My original intention in coming today was only to listen to what our comrades had to say. But the question of selecting and training young and middle-aged cadres is extremely important, so I have decided to say a few words about it myself. We constantly stress that it is a question of strategic importance on which the very destiny of our Party depends. It has now become extremely urgent to resolve this issue. If we don't resolve it within three to five years, we shall be faced with catastrophe. Foreigners have described our recent Sixth Plenary Session of the Central Committee as having arranged for the transfer of leadership and settled the question of top personnel without friction, and they have praised us for having dealt with these matters in an orderly way. Nevertheless, if we don't solve the problem of succession on a nationwide scale within three to five years, chaos may ensue. Some veteran cadres are no longer with us and others are no longer able to work, while new cadres cannot be promoted, or if they are, there is always some kind of objection. Many veteran cadres think the only good cadres are those who support them, and this seems to be a widespread phenomenon in the Party. To put it bluntly, the question of whether people are appointed on their merits or by favouritism has not been settled satisfactorily. I don't mean that this applies to all veteran comrades, but it does apply to a considerable number. I suggest we learn from Comrade Liu Lanbo, who was mentioned at this meeting today. He personally recommended a younger comrade to succeed him as Minister of Electric Power. Why have you all been asked to stay on at the end of the Sixth Plenary Session for this two-day meeting to discuss Comrade Chen Yun's proposals for promoting and training young and middle-aged cadres and for retiring old ones? It's because this question is very urgent, very important. Comrades from the army may recall that I brought up the question of lowering the average age of army cadres at a conference on political work convened in 1964. That was 17 or 18 years ago. Although the question was not yet very urgent then, it had already surfaced. I also said at that conference that wisdom increases with age. But that was in the early sixties, and the situation today is completely different. In short, we have become more and more aware of the urgency of the matter. Therefore, the Central Committee has recently been considering the establishment of two central commissions under the new [Twelfth] Central Committee, an advisory commission and a commission for discipline inspection, to absorb a number of veteran comrades. The members of the Central Committee would be somewhat younger, which would be good for the future. We veteran comrades should have an enlightened attitude and take the lead in solving this major problem of reducing the cadres' average age. Otherwise, it will be impossible to solve. If the veteran comrades don't take the lead, the others will hesitate to select younger cadres. And even if you issue orders that younger cadres are to be selected, there is no certainty that the right persons will be chosen, for some comrades will still be considering which persons support them personally. We must be cautious, because the hard-core elements of the Gang of Four and those who engaged in beating, smashing and looting during the ``cultural revolution'' are clever and opportunistic, and they know how to brag about themselves and flatter other people. Our veteran comrades are liable to be taken in by them. Therefore, the crux of the matter is that veterans should take the lead, really be selfless and keep the overall situation in mind.

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I believe that this plenary session has settled two questions very well indeed. First, it has adopted the ``Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China'', which really lives up to our original requirements. It will be immensely important in unifying thinking inside the Party. Of course, as Comrade Hu Yaobang said, it will still take another year's work to really achieve that unity. But in any event we have a unified standard that from now on can serve as a guide to every Party member when making statements. Even if one has not yet straightened out his own thinking in this respect, in deference to organizational discipline he should take the resolution as a guide. We believe that it will stand the test of history.

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March 27, 1981

First, the core of our current work should be implementing the guidelines laid down by the Central Working Conference of December 1980. Our work should be carried out in accordance with the views expressed at that conference by the four comrades of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, with the decisions of the Central Committee on the policies for current press and radio publicity, and with its directives on the handling of illegal publications and organizations and related problems.

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We hope that after assuming the presidency, Mr. Ronald Reagan will make new contributions to the development of Sino-U.S. relations. It was the Republican Party that turned a new page in Sino-U.S. relations during the administration of Mr. Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. We will always remember it was Mr. Nixon who was determined to improve Sino-U.S. relations during his presidency. When Jimmy Carter served as President, Sino-U.S. relations witnessed new development. However, in the latter period of President Carter's term, there was the Taiwan Relations Act. On our part, we hope that Sino-U.S. relations will continue to develop. Frankly speaking, however, we were really disturbed by certain statements Mr. Reagan made in his election platform. When George Bush visited China, we said to him that we understood that statements made in election campaigns in his country might not necessarily be put into practice and that we would pay close attention to what actions Mr. Reagan takes after assuming office. When China and the United States established diplomatic relations in 1979, they settled the main question, the Taiwan question, and the United States recognized Taiwan as part of China. Only by settling this question could the two countries establish new relations and continue to develop them. The Taiwan question should be considered an issue of the past, but now it has been brought up again. We asked Mr. Bush to pass on to Mr. Reagan our clear-cut position on this question.

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I fully agree with Comrade Chen Yun's speech. He correctly summed up our experience in handling a series of problems in economic work over the past 31 years and the lessons we have drawn from it. His statement will serve as our guide in this field for a long time.

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Oriana Fallaci: Will Chairman Mao's portrait above Tiananmen Gate be kept there?

Deng Xiaoping: It will, forever. In the past there were too many portraits of Chairman Mao tse-tung. They were hung everywhere. That was not proper and it didn't really show respect for Chairman Mao. It's true that he made mistakes in a certain period, but he was after all a principal founder of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic of China. In evaluating his merits and mistakes, we hold that his mistakes were only secondary. What he did for the Chinese people can never be erased. In our hearts we Chinese will always cherish him as a founder of our Party and our state.

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Comrades,

The main task of this enlarged meeting is to discuss the reform of the system of Party and state leadership and some related questions.

Changing the leadership of the State Council will be a major item on the agenda of the forthcoming Third Session of the Fifth National People's Congress. The proposed changes will include the following: Comrade Hua Guofeng will no longer hold the concurrent post of Premier, which will be assumed by Comrade Zhao Ziyang; Comrades Li Xiannian, Chen Yun, Xu Xiangqian, Wang Zhen and I will cease to serve concurrently as Vice-Premiers so that more energetic comrades can take over; Comrade Wang Renzhong will cease to serve concurrently as Vice-Premier, so that he can concentrate on his important job in the Party; and Comrade Chen Yonggui has asked to be relieved of his post of Vice-Premier and the Central Committee of the Party has decided to endorse his request. Moreover, following consultations with the organizations concerned, we are proposing some personnel changes for the posts of Vice-Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and Vice-Chairmen of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. These changes have been repeatedly discussed by the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, and they will be incorporated into formal proposals which the Central Committee will submit to the forthcoming sessions of the NPC and the CPPCC for discussion and decision.

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When a Communist Party comments on the actions of a foreign fraternal Party, it may often judge them according to some rigid formula or established pattern. Facts have shown that this approach gets one nowhere. Conditions vary greatly from country to country, the level of political awareness varies from people to people, and the class relations and the alignment of class forces in one country are vastly different from those in another. How can a fixed formula be applied mechanically despite all these differences? Even though you use a Marxist formula, it is hard to avoid mistakes if you don't integrate your formula with the reality in the country concerned. The Chinese revolution was carried out not by adopting the model of the Russian October Revolution but by proceeding from the realities in China, by using the rural areas to encircle the cities and seize power with armed force. Since the Chinese revolution succeeded by integrating the universal principles of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete practice of China, we should not demand that other developing countries, let alone the developed capitalist countries, adopt our model in making revolution. Of course, one cannot demand that they all adopt the Russian model, either.

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Now that more flexible policies have been introduced in the rural areas, the practice of fixing farm output quotas on a household basis has been adopted in some localities where it is suitable. It has proved quite effective and changed things rapidly for the better. Fixing output quotas on a household basis has been adopted in most of the production teams in Feixi County, Anhui Province, and there have been big increases in production. Nearly all the production teams in the same province's Fengyang County, which incidentally is the locale of the ``Fengyang Flower-Drum'' Opera, have been practising an all-round contract system, which inside of a year has resulted in an upswing in production that has transformed the county's prospects. Some comrades are worried that this practice may have an adverse effect on the collective economy. I think their fears are unwarranted. Development of the collective economy continues to be our general objective. Where farm output quotas are fixed by household, the production teams still constitute the main economic units. What does the future hold for these places? It is certain that as long as production expands, division of labour increases and the commodity economy develops, lower forms of collectivization in the countryside will develop into higher forms and the collective economy will acquire a firmer basis. The key task is to expand the productive forces and thereby create conditions for the further development of collectivization. To be specific, the following four conditions should be realized: First, a higher level of mechanization, one which is relatively well suited to local natural and economic conditions and welcomed by the people (here I mean mechanization in a broad sense, not merely mechanized ploughing, sowing and harvesting). Second, a higher level of management, combining accumulated experience and a contingent of cadres with fairly strong management abilities. Third, a developed diversified economy that leads to the establishment of a variety of specialized groups or teams, which in turn leads to the large-scale expansion of the commodity economy in the rural areas. Fourth, an increase in the income of the collective, both in absolute terms and in relation to the total income of the economic unit involved. If these four conditions are realized, the localities that now fix output quotas on a household basis will develop new forms of collectivization. This sort of development won't come from above as the result of administrative decree, but will be an inevitable response to the demands of growing production.

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April-May 1980

I
Revolution means carrying out class struggle, but it does not merely mean that. The development of the productive forces is also a kind of revolution -- a very important one. It is the most fundamental revolution from the viewpoint of historical development.

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