Last year the leaders of our two countries made a wise and far-sighted policy decision in Tokyo: to consider and develop Sino-Japanese relations from a long-term point of view. They decided to develop relations through the 21st century and on into the 22nd and 23rd centuries, so that the people of our two countries will be friends forever. This is something more important than all the other issues between us.

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I gathered some impressions from my recent tour of three special economic zones in Guangdong and Fujian provinces and of the Baoshan Iron and Steel Complex in Shanghai. Today, I have invited you here to discuss the best ways of running the special economic zones and the question of opening more cities to the outside world.

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There are many disputes in the world, and we must find ways to solve them. Over the years I have been considering how those disputes could be solved by peaceful means, rather than by war. The plan we have proposed for reunifying the mainland with Taiwan is fair and reasonable. After reunification, Taiwan can go on practising capitalism while the mainland maintains socialism, all within the same unified China. One China, two systems. The same approach will be applied to the Hong Kong question -- one China, two systems. But Hong Kong is different from Taiwan in that it is a free port.

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The major question before this plenary session of the Central Committee has been the rectification of Party organizations. The Central Committee's decision on this question has been adopted after deliberation by all present. That decision is a very good one, and I fully agree with it. After the session we shall discuss the Party's leadership on the ideological front. At this time, however, I should like to make two points: the rectification movement must not be conducted in a perfunctory way, and people working in the ideological field must not spread mental pollution.

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Education should be geared to the needs of modernization, of the world and of the future.

(A nine-year school in Beijing.)

The number of crimes, including serious ones, has increased substantially, and the people are very disturbed about it. Over the past few years, far from being checked, the tendency has grown. Why is that? Chiefly because we have hesitated to take prompt and stern action to combat criminals and have given them very light sentences. This is true of both economic crimes and violent crimes such as robbery and murder.

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We should make use of the intellectual resources of other countries by inviting foreigners to participate in key development projects and other construction projects in various fields. We haven't recognized how important this is, and consequently we haven't done as much as we should have. In the matter of modernization we have neither experience nor technical knowhow. We should not be reluctant to spend money on recruiting foreigners. It doesn't matter whether they stay here for a long time or a short time, or just for a single project. Once they are here, we should make the best use of their skills. We have been giving them too many banquets and have been too hesitant about asking for their help and advice, when in fact they have been quite willing to assist us in our work.

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The most important issue is the reunification of the motherland. Peaceful reunification has become the common aim of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. The idea is not that one party should swallow up the other. We hope the two Parties will work together for national reunification and both contribute to the Chinese nation.

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The modernization we are striving for is modernization of a Chinese type. The socialism we are building is a socialism with Chinese characteristics. This is because we are acting according to our own concrete realities and conditions and mainly relying on ourselves.

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The Communists in any country should decide for themselves what road to take for revolution, because people in other countries are not familiar with the circumstances there. If foreigners presume to give orders, they will make mistakes. Why were we able to achieve victory in the Chinese revolution? Because the Chinese Communists led by Comrade Mao Zedong thought independently and, by integrating the universal principles of Marxism-Leninism with specific Chinese conditions, found the revolutionary road, forms and methods suited to China. Similarly, the victory of the October Revolution was a product of Lenin's integration of the principles of Marxism with Russian revolutionary practice. So if the Communists in a particular country want to make a successful revolution, the fundamental lesson is that they must find their own road in light of the conditions in that country.

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