thesystem of ownership, he stressed: Only when"the productive forces of our society have bccufairly adequately d,eveloped" over a cstainperiod of time 'will it be possible to regard oursoeialist €conomic and political system ashaving obtained a fairly adequate materlal base(now far from adequate), and will it be ltossibleto regard our state (the superstructure) as fullyconsolidated and our socialist society ae funda-mentally built." (The Situation in the Summerof 195?.1 He also pointed out: "This is anobligation. You have such a big population,guch a vast territory and suc.h rich Bssourcos,

Peking Reoieus, No: 4

and what is more, you are said to be buildingsocialism, which is supposed to be superior; ifafter working at it for 50 or 60 years you arestill unable to ov€rtake the United, States, whata sorry figure you will cut!" (Strengthen PartyUnitg anil Carrg Forwaril Partg Traditions,1956.) Here Comrade Mao Tsetung pointed upthe tremehdous significance of developing theproductive forces under socialism to strengthen-ing the dictatorship of the proletariat, guardingagainst capitali,st restoration and supportingthe world revolution.

If prior to the seizure of political power bythe' proletariat, its basic economic interestscould be satisfied only through a political rev-olution which would replace the dictatorship ofttre bourgeoisie with the dictatorship of the pro-letariat, then after the seizure of politicalpower, the basic economie interests of the pro-letariat and othe.r labouring peciple will be metirot only by relying on a strong dictatorshipof the proletariatlbut also by building a power-ful socialist econorny and achieving a produc-tivity of labbur which is higher than that undercapitalism. I-enin regarded this as a twofold ordual tbsk,. or a twofold guarantee, politicd andeconomiq for reaching the goal of cornmunism.

A powerfirl dictatorship of the proletariatand a Hghly developed and modernized ma-terial base are the. hallmark of a strong socialisteountr5r and the prerequisite for the abolitionof classes .and the transition to communism.That was why Comrade Mao Tsetung made classstruggle, the struggle for production and scien-tific experiment the three great revolutionaryrirovements for building a strong socialistcountf.

Giving Chong Chun-chioo the Ue

In countries where the economy was back-ward in the past and where small-scale produc-tion predominated, the task of the proletariandictatorship in developing the social productiveforces is especially important and pressing afterthe socialist transformation of the system oforvnership has in the main been completed.Chang Chun-chiao of the "gang of four," how-ever, ranted that to develop the productiveforces'under the dictatorship of the proletariatwas tantamount to '(preparing dowries for"

January 27, 1978

capitalism, meaning "paving the way for capi-talist restoration." This is sheer nonsense.What do the enemies of socialism rely on"forexistence? And what is their most deep-rootedbasis? Lenin held that in countries with a small-scale peasant economy, capitalism has a firmereconomie base than coinmunism and smallproduction engenders capitalism and the bour-geoisie daily and hourly. For this reason,he pointed out: "The latter [the internalenemy] depends on small-scale production,and there is only one way of underminingit, namely, to place the economy of the counity,including agriculture, on a n€w technical basis,that of moderrr large-scalo production t' lTheEighth All-Russia Congress of Sot>iets, 1920.)Failing to do so, it would be impossible for theproletariat to triumph over the bourgeoisie andthe socialist road over the capitalist road.

With regard to the social ctrange in agri-culture, the switch+ver from the small-scalepeasant economy to collective ownership with alow level of public ownership merely frees theproductive forces from the trammels.of outdatedrelations of production. Even in the absenae oftechnical revolution, this change can be effect-ed on the basis of hand tools and draught ani-mals already in use. But the suritch-over ortransition from collective ownership to owner-ship by the whole people in agriculture is quitea different matter. It can be achieved onlythrough a large-scale technical revolution foraccomplishing the mechanization and electrifi-cation of agficulture and creating a new kindof agricultural productive forces based on mod-ern techniques. This is an important distinc-tion between ownership by the whole peopleand collective ownership in agriculture. Andthat was why Comrade Mao Tsetung held thatin agriculture the revolution in social systemmust be combined with technical revolution andthat without the latter it would be impossibleto turn collective ownership into ownership bythe whole people.

Chang Chun-chiao, however, said that "Thetransition is possible even without a materialbase," adding that the poorer the country, theeasier the transition and that "it's better forChina with a population of 800 million to re-main poor." This is a downright adulterationof Marxism

There may be in the world (and actuallythere is) undeveloped socialism or developingsocialism (this being a great Marxist truth dis-covered by Lenin in the era of imperialism),but there can never be undeveloped communismor poor communism. According to the present-day definitions, "undeveloped" and "eommu-nism" are two incompatible concepts. Thefounders of scientific socialism told us: A highlevel of development in production is the pre-requisite for the realization of communism. Theproletariat in'economically backward countriesmakes great sacrifices. to seize political powerbecause it wants to use its own dictatorship tocreate this "prerequisite." This historical task,as Ixrnin put it, is to complete the great politicalrevolution by slow, hard and laborious economicwork over a very long period. It was for thisreason that the resolution adopted at the SixthPlenary Session of the Eighth National Congressof the Communist Party of China in 1958 cor-rectly pointed out; "Since we are dedicated tothe cause of communism, we must, first andforemost, be enthusiastic about developing our

, productive forces."

The "gang of four" did just the opposite.According to their logic, it seeurc that only bysticking to small-scale production, doingnothing to achieve modernization and relyingon a poor and backward eeonomy can we defeatthe bourgeoisie, prevent revisionism and ad-vance easily to communism. If the peopie'smaterial and cultural lite is improved, theyalleged, revisionism is bound to emerge. Howabsurd this is! Under the signboard of "continu-ing the revolution under the dictatorship of theproletariat," this bunch of anti-Marxist politicalswindlers completely negated the role playedby the dictatorship of 'the proletariat in theeconomic field, tried to undermine the econornicstibngth of this dictatorship, and indulged onlyin empty talk about communism.

Relotionship Between Politics ond Economics

In an attempt to deceive the people,the "gang of four" also distorted Lenin,sfamous thesis that "politics cannot but have' precedence over economics,,, and attacked thosepeople who devoted their energy to socialistconstruction

8

Lenin advanced the above thesis and exlplained it with due emphasis towards the endof 1920 and at the beginning of 1921 when hew.as carrying on a debate with Qotsky overthe question of the trade unions. What didLenin say about the economic tasks at the time?In December 1920 when the debate was _on,he declared at the Eighth Ail-Russiai Congressof Soviets: "Economic tasks, the economic front,are again and again assuming prominence asthe ehief and fundamental factor." (Report onthe Work of the Council of People's Camtnissars.)During this debate brought on by llotsky,Lenin expressed his regret that the Party's at-tention was distracted from economic tasksfor some tiine. He said: "I have al*ays said,and will continue to say, that we need moreeconomics and less politics, but if we are tohave this we must clearly be rid of politicaldangers anil political mistakes." (Once Againon the Traile Unions, the Current Situatistu anilthe Mistakes of Trotskg and Bukharin, l92l.lHe further pointed out that Trotsky's politicalmistakes, aggravated by Bukharin, "d.i.stroct orrrParty's attention from economic tasks and 'pro-duction' work, and, unJ ortunatelg, make u s uasteti.me on correcting them . .. instead of having apractical and business-like'economic' discus-sion." (ibid.) From February to May 1921, duringwhich time the Tenth Congress of the RussianCommunist Party (Bolsheviks) was held, Lenintime and again stressed the great significanceof ecronomic construction. In October, hebegan to concentrate his attention on solvingthe problems and correcting the mistakeswith regard to economic policies at thetime.

Did Lenin go against his own famousthesis? Of course not.

Lenin said that attention should be con-centrated on economic work at that time. Thisdid not at all mean that politics no longer playedthe commanding role. While stressing economicwork, Lenin never meant that politics no longertook precedence over economics. On the con-trary, the more urgent the economic tasks, themore important it was to put poiitics in com-mand of economics. When we say politics takesfirst place and plays the commanding role, wemean that politics should determine the orien'tation and point out the way for fuifilling

Peking Reuieta, No. 4

economic tasks in the struggle against all sortsof capitalist tendencies and all acts ddtrimentalto the socialist economy (Lenin's oontroversywith Trotsky and others-over the question ofttre trade unions was precisely a strtrggle ofthis nature). We do not mean in'the least thatpolitics can brush aside or supersede economics,for this is what people who knownothing aboutthe relationship between politics and economicsor deliberately undLrmine the socialist revolu- ,tionary cause do.

TLre "gang of four" asserted that prrttingthe stress on economic tasks would lead to de-parting from class struggle. Such an argumentis completely groundless. Our economic con-struction is carried out as a task of the statewhich, in itself, means the dictatorship of theproletariat and politics. Here politics is playingthe commanding role, issuing orders and de-crees accog{ing to the law governing the de-velopmenl-"of the socialist eaonomy. Duringthe period of the First Revolutionary Civil War;Comrade'Mao Tsetung said that we must engagein ecopomic construetion for the purpose ofgaining victory in the reyolutionary war, t etter-ing the life of the peoplg and Bo stimulatingtheir more active participation in tlre revolu-tionary war and consolidating the dernocratiedictatorship of. workers ahd poasants, He addedthat this was a great task, a CFeat class struggle.Likewise, we are now devoting ourselves toeconomic construction and the modernization.of agriculture, industry, national d'efence andscience and technolqgy so as to build a power-ful socialist country, improve the people's ma-

qrthusiasm for bgilding pocialism, consolidatethe dictatorship of the proletariat and finatlydefeat the bourgeoisie. Hew can this be re-gardd as i'a movemint Siving all importance .to the productive fotrles" and not as i'a. great ,class stmgglei'?

inevitably hamper the heightening of people'spoliticil coflsciousness and that the realization,of the four modernizations would inevitablyturn people's minds to capitalism. This is alsovery absurd. Enge1s once said: "It is the rev-olutionizing of all traditional relations by in-dustry a.e it ilevelops that also revolutionizospeoplo's minds." (Engels to F.A. Sorge, 1892.1'Here Engels spoke'of one of the consequenoesarising from .the development of capitalist in-dustry- Such being the;case, doesn't it followthat under socialism the development of large-scal,e industry, and the growth of industry inthe rural areas and the realization of farmmechqnizatipn in paptlcular, will bring aboutthe revolutionization of nelations among all the

The "g[ng qf f_oUf'l also bebbled that thedevelopment of the productive foroes would

. January 27, 7978

small collectives which wiil in turn . revolu-tionize the peasants' minds?

The Need for Technicol RevolutionWitli the rapid development of the social

productive forces, the task of carrying out tech-nical innovations and technical revolution isbound to become the ordeir of the day., \,[orldhistory shows that big advances in the pro-ductive forces in any society always take placeafter a new class has firmly established its rule.Industrial revolutions under capitalism generallytook place after the bourgeoisie had seizedpolitical power.' Likewi.se, the establishment ofpolitical rule and socialist relations of produc-tion by the proletariat must be followed by its

' own industrial rEvolution and technical revolu-tion. This is a great revolutionary task historyhas entrusted to the dictatorship of. the prole-tariat.

Beginning from 195?, that is, from thebaSic completion of the socialist transformationof the systim of ownership, Comrade MaoTsetung drew attention to this question morethan once. In January 1958 he told Party mem-bers:.China is backward econornicaLly and hasa riveak.material basis; that is why ws still re-main in a passive position and are shackledmentally and have not been liberated in thisrespect. So he called on Party members tomake an effont and launch a technical revolu-tion. the whole Party, he added, must pgyattention to this question.

Needless to say, we do not propose to givefirst place to techniques while carrying out

technical revolution. Our slogan is: Revolu-tionization commands modernization. But itwon't do either for us to engage solely in-politicsand,knoW nothing about techniques and voca-tional work. For this reason, Comrade MaoTsetung called on us to study hard to mastertechniques and acquire profieiency in our workand become both red and expert.

While putting forward the task of earryingout technical revolution, Comrade Mao Tsetungin 1958 called on the whole Party to study nat-ural science and technology. One who attachesno importance to natural science cannot claim tobe a good Marxist, for what has been achievedin natural science has played an important rev-olutionary role in promoting the developmentof the Marxist theory and in bringing about secial changes. After seizing political power andbecoming its own master in society, the prole-tariat must not only thoroughly transform so-ciety and fight against enemies of all descrip-tions but also transform nature. In the era ofsoqialist revolution and construction, the revolu-tion in science and technology cannot but be-come an indispensable and important part ofour work.

The Party Central Committee decidedto convene a national science conferencein spring this year. (For details see our issueNo. 40, 1977.) This is a decision of great im-portance to the realization of the four moderni-zations, a decision made in line with ComradeMao Tsetung's consisfunt teachings after sweep-ing away the interference of thb "gang of four."

10 Peking Reuieu, N.o. 4

Shonghoi: A Coostol lndustriol Bose

fiNCE described by the capitallsts of the WestV as a "paradise for adventurers," the cityof Shanghai which'had a lopeided economy hasbeen transformed from a corxiumer city into asocialist industrial base.

. Achievcments ond DevelopmentFrom 1949, the year of Shanghai's libera-

tion, to 1976r its total industrial ou@ut valuehad increased 19.3 times. Heavy industry,which accounted for only 13.6 per cent of thetcrtal in the past, took up 53.4 per cent. Shanghaihas become a comprehensive base embracingvarious branches of industry and with heavyand, light industries proportionateiy developed.

Over the past two decades and more,Shanghai has provided large amounts ofmachinery and equipment, funds and technicalforce for developing industries in the interior.From 1950 to 1976, investments by the state in,Shairghai's capital construction amounted onlyto 7.6 per cent of its revenue delivered to thestate, while the accurfiulation funds it providedfor the country amounted to 41.9 per cent ofthe nation's total investments in capital con-structiron for this pqriod. Since liberation,Shanghai has. sent hundreds of thonsands oftechnicians and skilled workers to other partsof the country and helped train over 100,000young workers for these places.

Situated on the east coast, Shanghai wasChina's biggegt industrial city before liberation.At that time, however, it had only some lightindustrg and very little heavy industry. Annualproduction of steel was no more than severalthousand tons and the machine-building in-dustry muld only do repairs and a-*semblingjobs.

January 27,1978

Chairman Mao's instruction on making good

use of and developing coastal industry pointedout the way for Shanghai's industrial develop-ment. In his On, the Ten Maior Reloti'onships, hescientifically explained the relationship betweenindustry in the coastal regions- and industry inthe interior. He said: *Without doubt, thegreater part of tho now industry should be lotat-ed in the interior so that industry may graduallybecome evenly distributed; moreover' thiswill help our preparations against war." Headded: "Making good use of the old industriesin the coastal regions and developing theircapacities will put us in a stronger position topromote and support industry in the interior."

Capitalist industrial and commercial enter-prises in Shanghai became state-private enter-prises in the fifties. With this change, thenature of their ownership changed too. How-ever, these enterprises were. small in scale andtheir means of production and labour forcewere scattered. This was not advantageous toadopting advanced techniques or to changingthe disproportionate development of light andheavy industries.

Regroupings of whole trades were carriedoirt so as to change that part of the socialistrelatiorrs of production which did not correspondto the productive forces. Through merger'expansion and the building of a few new enter-priss, the number of large and medium-sizedenterprises increased while that of small onesdecreased.

Later, heavy industrial branches developedrapidly. They included the iron and steel andchemical indu.stries, the making of heavy-dutymachines, motor vehicles and tractors, shipbuild-

11

ing and the rnaking .of electronic instrumentsand metens. A great many light industrialfactories and textile mills were concentrated inthe city; they were merged and new technologywas introduced to raise their produqtioncapacity. At the same time workers were asrsigned and factory buildings allocated for thbdevelopment of hea.vy industry and new indus-trial branches making wristwatbhes, camerasand television sets.

While effecting the reorganization of theeconomy, technical innovations and technicalrevolution were carried out. The emphasis oftechnical transformation was not on buildingnew factories or buying complete sets of newequipment, but on technical innovations to tapthe potential of existing equipment. Take thetextile industry for instance. It now has reachedadvanced levels by introdqcing technical in-novations and renovating the old machines leftover frdm the 1920s and 1930s. Although thenurnber of spindles has been reduced by one;fourth in the past 28 years and the workers byone-eighth, output of cotton yarn has increased2.4 times. Shanghai's metallurgical industry wasvery backward-in the early post-triberation days,having only a few small open-hearth furnaces.Through expansion, .reconstruction and buildingof some key projects, steel output has nour risento several million tons annually, and daily out-put today.is greater than that of two yearsbefore liberation.

Fluctuotions in Output

These achievements have been obtainedunder the guidance of Chairman Mao's revolu:

tionary line. But in the post-liberation yearsShanghai suffered from interference and sabo-tage by Liu Shao-chi, Lin Piao and, in particular,the Wang4hang-Chiang-Yao anti-Party .,gangof four" which had entrenched itselt in Shang-hai for ten years and caused the greatestdamage,

To develop the national economy in a plan-ried and proportionate way under the unifiedleadership of the central authoritie is thecharacteristic of China's socialist economy. Butthe "gang of four" and their followers inShanghai opposrid the unified leadership of thecentral duthorities, which they slandered as"fascist dictatorship." One of the followerseven babbled: "Take orders from Shanghai,not Peking."

The gang also sabotaged co-operation be-tween Shanghai and other provinces, munici-palities and cities, and oppced and underminedthe mis movement to learn from Tactring inindustry.

The gang labelleil veteran cadres, veteranworkers, eilgineers and technicians as ,,demo-crats," "capitalist-roadert,''!rcople with rfestedinterests" and t[e "stinking ninth category,,(they placed intellectuals in the ninth critegorypfter the Other eight catcgories of clas$ enemies).This dampened the entbusiasm of the above-mentioned.

In the last few years, investments in capitalconstruction and the number of workers in

Shanghai kept increasing, butindustriat development'slow-ed down This was due to thepabotage by the "gang offour." Annual increase ofindnstrial' output 'value felt

Wortcrr ol o thrnchrl electrmlotribb taclory legtlnS trtcolour tuber

l

Pelcitl,,g'Rioietrl No, 1

Lelt.' Bellows for blast furnaces manufactured by the Shatrghal Shaped Tubing Plant.Eiglrt.' Eydraulic metal posts for coal-mining produceil in Shanghai.

from 14.8 per cent in 1970 to only 2 per cent in1976.

After the smashing of the "gang of four,"Shanghai's industrial production has gone upsteadily: Gross industrial output value in 1g??was 8.6 per cent higher than that of 19?6. Thisbrought an en'd to the continuous drop in theannual ,rate of increase of ihdustrial pofluction. ,Profits from industry rosg more than 10 per cent,whlch waq highqr than the percentage of increaseln production.

I Thr$ reverqed the situation ofthe city's failure in fulfilling its revenue planse,t by the state fo: three years running.

Plonr qnd Prorpccb

China's socialist revrlution and constnrctionhave now reached a rlew stage of development.Making full rxe dt, i* industrial condifions,Shanghai is strivlng to makd.greater contribu-tions to the state by producing more tictrnicatequipment of advanqed level, training large'numbens of outstanding engineers end tech-nicians and providing bigggr gurrur of - ac---cumulFtlon.

Eo achieve this, Shanghai will develop thebasic industriis at top speed. The goal set forthe period between now and 1985 ts to con-centrate efforts on speeding up th,9 developmentof the iron and steel, petroihemical andelectronics induatries. The machine-buildingindustry will provide the state with large, extra-large, precision and new types of machinery and :equipment.

lanuory 27, 19?8

Accelerated development of the basic in-dustries will promot" th" gro*th of the otherindustries.

Attention:will also be paid to light influstryand handicrafts while stepping up the devetop-ment of heavy industry.

Industry's support for agriculture will bestrengthened. The city will produce and supplyto the whole country low-cost and high-qualityfarm mAchinertrr, chemical fertilizep, effectivebut less toxic insecticides as well as water con-servancy and power equipment and transportIactlities for the rural areas.

Attention will be pbi{ to the modernlzatlonof icience and technology so that Shanghai willbecome e scierttific bgse ranking among theworld's edvanced.

The city proper is already too large; em-phasis in tbe future will be on construction in.the suburbs and the building of smaller h-dustribl towns in the outlying districts, whichwill co-ordinate with enterprises in the citypr,oper. Fboduction of industrial goods reletedto agriculture lilill be partially taken over .byfactories run by the rural people's sommunes.Planned readjustment will help improve thedistribrrtion of industry and more land in thecity proper will be available for new housingestatesr and for ,tree-planting as well. Basegproducing non-staple food will be built so thatthe metropolis will .be self+ufficidnt in pork,eggs, poultry and aquatic products within threeto five'years.

13

Afforestation in theCapital

It WttttC RIBAO (Peking Daily) published anI/ editorial on January 6'calting for furtherefforts to speed up tree planting in and aroundPeking.

On the outskirts of the capital (embracingnine counties and five suburban districts), 230,000hectares or 49 per cent of the area suitable forgrowing trees have been afforested. In addition,some 95 million trees have been planted aroundthe houses and villages and along the roads andwaterways, averaging 25 trees for.each personin the rural areas. The rapid increase in fruittrees has made Peking basically self-sufficientin the supply of apples, pears and other kindsof fruit grown only in the northern iart of thecountry. Peking's annual output of dried andfresh fruit has reached 150,000 tons. Forest re-sources have been expanding year after year.The tree belts have proved to be an enormoushelp to farm production, protecting the landfrorn windstorms, anchoring drifting sands andpreserving top soil and moisture. Over theyears, a number of adyanced units and workersin forestry have come to the fore in the variouscounties and districts of the Peking municipality.

However, owing to the interference of the"gang of four" and the lack of sufficient atten-tion on the part of some leading cadres, thepace of afforestation i:r Peking fell short ofexpectations.

During the movements for agriculturalpro.ducers' co-operatives and the people'scommunes in the fifties, Chairman Mao calledon the whole nation to cover the country rvithtrees. He also 'lrcinted out that agricul-ture, forestry and animal husbandry are inter-dependent and that the three are of equal im-portance and none can be dispensed with.Recently when Chairman Hua Kuo-feng tookpart in physical labour at the Miyun Reservoiron the outskirts of Peking, he also instructed

14

that the nation should go in for afforestation ina big way.

lThe editorial spoke of the great significance

of developing forestry. at top speed and de-manded that the Party organizations at variouslevels on the capital's outskirts attach impor-tance to this work. It caliid for efforts tocombine the work of full-time tree-plantingteams.with the rnass movements. They mustmake the best of spring, autumn and rainyseason to mobilize the peasants and city dwellersto plant trees.. The goali for 1980 are: Plantas many trees as possible on the plains, build uptimber centres by planting conifers and otherfast-growi.ng species on the hills to the westand north of Peking, and plant fruit trees andtree belts for soil and water conServation onthe fringes o{ the hills. Meanwhile, effortsmust be made to cover scenic areas around theGreat Wall, the Ming Tombs and the MiyunReservoir with trees as quickly as possible.

Readers' Commentsp) ENMIN RIBAO had made many improve-I L ments in its coverage, style of writing andlayout in the past year. This was greatly ap-preciated by its readers.

Striving to do still better, this newspa.peron January 10 started a new column entitled"Readers' Comritents" on its fourth page. Twoof the three short articles published that daymade suggestions and requested that the pressco-ordinate efforts in deepening the revolutionin education.

One of the two articles, contributed by aPeking middle school, stressed that, despite in-terference and sabotage by the revisionist lineof Liu Shao-chi and the "gang of four," Chair-man Mao's proletarian revolutionary line hasalways held the dominant position on the edu-cational front in the 28 post-liberation yeans.It suggested .that the press should give publicityto thqse educational workers who; in the face ofinterferenee from the revisionist line, haveworked hard in the interest of the people andmade contributions to socialism. The press, itadded, should also help the readers gain an

Peking Reui,eu, No. 4

accurate understanding of Chairman Mao's in-structions concerning the revolution in educationand acquaint them with good experiences inbringing order to educational work so as to meetthe needs for modernizing agriculture, industry,national defence and science and technology.

The other article from'a state farm inHeilungkiang Province brought up the questionof teaching materials for primary and middleschools. It said that textbooks for mathematics,physies and chemistry leave much to be desired,parts of which were illogical and disconnected.More serious was the fact that many of the"gang of four's" fallacies were inserted in thehistory and poiitics textbooks. The articlecalled for further exposure and criticism of thegangf's crimes in this respect and for greater

efforts to compile and put out new and bettertextbooks as soon as poqsible.

The third article praised Renrnin Eiboo foropenly admitting its mistake in publishing a re-port which proved to be incorrect. Written byseveral workers of Peking's Tungfeng Market,it said: "Renmin Riboo's open self-criticism ofits mistake shows that our Party paper has re-vived and carried forward the Party's'fine tra-dition and style of work. This is a greatinspiration to us all."

Chairman Mao always advocated that wemust follow the mass line in running newspapers.The introduction of this new column will helpRenmi,m Bibao further strengthen its ties withthe readers in accordance with Chairmari Mao'sconsistent teachings.

their other property should be protected, andthe small portion of land they rented out wouldnot be requisitioned. But in certain specialareas where the peasants would not get theproper portion of land unless that part of landrented out by the rich peasants was requisi-tioned, such land should, with approval by thePeople's Government, be partly or wholly req-uisitioned. With regard to those rich peasantsof a semi-landlord type who rented out largetracts of land, all such land should be requi-sitioned.

Revision of the Outline Land Law of Chinameant a change of policy: the policy of req-uisitioning the rich peasants' surplus land andother property was changed to one of maintain-ing the rich peasant economy. This was conduciveto the speedy restoration and development offarm production at that time. Later, the richpeasant economy finatly disappeared with thedeepening of the movement for agricultural cs-operation.

Explanatory l{otes to Volume V of"Selected Works of Mao Tsetung" (3)iltlrilIililH1ililltlllrillltillliltiltililililllnnillttltlillltrtiltlrttltlIllIltmlllllililtllll

The lond.lqw

Here the land law refers to the OutlineLand Law of China published in October 1947with the approval of the Central Committee ofthe Communist Party of China. It stipulated,among other things, that in carrying out theagrarian refqrm ali the land and other propertyof the landlords should be confiscated and dis-tributed among the peasants; in the case of therich pieasants, their surplus land and other pro-perty would be requisitioned.

After the founding of the People's Republicof.China, the Central People's Government pro-mulgated in June 1950 the Agrarian ReformLaw of the People's Republic of China whichmade amendments to the Outline Land Law of1947. Under the Agrarian Reform Law, all theland owned by the rich peasants and tilledeither by themselves or by hired labourers and

Januarg 27, 1978 75

Refotions between the stote sector snd theprivote sector of the economy

(See p, 28.)These were relations between the state-

owned and private-owned industry and com-merce in the early post-liberation years.In handling the relations between thestate sector and the private sector ofthe economy, the People's .Government fol-lowed the policy of firmly estabtishingthe leading position of the state economyand enabling the state enterprises to developsteadily, *hile at the same time placingthe private capitalist economy under the leader-strip of the state economy. In industry, thestate enterprises helped the private ones in ac;cordance with the needs of the national econo-my by placing orders with them for processingand manufacturing goods and purchasing their,products. As to privatg commercial enterprises,state trade departments made leeway for themwith regard, to the scope of trarrsactions, pricesand market managernent, provided they did notengage in speculatiop. In addition, private in-dustry and commeroe were given state loanswhen they were in need. AII th(s was aimed atmaking use of the poiitive factors of privateindustry and comrnerce that were beneficial tothe nation's ecoriomy and the people's livelihoodand restricting activities inimical to the nation's

. economy and the people's livelihood, so that theprivate capitalist economy would be led gradu;ally onto the path of state cepitalism,

Retotions betweeri lobour ond copitol ,

(See p. 28) I

This is a reference to the relaiions betweenworkers and capitalists in private industry andcommerce. In essence, they were relaiions ofoppression and exploitation of the proletariatby the bourgeoisie. With a view to improvingthe relatioru between labour and capital in theearly years after liberati6n, the state laid downthree principles: 1. 'Ttre working clais' demo-'cratlc rights must be guaranteed. 2. Both labourand capital strould strive to develop productlonln the interest of the economy. 3. Problemsarieing from labour-capital relstions, includingthose of wages and welfare, must be solvedthrough consultations, on the basis of which a

16

more stable form of labour-capital contractswas to be introduced step by step.

Agrorion reform(See p. 29.) _This was a revolutionary movement in

which the Chinese Communist Party led thepeasants in abolishing the feudal system ofland ownership and introducing the ownershipof land by the peasants. In old China, thesystem of. land ownerstrip was feudal or semi-feudal in nafure, under which the poor peas-ants, farm labourers and middle peasants whomade up over g0 per cent of the rqal popula-tion owned only 20 to 30 per cent of the coun-try's total cultivated acreage, whereas thelandlords and rich peasants who accountcd forless than 10 per cent of the rural populationowned as much as ?0 to 80 per cent of the landunder cultivation. The landlords' savage ex-ptroitation of the peasants by taking advantageof the land they owned seriously hampered thedevelopment of the productive forces.

To overthrow imperialism and feudalismand accomplish the basic task of the democra,tic revolution, the Communist Party ofChina led the peasents in, the struggle egabstcorrupt officiels, local tyrants and evil gentryand against €xtortionate taxes and levies andexorbitdnt rent and interest in the period of thptr'irst devolutibnary Civil War (1524-271. Theagrarian revolution was carried out fnrther inthe revolutionary base areas in the period ofthe Second Revolutionary Civil War (f02?:3?).During the War of Resistance Against ,Japan(1937-45), the Chinese Communi;st Party changedthe policy of confiscating the landlords' landinto one of reducing rent and interest. This wasaim€d at uniting with various clesses andpolitical partiei in the common struggle against'japalrese aggression. With the start of theThird Revolutidnary Civil War (1945-f949), theChinese Cornmunist Party led the peisants inthe liberated areas in'carrying out agrarian re-fornr. On May 4, 1940, the Party Central Com-mlttee iseudd the Directive on the Land Question,changirig the polley.of reducing rent and in-terest' which was effective during the anfl-Japanese war period into one of ionflscating theland of the landlords and distributing it amongthe peasante. The Outline Land Law of China

Pelcing Reoi,ew, No. 4

was published in October lg4? and a land re.form movement was launched in the liberatedareas which had a population of 150 million.This satisfied the.peasantst demind lor l,and andensured the victory of the War of Liberation.

After country-wide liberation, the CentralPeople's Government in June 1gS0 promi,Igatedthe Agrarian Reform Law of the people,s Re-public of China. Ttris was followed by theagrarian reform movement in the new liberatedareas. By the winter.of. 1952 agrariag reformwas basically completed ,throughout the coun-try, with the exception..of Taiwan province andsome minority nationality areas. In the oldand new liberated areas, about 300 rnilliellandless or land-deficient peasants receivedsome 47 million hectares of land, and the peas-ants stopped handing over to the landlordsabout 35,000 million kilogrammes of grain asland rent every year. Thanks to the agrarian re-form, the political cbnsciousness of the peasantswas enhanced, the worker-peasant hlliancre wasconsolidated and favourable, conditions werecreated for the socialist transformation of

Toxes should be reodjusted

In line with Chairman Mao's inshtretions,the Administrative Council (which later becamethe State Council) adopted the decision thatthe agricultural tax in kind to be do[ected inthe summer of 1,950 in the new liberatedareas should be reduced by 4 'per centai compared with the averale tax rate inautumn, 1949, the,salt tax should be cut by halfbeginning from June 1980, commodity taxesshould be reduced from 1,186 to BEg kipds asfrom July that sarne year, and the lndustrialand commerciat business taxes sh6uld be leviedaccording to the rates fixed by the state. AIIthese ,measures were of great significance tolightening the people's burden and booctingproduction.

The principlq qf moking overoll plons ondtoking qll foctors inio considerstion(See p. 30.)This is an important strategic prineiple of

the Chinese Comruunist Party in dealing withproblems in socialist revolutlon and socialist

January 27, 1978

construction, It consiats gf overaltr plans, all-round consideration and proper arrangementsfor all sectors of the economy a4d for the 800million people of various classes and strata, sothat they will play their due roles. In otherwords, it is necessary'to correctly handle thecontradictions among the people and those be-tween ourselves and the enemy, bring into playall positive faetors and turn. negative factorsas far as possible into positive one$, all for thepurpose of building a great socialist country.

In his Tatks at a Conferenee of Secretaries ofProuincial, Municipal and Autonomous RegionPartg Committees in January 19Q7, ChairmanMao pointed out: "Our policy is still one ofoverall:planning'and all-round consideration sothat everyone is provided for. This includes pro-viding for all the army and government per-sonnel'teft behind by the Kuomintang. Eventhose who fled to Taiwap tut do-u:bi,ck. Allcounter.-ievolutionaries not to be put to deathwiII undergo remoulding and be given a chanceto earn a living. The democratic parties will bepreserved and coexist'with us for a long timeand their members will be provided for. In aword, we will take care of all orir country's 600million pgople.... Whpt kind of policy is this?It is one of mobilizing all fosltive forces to build

Thei fotlowing mdnth when he made thespeech On the Coiregg Elond,ling of Contrad,ic-tions Among the People, he agaln stated: "Byoverall conslde,rgtioo , wc mean rconsiderationthat ehrbraces the 000 mitlion people of ourcoluntry. .In drawing uir plans, handling affairsor thinking over"prcblems, wo. must proceedfront the fact that Chlrra has a population of 600mllllon, and we must never forget this fact. Whydo we'make a potnt of this? Is lt posslble thatthere are poople who ero etill unaware that we'havo a, porpot-"ttrin of, 000 nitlllonZ Of ioursgsveryone linows this, but whe,n it comes toactual practice, some people forget all about ltand act as though the fewer the people, thesmaller the clicle, the better. thos? who havethia lsimall clrcle' mentaltty abhor the ldea ofbrtrigtng every positive' factor lnto play, ofunlting rtith everyone who can be united witt,and of doing overythlng porrible to turn nogativofactorg into posltlve ones so as to strrre the greatcause of buildtng a coclalist society."

(To be contlnued,)

17

Three-World Theory; Questions qnd Answers

How Diil tlarx,and Engels llillerentiate Europe'sPolitieal Forces in the Latter Hall 0lIhe l9th Gentury?

ln.No. 45, 797.7 o! *Peking Ret>ieut' wecami,eil in fult the articl,e ,,Chairtnn MadsTheory ol the Di.fferentiati.on of the ThreeWorlils ls g Major'Contribution to Marrism-Lenini$n" by the Editorial, Dryrtment of"Renmim Ribaa." Recently, ,'Pekhtg Reoiett/,requesteil o number o! htstorbns,' ecorwm.istsand journalists to an$Der som.e questions raiseclbg our rea.d,ers coruerning the srtiale. BegVning with this issue, we uil,l ytblish these ques-tions ond, answers. - Eil.

QUESTION: What was the political situation ofEurope like in the latter half of the 19th century?Why did Marx and Engels in 18ls and after-wards -consistently stressed that tsarist Russiawas the chief bulrryark of European reaction?And why did Marx and Engels regard to theend of their days resolute opposition to theaggressive policy of tsarist Ru-qsia as the crite-rion by which to differentiate Europe's politicalforces and to determine to which nationalmovement in Europe the international proleta-riat should give its support? \[hat significancehas a review of historical events in that periodto our analysis of current international politicalforces?

.ANSWEE by "Li Yuan-rqing, historion: Thepolitical situation of Europe in the latter halfof the lpth century was very complicated.

The contradiction between the proletariatand the bourgeoisie in this period grew moreand more acute. With the publication of theManifesto of the Communist Partg in 1848 andthe founding of the First International in tr864,

I8

the ,proletariat for the first time had a prog-ramme and an organization of its own. In theinternational arena the two major forcas, theproletariat and the bourgeoisie, were locked infierce struggle.

At the same time, the development of cap-italism brought in its wake bourgeois demo-cratic revolutionary movements all over Europe.Some had as their aim the overthrow of theautocratic feudal system, .some the eliminationof all feudal vestigas, and others an end tonational disunity. A number of oppressednations were striving to achieve the'if independ-ence. All these different demands milroredthe contradiction between capitalism andfeudalism and between oppressed and oppressornations.

In this period the bourgeois revolution inBritain and France had already on the whole'been accomplished; tsarist Russia, Austria,Prussia, ancl the Ottomin Empire (Turkey)astride Europe, Asia and Africa were the re-maining feudal powers. There were contra-dictions between capitalist countries, betweenfeudal countries and between capitalisd andfeudal countries.

These multifarious contradictions inter-weaved to form an extremely complicatedinternational situation.

How did Marx and Engels, revolutionaryteachers of the international proletariat at thattime, treat such a complex situation in inter-national elass struggle? They took a{irm holdof the basic contradiction between the proletariatand the bourgeoisie on an international scalewithout overlooking any of the other contra-dictions. Proceeding from the genbral interests

Peking Reoieu, No. 4

of the international workers' movement, theymade a concrete analysis of the various contra-dictions in the international arena and analysedthe main feudal countries in Europe, whichstood in the :way of the development ofcapitalism, determined that the empire of tsaristRussia was the principal enemy of the Europeanrevolutionary movements and called on therevolutionary people of Europe to throw them-selves into the struggle to destroy this biggestscourge.

firis . proposition advanced by Marx andEngels had a sound scientific basis and wascompletely in conformity with the objectiveoverall situation in Europe at that time.

Tsorist Russio - Principot Enemy ofEuropeon Revolutionory MovemenbTo begin'with, tsarist Russia was an auto-

cratic feudal state based on the most bar-barow serf system. As a social system, it was awhole historical period behind the capitalistcountries like Britain and France. In the l?thand 18th centuries, when bourgeois revolu-tions in these two countries smashing the feudalshackles and giving rise to a rapid development of capitalism there, tsarist Russia retainedits backward serfdom. In the first half of the19th century, Chartism - a mass, political,working-class revolutionary movement -erupted in Britain. In 1848 the first civil warin' France between the proletariat and thebourgeoisie broke out. In tsarist Russia, how-ever, the serf-owners remained the ruling classwhich not only wanted to tighten its grip onthe serfs at home but also to impose the samesystem on other countries as well.

Second1y, tsarist Russia was in pusuanceof a policy of aggression aimed at conqueringEurope. In the beginning of the 18th century,Peter I seized vast territories along the Balticcoast and thereby threw open the gate to North-ern Europe. When he moved his capital fromMoscow to "Petersburg, the eccentric centre ofthe empire," he provided a most illuminatingfootnote to tsarist Russia's ambition to conquerEurope. Towards the end of the 18th century,through the partition of Poland, Catherine: I(Ekaterina Alekseevna) carved a broad corridoqteading to the European mainland and thenafter several wars against Turkey, she grabbed

Januar!1 27, 1978

vast areas north of the Black Sea to openthe southern gate to Europe. From then ontsarist Russia reached for the hinterland ofEuropb irom the irorth, the south and the east,slicing off large pieces of territory from neigh-bouring countries and grevely menacing tf,esecurity and independence of various Europeancountries.

Thirdly, tsarist Russia was most hostile tothe revolutionary movements in Europe. Whenthe revolutionary storm swept the Europeancontinent in 1848, it gave all-.out support toAustria in repressing the national-liberationmovements in Italy and Czechoslovakia and toAustria and Prussia in quelling the German rev-olution and putting down the movement fornational unification; and, together with Turkey,stamped out the revolution in Romania andsent 140,000 troops to crush the national-liberation movement in Hungary. As pointedout by Engels, "No revolution in \ilesteraEurope can gain final victory, as long as thepresent Russian state exists beside it." (ln-troilaction to th,e Pampl'tlet "Soclal Things FromBussio," 1875.)

Fourthly, the Ru(sian tsarist empire wasmore deceptive than any other autocraticfeudal state. There was no land-grab, no out-rage, no repression on the part of tsarism whichwas not carried out under the pretext of en-lightenment, of liberalism, of the liberation ofnations. Making use of Pan-Slavism, it fosteredillusions among the Slavic nations under Aus-trian and Turkish rule that Russian tsaris4was the "liberator" and "saviour" of its (slaviq

brethrens," and that they needed only its helpto "Iiberate" themselves from Austrian andTurkish enslavement and set up their ownnational states. Because of its deceptiveness,tsarist Russia proved very dangerous to therevolutionary people in Europe and therevolutionary movements there.

It was at this time that the disintegratingTurkish colossus, of which Tsar Nicholas I said,the "'sickman' is dying," was made the ob-ject of dismemberment by tsarist Russia.Austria, Russia's toughest and most stubbornrival on the Balkan Peninsula, was brought t

of the tsar, was "still the faithful vassEl"evenr after the kicks. Thus, in comparisonto these and. other European countries,tsarist Russia was the moet dangerousenemy of the revolutionary people of Europefor it was energetically engaged in aggressionand expansion against the European mainland,brutal suppression of the European revolu-tionary movements, deceptive activities to dividethe revolutionary people of Europe and, inaddition, it had a reactionary serfdom and.oe-cupied an exceptionally favourable geographicalposition.

For this very ieason, one of Karl Marx'scontributions, said Engels, was his being thefirst, in 1848, and then repeatedly, to stross. that"tho \lyestem European labour parties muit ofnecessity wage an implacable war againstRussian tsarism" (?he ?oreign Poliq of BussiozTsarism, 1890) because Russian tsarism was thechief bulwark of Eurgpean reaction and its am-bition was to subdue Europe ar-rd make victoqimpossible for the European proletariat. Thisviewpoint was elaborated again and again byEngels, who pointed qut that the "holy aliianc€"'with tsarist Russia as its nucleus was "the samebig obetacle which hampers the free devclop-ment of all nations and etrch peoplo a devel-opment wlthout which wc couldrft tbink of anysocial revolutlon ln the different couritries, muchless to complete it with inutual rup'po*." Ttrere-fore, "the overthrow of the tsadst govermmat,the elimination of thig s@urge that thrcatensEurope - guch, in my opinion, il the prerequisitefor the enrancipatlon of the sentral and eastEuropean nations." (Engets to !or1 NoiteJde tnJuW, Jarluary 1888.) ,

Lenin highly appreciated this viewpoint otMarx's and Engels'. He pointed out in 1909:"Half a century ago Bussia's roputation ,aa att.internatlonal gendarqe was flrmly bstablishod. .

. After the lallure of the Frcnch revolutlon ln1815, at the proposal of Tsar Alexender l, the threefeudal monarchs of Russlq ,Auatrla and Prusalaformed a "holy alllance" to pr€serve the old orderin Europe and suppress revolution ln variouscoqntrles.

20

... One has only to recall the Hungarian cam-paign of Nicholas I, and the repeated repressionsof Poland, to understand why the leaders ofthe international socialist prolbtariat from theforties onward denounced tsarism so oftento the European workers and European demo-crats as the chief mainstay of reaction in thewhole civilized world." (The Tsor Visits Europeanil Members of the Black-Hutrdreil Dumo VisitEngland..l

After determining tsarist Russia as the mainenemy of the revolutionary peopte of Europe,Marx and Engels, regarded resolute oppositionto the Russian tsarist empire's policy of aggres-sion as the criterion by whieh to differentiateEurope's political forces and to determine towhich national movement in purope the inter-national proletariat should grve its support. Theburden of their theory and tactics in the dif-ferentiation of the political forces was to unitewith all forces that can be united with, makeuse of every "rift" among the enemieq, "allyourselves even with our enemies" (Marx:Stei,n, 1849), strike at the main qnemyand win victory for the revolution. At thispoint, let us recall how Marx and Engels gavefirm support to the independence movqment inPoland and what attitude they took towards theCrimean War (1853-58). This will help us under-stand how they specifically applied under. cbn-ditions then prevailing this method of differen-tiation and tactics.

Thc'Polich lndcpendencc Movbment

Poland occupying a strategic position inEastern Europe had always been an object'oftsarist Ruesiqn aggressign and enslavement. In1815, tsarist Russia occupied most of Poland andturned it into a colony, which expiains wly thePolish independence movement immediatelydefined tsarist Russian empire as its enemy. Theraging armed uprisings and revolutions of thePolish people in 1800, 1840 and 1863 were blowsagainst the empire's drive for world hegemonyand boosted the liberation movements inside theempire and throughout Europe. Marx andEngels hailed the Cracow uprising of 1846 as a

Peking Rersiew, No. 4

brilliant example for the whole of Europe. Marxnoted that the Polish uprising of 1863 hadushered in a revolutionary era throughoutEurope.' Both Marx and Engels called on theEuropean working class to give full support tothe Polish independence movement. In responseto this call of the leaders of the internationalproletariat, the West European proletariat un-folded a widespread mass movement in supportof Poland. British workers in solidarity withPoland convened a workers' meeting in 1864 towhich representatives of France, German;r, Italyand Poland were invited. Marx attended thismeeting which decided immediately to set upthe Working Men's International As3ociation.This was how the Polish uprising became "thestarting-point for the International." (Fm theGeneua Meeti,ng of the 50th Annbersary of thePolish ReuoLution o, 1830, 1881.) This showsvividly that the Po[sh independence movementwhich enjoyed Marx's and Engels' firm suplrcrtdirectly helped bring about the founding of theFirst International and greatly promoted the de-velopment of the workers' movement in Eunope.

. The Crimeon Wor

In the early 50s of the 19th century, Marxand Engets followed closely tsarist Russia'sschemes to partition Tllrkey and the CrimeanWar. that followed. Engels polnted out: It was"a war . . . of traditional ambition with theRussians, of life and death with the Turks."lThe Hotg Wor, 1853.) Throughout the war,Marx and Engels clearly sided with Turkey.Before the outbreak of the war, they warnedthat if tsarist Russia won the war, occupiedConstantinople and the straits of Bosponrs andDardanelles and gained control of Turkey, itwould nearly double ib strength and becomeso much stronger than all other EuropeaD €oun-tries mmbined; if events developed in thatdirection, it would be most disastrous to tlqerevolutionery cause. On the other hand, theypredicted, if tsarist Russia turned out to tre theloser, a new revolutionary high tide was $qreto rise in the European countries to speed upthe ripening of the revolutionary gituation inRussia and help bring about the.collapse of the

January 27,7978

',',t

feudal sysfiln il Ou"ope and the ,liberation ofthe oppressed nations there.

, ,' The war developed exactly as Mar* andEngeb .had predicted. After the oitbreak ofthe war, Turkey fought back doggedly. Intheir bid for the mastery of Turkey, Britainand France cEme to the rescue of the country.Austria and Prussia, too, brought military pres-sure to bear on tsarist Russia for fear that itmight become too strong. Tsarist Russia thussuffered a disastrous defeat; tsarism "had com-promised Russia before the wolld, and therebycompromised itself befqle Russia. There fol-lowed a terrible disillusionment." (Engels:The Foreign Poliq of Russian Tsorilszrr., 1890.)As the "European gendarme," it was seriouslyweakened. The revolution in Europe which hadbeen at a low ebb since the petback of 1848began to look up and a new revolutionary up-surge was in the offing. All this proved to bea boon to the European revolutionary move-ment.

Eromples of Toctics

Lenin spoke highly of Marx and Engelstaking the attitude towards Russian tsaristempire as the criterion by which to differentiateEurope's political forces and to determine towhich national movement in Europe the inter-national proletariat should give its support.He cailed these "examples of Marx'stactics.l' Today, it can be said that theseexamples arq still instructlve as they will helpus in analysing present-day reality. They tellrx that as Marx and Engels firmly supportedthe Polish independence movement, we mustlend firm support to thb anti-lmperialist, anti-hegemonist struggle of the oppressed nations to-

' day, and that as they suppprted the Turkish em-pire in its resistance to lsarist Ruisian aggression,we must support the gecond world countries inthe struggle against the two hegemonic lx)wers,the $oviet Unioa bnd the United States. Therevolutionary policy of forming the broadestunited front, whatever the conteht, is to strike atthe main enerny. This is as true tOday as it was acentury ago; it is entlrely in accord with theintirests of the international proletariat.

21

Oil Struggle Develops in Depth

rnHE oil struggle waged by lhe third worldI oil-producing countries has brought about

a new eeonomic situation for the +hird worldcountries in safeguarding their national rightsand interests and combating plunder by thesuperpowers. It also demonstrates that thethird world countries and people constitute themain force in the struggle against imperialismand hegemonism.

lmperiolist Ptunder

Plunder of Asian, African and Latin Amer-ican oil has long been a source of- enormousprofits for imperialism. A century ago the im-perialists, with fire and sword, invaded the oil-producing countries and imposed treaties ofconcessions on them. By 1957, imperialist con-cessions in Asia, Africa and Latin Americatotalled over 9.8 million square kilometres,about the size of the whole of Erurope. The in-ternational oil cartels tightfy controlled theprospecting, extracting, refining, transport andmarketing of oil, and reaped millions upon mil-lions of dollars in profit from the tens of bil-lions of tons of crude oil they grabbed. llhe-exploitation of one barel of oil in the MiddleEast cost only 5 per cent of what it did in theUnited States. The U.S. monopoly capitalistsannually pocketed an average of over 40,000dollars in profit from each Middle East oil work-er. "OiI is dirt-cheap." Historical facts showthat to a considerable extent the prosperity ofthe imperialist countrie was built on dreap oilseized from the third world.

Ttre fight for the oil resources hasbeen one of the main aspects of imperialist con-tention for world hegemony. Before World WarII Britain and the United States had beenlocked in a fierce battle for oil. Now the twosuperpowers, the Soviet Union and the UnitedStates - which are contending for world hege-

22

mony, have become two overlords scramhlingfor the oil resourees of the third world, . Aft€rWorld War II, U.S. imperialism used .evgr5rmeans to secure oil. It attempted to perpetuateits control and plunder of the Middle East, oneof the most important oil bases in the world.Aftgrwards, the Soviet Union started its scufflewith the United States for the oil resources ofthe third world, Since then the tussle betweenthe two superpowers has been growing inintensity.

The Strength of the Third tUorld

The plunder and contention for hegemony bythe imperialist powers, the superpowers in par-ticular, inevitably arouse the resistance andstruggle of the Jhird world countries and peo-ple. The oil-producing countries in Asia, Africaand Latin America have displayed ever greaterstrength in their resolute struggle against impe-rialism over the years.

After the outbreak of the fourth MiddleEast war in October 1973, the struggle againsthegemonism surged to a new high in the worldeconomic arena as Arab oil-producing countrieSinitiated the use of oil as a weapon and werejoined by other oil-producing codntries of thethird world.

The use of oil as a weapon was a hard blowto one hegemonist power and an exposure ofthe other. First, the oil-producing countries ofthe third world have seized back the right tofix prices for crude oil. They have readjustedoil prices a number of times in the last fouryears, bringing up the depressed oil prices tofour times the former level. This brought toan end the era of imperialist and hegemonistplunder of low-priced oil. The income of oil-producing countries increased by a big marginand their economic strength was greatly en-hanced. The total oil revenue of the 13 ooun-

Peki.ng Retsiew, No, 4

pto?orrcil 0f olt oulPu AilD txponl Ey opt(tTETBEN SITTES II{ IHT WORI.D IOIII,

011 tEvlilut 8rroru lrD ttrEtIHE 0lr PrKt wAs lllstD

,O yrs. (1954-1973) I25 billidn U.S. dollars| , yr. (1974) IIO billion U.S. dollars

tries whieh are now members of the OrgBrdza-tion of Petroleum Exporting Countries was only125,000 million U.S. dollars in the 20 years end-ing 1973. It stood at 110,400 million dollars ina single year, 19?4, the first year after oil priceswere raised. By the end of 1973, these coun-tries had a total surplus of only 3,000 milliondollars, but by the end of March 1977, theirreserves totalled 144,000 million dollars Be-sides, they have taken over step by step tleshares of foreign oil companies, or nationalizedthem, thus aecelerating the collapse of the con-cession system of imperialism. Now all oil-producing countries are taking measunes in thefield of refining, transport and sales to recovermore of their oil rights and interests and de-veiop their national oil industries.

U.S. imperialism, long the plunderer of theoil resources of the third world; wai hard hitby the oil weapon. It is losing its privileges inmany oil-producing countries and its eoonomicexploitation is being curbed. In 1972, tJre yearbefore the oil-producing countries seized backthe right to fix oil prices, the United Statesspent only 3J00 mitlion dollars in oil imports.But in 1976, the figure soared to 36,000 milliondollars. It was estimated at 45,000 milliondollars last year.

In the 'struggle over oil, Soviet mcial-imperialism has revealed itself as a double-dealer. Prior to the use of oil as a weapon, ttreleaders of the Soviet Union pretended to be onthe side of the oil-producing countries whilewgrhing them against employing the oil weap-on, describing such an action as "an insane

January 27,7978

step that might lead,lo a world.uiar.'l Duringthe oit embargo, Moscow shipped large quanti-.ties of oil to the United States, thus standipgin lhe way of the Arab countries. Later, it gotIarge amounts of oil dollars and oil rubles bybuying,cheap.and selling dear. In, such dgals,eyen {he East European countries were notspared.

. Uniq in SuugglcTtre year 19?? witnessed further develop-

ment of the oil struggle waged by the oil-pro-ducing cguntries o! the third world in rallyinground the banner of fighting in unity.

, ['irst, they. firmly exposed the plots of thetwo superpowers to sabotage the oil struggle.One superpower.had confronted t}re oil-produc-ing countries with a threat of armed force. Inreply, sorne Arab oil-produeing countiies warn-ed imperialism that they would destroy all oilfield facilities and cut off all oil supply to itif it dared to resort to force.

Ttre other superpower schemed to split ortopplb the OPEC. The attempt was sternly ex-posed by the leaders or governments of manyoil-producing countries, who declared that theywould never be taken in.

Second, they safeguarded and reinforcedunity among themselvee. Ttre superpowersgtroa,ted over the "two-tier prices" that appearedfor some time after OPEC's Doha conference inDecqmber 19?6. But OPEC decided last Julyto restore the "single price" before it met inStockholm. Ttris was another signal victory ofthe oil-producing countries of the third worldin eonsolldating unity and struggling in co-ordination.

Ttrird, they strengthened their relations ofmutual aid and cro+peration with the non-oil-producing countries of the third world. Foryears the oil-producing countries whose strug-gle enjoyed the powerful support of the non-oil-producing countries, provided various kindsof, aid to the developing countries among theIatter. , Ttre financial aid provided by the oil-producing Arab countries to the non-oil-produc-ing countries increased from about 1,000 mil-lion dollars in 19?3 to 5,600 million dollars in

1975. The special fund set up by OPBC to aidthe developing cuuntries aleo'went'up to 1,600million dollars last year from 800 million,dol-lars in 1976. At the Afro-AraU lurirmit lastMarch, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United ArabEmirates and the state of Qatar bnnouncid theprovision of 1,500 million dollars in aid forAfrican and Atab sountries. A similar histor-ical destiny and the common task of combatingimperialism and hqgemonisrn have brought theoil-producing countries and the non+il-produc-ing countries. of the third world close togCther.

Fourtb, they enlarged the united frontagainst hegemonism by winning over the secondworld countries. In their attitude towards theoil struggle, the second world countries havecontradictiohs rrriih the,turs' superpowers des-pite sorrle points in common between thern" Intheir own interest and to safeguard theirvitaloil supply, the second world countries realizethat they should have '.dialogue," instiad ofconfrontation, wittr the oil-producing countriesof the third world. In return, the latter haveadopted an attitude'of winning oyer and cb-operating with them. 'Since the beginning oflast year, the oil-producing countries have con-cluded a series of agreements on exporting

TIIIA1{OAI, AD PNOYIDTD BY OII.PIODUCIITGANAB COUl{ITI ES IO }IOil-OII.-Pf, ODUCII{G COUilIRIIS

ot lllt IBInD wonlDu.il: billion U.S. dollars

'fficrude oil and importing industrial equipmentwith Japan and a number of West Europeanaiiintries Itey also announeed that they woulds&pply crtrde oil to .the seeond- world countriesat stablepril*s if they did not disrupt the rela-tions of stippty iira dqrrand on the oil market.

Ttre struggle over oil is dev"eloping in depth.The united struggle of , the thir{ world oil-produci4g countries against hegemonism rnep-rese{rts a historical trend which is invincible.

-by Hsin Ping

Ithy Does illoscow lesOrt to Lies ad $landers0y0r llarrpuchea-Uiet'ilam firtned Conflict?

ITHE Soviet propaganda machine has recentlyf churned out a string of lieq to slander China

over the Kampuchea-V.iet Nam armed conflict.A Seviet radio commentary on January 3 allegedthat "the worsening relations between the So.cialist Republic of Viet Nam and Kampucheahave obviously been provoked by Peking." TheSoviet newapgper, Iasestia, and'TASS time andagain spread such rumours as "many Chinesemilitary advisers hdve taken paft in the militaryactions of the Katnpuchean side."

24

. , No one is going to.believe these groundlessfabrications which aie therefore not worth re-futing. But what deserves attention is that,apart from deliberate animosity towards China,the Soviet Union has an ulterior motive lnchoosing this very moment to tell and spreadsuch lies with unusual haste.

A law governing the Kremlin's actioru isthat, rryhenever it wants to provoke an interna-

.,'tional dispute and interfere in it, Moscow in-variably tries to create a pretext and often plays

Peking Reoiew, No. 4

the -role of a villain bringing suit before hisvictims in order to divert people's attention awayfrom its own machinations.

History has repeatedly proved that there i.sindeed some villain who makes it a practice tofish in troubled waters by provoking interna-tional incidents and it is none other than theSoviet Union itself. In 1971, taking advantageof the dispute between India, and Pakistdn, itsupported one part5r and attacked the other.Trading on the Cyprus situation in 19?4, itagain stepped in, exacerbating contradictionsbetween the two communities on the island anddifferences between the countries concerned, inan attempt to infiltrate the area, expand andstrengthen its position to cortend with theUnited States for hegemony iR the Mediter-ranean. From 1975 to 1976, it exploited thedifferences among the three Angolan national-liberation organizations to provokg a civil warby backing one and attacking the othertwo. Moreover, it sent vast numberS of mer-cenaries to carry out armed intervention againstthis newly independent country and turned itinto a forward base for Soviet expansion into'southern Africa.

In 1977, utilizing the differences betweenAngola andZaire, it again instigated mercenariesto invade Zaire. Then, it stretched its handsinto the Horn of Africa and the Middle and NearEast, cashed in on the disputes between thecountries concerned to aggravate contradictionsthere so as to expand its sphere of influence.

Not long ago, the Soviet Union held an air-Iift exercise on an amazing scale with the Hornof Africa as the focus. This makes it abundantlyclear how it uses disputes among third worldcountries for its own strategic ends. It iscommon knowledge that Moscow has been try-ing for a long time to establish its hegemonyover Southeast Asia and bring the region intoits "system of co[ective security in Asia." Nowit is repeating its stock tricks on the questionof Kampuchea-Viet Nam conflict. It is Moscowitself that is stirring up trouble for the solepurpose of bringing unrest to the region, yet itmounts a barrage of rumours in order to vilifyChina. Its purpose, of course, is to divert peo-

January 27,1978

ple's attention and conceal its strategic aim ofestablishing domination over Southeast Asia.

The other aim of this deluge of Sovietslanders is to sow discord. It has alleged that"the Peking aufhorities refuse to be reconciLedwith the presence of a unified socialist VietNam. ." This cock-and-bull story is theheight of absurdity. As is well known, the Chi-nese people have always given powerful backingto the Vietnamese people in their'war againstU.S. aggression and for national salvation andin their struggle for the reunification of theirfatherland. The Vietnamese people who havebeen through those difficult war years cantestify to this historical fact. On the otherhand, it is an irrefutable fact that throrighoutthe five decisive fears of war waged by theKampuchean people against the traitorous IonNol ciique, the Soviet Union had all along sidedwith the clique and antagonized the Kam-puchean people. It smeared their war -ofnational, liberation as a "fratricidal war" and,working hand in glove with the Lon Nol clique,it clandestinely tried to rig up a "third force" inthat country to sabotage the revolution of theKampuchean people. The Soviet Governmentmaintained diplomatic relations with the puppetLon Nol regime right up to the last day of thetraitorous clique.

Consequgntly, it is the Soviet authoritieswho "refuse to be reconciled with" the preseneeof a revolutionary and socialist DemocraticKampuchea in Southeast Asia and will not besatisfied until they get rid of it. It is for thisreason that Moscow is zealously telling lies intrying to confuse the picture to mask its wildambitions.

Soviet lies and slanders, however, have apositive use: they help heighten the vigilance ofthe people of Indochina and elsewhere in South-east Asia against the Soviet Union. The peopleare waiting to see what further acts the Soviethegemonists are going to commit in an attemptto capitalize on the..armed conflict betweenKampuchea and Viet Nam.

(A commenl,ery bA Hsinhua Corresponlent)

The Unemployment Problem in

Western Countries

f N the major Westem capitalist coun'tries, ther huge army of jobless workers and largenumbers of unemployed youth in.prticularhave given rise to a het of social and politicalproblems It is a reflection of the deepeningpolitical, economic and social crises in thecapitalist world.

Nu Phenomenon in Postwor YeorIn the second half of 19?5 or in 19?6, the

Western countries began to experienc:e an eco-nomic upturn after reaching the lowest pointduring the gravest postwar economic crisis of1974-75. By the first half of last year, the ecoDo-mies of most of these countries had reached, orwere approachingi their pre-crisis levets. How-ever, the number of jobless in some countrieshad not dwindled but had been increasing. Thishad never happened in previous postwareconomic crises. It constitutes a feature of theserious unemplo)rment in the Western countries

According to data compiled by the Organiza-tion for Economic Co-operation and Development (O.E.C.D.), industrial output in its 24member countries went up in varying degreesas- compared with that in 19?5, but unemploy-ment; rme from 15.25 million to over 16 million.

Official U.S. figures showed that in thefirst 11 months of last year, the rate of unem-plo.yment remained at about ? per cent and thenumber of jobless stood at 6.8 million inNovember, or 60 per cent higher than inNovember 1973, the pre-crisis year.

26

In the nine European Economic Communitycountries, unemploSrment reached 6.04 million'last September, or double the figure of threeyears ago. In Britain it surpassed the milliohmark in August 1975 and reached 1.636 millionlast August, a postwar record.

In West Germany, unemployment droppedto less than one million in the first half of lastyear, but again rose above the million mark inNovember - standing at 1,004,300.

DieterKroneberg, Chairman of the Employment PolicyWorking Group of the West German Free Dem-ocratic Party, said that this development "isbitter, but not unexpected."

In Italy, unernployment totalled 1.7 million.An AP report dated last December 16 said thatby the year's end, the number of Italians outof work would soar to nearly 2 million' ?.I pu"cent of .the work force.

In Japa.n, unemployment continued to risein the first few months of last year, reactringl apost-crisis record of. 7.27 million in March.Despite a slight decline afterwdrds, it still stoodabove the million mark. Besides, 2.5 to 3 millionworkers were semi-unemployed or lrclentiallyunemployed.

Jobless Youth Going Up

Another characteristic of the serious unem-ployment in Western countries is a steady in-crease in the number of jobless youth with theirpercentage in the overall unemployment figurealso going up.

Peking Reai,eu:, No. 4

The number of unemployed youth in thenine E.E.C. countries has risen rapidly in thelast few years. It exceeded one million in lg?4,a 50 per cent increase over 1g?3, and surpassed2 million in the middle of last year, or 3b percent of the'joLle