We hold that all countries, big or small, rich or poor, should be equal, and that international economic affairs should be jointly managed by all the countries of the world instead of being monopolized by the one or two superpowers.
It doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.The United States brags about its political system, but the [American] President says one thing during the election, something else when he takes office, something else at midterm and something else when he leaves.A basic contradiction between socialism and the market economy does not exist.When our thousands of Chinese students abroad return home, you will see howChina will transform itself.If you open a window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in.
It doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.
As quoted in Hung LiChina's Political Situation and the Power Struggle in Peking (1977), p. 107; according toChambers Dictionary of Quotations (1993), p. 315, this quote is from a speech at the Communist Youth League conference in July 1962.
TheUnited States brags about itspolitical system, but the[American] President says one thing during the election, something else when he takes office, something else at midterm and something else when he leaves.
When asked about China's political stability by a group of American professors in 1983, as quoted inThe Pacific Rim and the Western World: Strategic, Economic, and Cultural Perspectives (1987), p. 105
As quoted inDaily report: People's Republic of China, Editions 240-249 (1993), p. 30
Variant: There are no fundamental contradictions between a socialist system and a market economy.
Interview,Time, 4 November 1985.
When our thousands of Chinese students abroad return home, you will see howChina will transform itself.
As quoted inForbes, Vol. 176, Editions 7-13 (2005), p. 79
We mustn't fear to adopt the advancedmanagement methods applied in capitalist countries (...) The very essence of socialism is the liberation and development of the productive systems (...) Socialism and market economy are not incompatible (...) We should be concerned aboutright-wing deviations, but most of all, we must be concerned aboutleft-wing deviations.
Cited by António Caeiro in Pela China Dentro (translated), Dom Quixote, Lisboa, 2004.ISBN 972-20-2696-8
If you open a window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in.
Self-reliance in no way means “self-seclusion” and rejection of foreign aid. We have always considered it beneficial and necessary for the development of the national economy that countries should carry on economic and technical exchanges on the basis of respect for state sovereignty, equality and mutual benefit, and the exchange of needed goods to make up for each other’s deficiencies.
We hold that in both political and economic relations, countries should base themselves on the Five Principles of mutual respect forsovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. We are opposed to the establishment of hegemony and spheres of influence by any country in any part of the world in violation of these principles.
We hold that all countries, big or small, rich or poor, should be equal, and that international economic affairs should be jointly managed by all the countries of the world instead of being monopolized by the one or two superpowers. We support the full right of the developing countries, which comprise the great majority of the world’s population, to take part in all decision-making on international trade, monetary, shipping and other matters.
We hold that international trade should be based on the principles of equality, mutual benefit and the exchange of needed goods. We support the urgent demand of the developing countries to improve trade terms for their raw materials, primary products and semi-manufactured and manufactured goods, to expand their market and to fix equitable and favourable prices. We support the developing countries in establishing various organizations of raw material exporting countries for a united struggle against colonialism, imperialism and hegemonism.
We hold thateconomic aid to the developing countries must strictly respect the sovereignty of the recipient countries and must not be accompanied by any political or military conditions and the extortion of any special privileges or excessive profits. Loans to the developing countries should be interest-free or low-interest and allow for delayed repayment ofcapital andinterest, or even reduction and cancellation ofdebts in case of necessity. We are opposed to the exploitation of developing countries by usury or blackmail in the name of aid.
We hold that technology transferred to the developing countries must be practical, efficient, economical and convenient for use. The experts and other personnel dispatched to the recipient countries have the obligation to pass on conscientiously technical know-how to the people there and to respect the laws and national customs of the countries concerned. They must not make special demands or ask for special amenities, let alone engage in illegal activities.
If one day China should change her colour and turn into a superpower, if she too should play the tyrant in the world, and everywhere subject others to her bullying, aggression and exploitation, the people of the world should identify her as social-imperialism, expose it, oppose it and work together with the Chinese people to overthrow it.
Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the National Conference on Science (March 1978) (excerpts)
The key to thefour modernizations is the modernization of science and technology. Without modern science and technology, it is impossible to build modern agriculture, modern industry or modern national defence. Without the rapid development of science and technology, there can be no rapid development of the economy. TheCentral Committee of the Party decided to call this national science conference in order to bring home to the Party and country the importance of science, to map out a programme, to commend advanced units and individuals and to discuss measures for speeding up the development of science and technology in China.
Marxism has consistently treated science and technology as part of the productive forces. More than a century ago, Marx said that expansion of the use of machinery in production requires the conscious application of natural science. Science too, he said, is among the productive forces.The development of modern science and technology has bound science and production ever more tightly together. It is becoming increasingly clear that science and technology are of tremendous significance as productive forces.
In societies under the rule of exploiting classes, there are various kinds of mental workers. Some are wholly in the service of the reactionary ruling classes and thus stand in an antagonistic relationship to manual workers. But even in such a situation, as Lenin said, many of the intellectuals engaged in scientific and technical work are themselves not capitalists but scholars, even though they are filled with bourgeois prejudices. The fruits of their work are used by the exploiters, but in general this is determined by the social system and not by their own free choice. They are totally different from those politicians who rack their brains for expedients of direct service to the reactionary ruling classes.
Science and technology are part of the productive forces. Mental workers who serve socialism are part of the working people. A correct understanding of these two facts is essential to the rapid development of our scientific enterprises. Once we have accepted these premises, it follows that we must make every effort to develop scientific research and education in science and to encourage the revolutionary initiative of our scientific, technical and educational workers.
For the modernization of science and technology, we must have a mighty scientific and technical force serving the working class, a force which is both “red and expert” and includes a large number of scientists, engineers and technicians who are first rate by world standards. It will not be easy for us to build up such a force.
The discovery and training of talented people by our scientists and teachers is in itself an achievement and a contribution to the country. The history of science shows us the tremendous importance of discovering genuinely talented persons. Some of the world’s scientists look upon the finding and training of new talent as the crowning achievement of a lifetime devoted to science. There is much to be said for this view.
We must give full play to democracy and follow the mass line, trusting the judgement of the scientists and technicians in such matters as the evaluation of scientific papers, the assessment of the competence of professional personnel, the elaboration of plans for scientific research and the evaluation of research results. When views diverge on scholarly questions, we must follow the policy of “letting a hundred schools of thought contend” and encourage free discussion. In scientific and technical work, we must listen closely to the opinions of the experts and leave them free to use all their skills and talents so as to achieve better results and reduce our errors to the minimum.
But… look,Chairman Mao made mistakes, yes. Nonetheless, he was one of the principal founders of theCommunist Party of China and thePeople’s Republic of China. Thus, when we look at his merits together with his mistakes, we think that his mistakes take second place, while his merits take first. And this means that the contribution he made to theChinese revolution cannot be forgotten and that theChinese people will always cherish his memory; they will always think of him as one of the founders of the party and of the republic.
According toMarx, socialism, which is the first stage ofCommunism, covers a very long period. And, during this period, we will try to fulfill the principle “From each according to his ability, to each according to his work.” In other words, we will blend the interests of the individual with the interests of the country. There is no other way to mobilize interest in production among the masses, let’s admit it. And since the capitalist West will be helping us to overcome the backwardness we find ourselves in — the poverty that afflicts us — it doesn’t seem opportune to get caught up in the subtleties. However things go, the positive effects will be greater than the negative effects.
Democracy anddictatorship of the proletariat are two parts of the same antithesis, and proletarian democracy is far superior to its capitalist counterpart. We are emphasizing the Four Principles that we must adhere to: the principle of socialism, the principle of dictatorship of the proletariat, the principle ofMarxism andLeninism elaborated in Mao Zedong Thought, and the principle of leaders supported by the Communist Party of China. So, you see, that even the principle of dictatorship of the proletariat has remained untouched and untouchable.
War is inevitable because superpowers exists and because imperialism exists. And we are not the only ones who think this way; in every part of the world today, many people are convinced that war will break out in the1980s. The next ten years will be very, very dangerous. They’re terrifying. We should never forget this, because this is the only way we will prevent war from breaking out immediately; this is the only way we can defer it. Not by chatting about peace and detente. Westerners have been talking about peace and detente since the end of theSecond World War. So has the Soviet Union. But where is this peace, where is this detente? Year to year, if not day to day, the hot spots are growing; the factors that will lead to World War Three are increasing; and still they talk about detente and peace.
China is poor and our military is backwards, I agree. But we have our traditions, you know. And for quite some time, using inadequate and miserable equipment, we have cultivated the art of defeating well-armed enemies. Our territory is extremely vast, and in this vast territory the people have learned the necessary resistance for a long war — to bend the strength of others through their weaknesses. Whoever wants to invade China should remember this truth, and I believe that the Soviets remember it well.
Hmm… listen, I have made mistakes — yes, sometimes serious ones. But I never made them with bad intentions; I always made them with good intentions. My conscience is clear about my own life. Hmm… listen, I think I could give myself fifty percent. Yes, fifty percent would be all right.
Deng is commonly quoted with this phrase in western media but there is no proof that he actually said it
However, this phrase in Chinese is more accurately translated as "wealth is glorious," where wealth can have a very general meaning, including knowledge, personal relationships, family: anything of value. Understood this way, the quote is not as directly controversial as a ideological/political statement, and so it is not hard to believe that he really did say this.[1]
One Country, Two systems.
Actually coined byMao Zedong, popularized by Deng Xiaoping
Traditional saying, first used in Chinese Communist context byChen Yun, 1980 December 16, then popularized by Deng 1984 October.[2] Frequently misattributed to Deng.[3][4]
We no longer know what socialism is, or how to get there, and yet it remains the goal.
First attributed to Deng by McKenzie Wark,[5] who was actually paraphrasing a similar sentence by him from a talk withAlfonso Guerra in 1987: "Our basic goal — to build socialism — is correct, but we are still trying to figure out what socialism is and how to build it".[6]
I think Deng Xiaoping is one of the greatest reformists in the history of China and the history of the world. I first met him when he came here at the time when I was a deputy prime minister. He was very curious about Malaysia. He was very keen on details of every aspect, so much so that sometimes I couldn't answer. Obviously he wanted to change from what was happening in China. He wanted to bring about reform. To bring about reforms he studied very carefully the performance of other countries. Because it was not easy to change China. You have a huge population. And obviously he didn't want to see China remain behind other nations of the world.
More significant than developments in theMiddle East, the death of Mao Zedong in September 1976 was not followed by any abandonment ofChina’s American alignment. As so often during theCold War, rivalries withinCommunist parties played a major role ininternational developments. The attempt by the radical ‘Gang of Four’, includingMao’s widow, to gain power was thwarted byHua Guofeng, the Premier, who became Chairman of the Central Committee. He, in turn, became less powerful as his rival, Deng Xiaoping, rose. Deng had been dismissed as Vice-Premier of the State Council earlier in 1976 as a result of the influence of the Gang of Four. Deng was reinstated in July 1977 and, while supporting control by theCommunist Party, outmanoeuvred the more ideological Hua by emphasisingpragmatism. Deng’s leadership was confirmed in December 1978 at the Third Plenum of the 11th CCP Congress. He remained in power until 1997.
Jeremy Black,The Cold War: A Military History (2015)
Deng Xiaoping favoured not only the alignment withAmerica, but also a re-evaluation in terms ofeconomic liberalisation rather than arevolution focused onMarxist purity. The modernisation ofTaiwan,South Korea andSingapore convinced Deng thatcapitalist modernisation worked. Formaldiplomatic relations with America were established on 1 January 1979 and, later that year, Deng became the first Chinese Communist leader to pay an official visit to theUSA. On this, Deng visited theNASA facilities inHouston and theBoeing headquarters inSeattle. He appreciated the significance of American technology and the need for modernisation were China to match this. One of the desired outcomes of this visit was to inaugurate what would become a massive influx of Chinese students that became an astounding transfer of human and technological skills. In 1978, moreover, a treaty of friendship withJapan helped foster stability inEast Asia and marked China’s willingness to ease relations with the Western bloc. In 1979, the Americans ended the Taiwan Patrol Force, which, from 1950, had policed the waters between China and Taiwan, protecting the latter.
Jeremy Black,The Cold War: A Military History (2015)
It could hardly have been anticipated, for example, that a long-time follower of Mao Zedong, at five feet in height barely visible beside him, would use the power of the Chinese Communist Party to give his country a market economy: "It doesn't matter if the cat is white or black," Deng Xiaoping liked to say, "so long as it catches mice." Deng's views on cats—by which he meantideologies—got him into trouble with Mao during theCultural Revolution, and at the time ofNixon's 1972 visit to Beijing, Deng was in exile with his family growing vegetables, chopping wood, working in a tractor repair plant, and nursing his son, whomRed Guards had thrown from the roof of a building, permanently paralyzing him. Mao called Deng back toBeijing the following year, acknowledging that he had "done good deeds seventy percent of the time and bad deeds thirty percent"—only to purge him again in 1976. Always resilient, Deng fled to southern China, hid out, and patiently awaited yet another rehabilitation. It came shortly after Mao's death in September of that year, and by the end of 1978 Deng had outmaneuvered all of his rivals to become China's "paramount" leader. He had already by then turned the tables on his predecessor by claiming that Mao had been right seventy percent of the time and wrong thirty percent: this now became party doctrine. Among the "right" things Mao had done were reviving China as a great power, maintaining the Communist Party's political monopoly, and openingrelations with the United States as a way of countering the Soviet Union. Among the "wrong" things was Mao's embrace of a disastrously administeredcommand economy. With this pronouncement on percentages, Deng won himself room to pursue a very different path.
Deng Xiaoping decided in 1979 that China could teachVietnam a lesson through a brief but decisive invasion, forcing the diversion ofVietnamese forces fromCambodia and delivering a blow to theVietnamese-Soviet (anti-China) alliance. His low opinion of the Vietnamese ignored the fact that they had routedFrance andoutlasted the United States. The Chinese miscalculation was not an unmitigated blunder: Deng cut his losses by keeping the conflict short, and the war exposed China's military weakness, allowing him to consolidate power and reform thePeople's Liberation Army. Operationally, though, the war was a military disaster for China. China suffered massive losses and failed to draw the Vietnamese out of Cambodia.
It was no longer possible to say that only the Western world could become rich throughcapitalism, so a new narrative took hold: although a fewdeveloping countries might be able to enter global markets from the periphery, it is only because they are very small, almost insignificant. Strangely enough, today you sometimes hear the opposite: that developing countries might make it, but only if they are very large. This is due to the transformation of two giants, China andIndia, which for decades were held back by, in one case, a communist despot, and in the other ademocratic but strictly protectionist command economy. Therefore, people said that Chinese and Indians will be successful all over the world – except in China andIndia. But then, in 1976, China’sdictator Mao Zedong, as theUSeconomistSteven Radelet put it, ‘single-handedly and dramatically changed the direction of globalpoverty with one single act: he died’. His successor, Deng Xiaoping, began to accept the private enterprise that peasants and villagers secretly engaged in and extended it to the entireeconomy. All the restrainedcreativity andambition was finally let loose and China grew at record speed. Ironically,intellectuals around the world – modern-dayMax Webers – soon explained that this is itself not that strange, asConfucianism made it easy to modernize the economy.
Johan Norberg,The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World (2023)
I knew Deng, and I had a wonderful, frank discussion with him, and he said, ‘ happened inTiananmen Square is none of your business—it’s a domestic issue, and we do whatever we want,’ and I said, ‘You’re right. It is none of our business. But the consequences of What what you did in the world and toour relations are our business. And that’s what I’m here to talk about.’
Brent Scowcroft, quoted in Jeffrey Goldberg, "Breaking Ranks",The New Yorker (October 23, 2005)
↑Henry He,Dictionary of the Political Thought of the People's Republic of China, Routledge, 2016,ISBN 978-1-31550044-7,p. 287
↑Evan Osnos,Boom Doctor,New Yorker, October 11, 2010: The strategy, as Chen Yun put it, was "crossing the river by feeling for the stones." (Deng, inevitably, received credit for the expression.)
↑Chinese land reform: A world to turn upside down,The Economist, 2013 October 31 Liu Hongzhi, who oversees the scheme, quotes a famous phrase often attributed to Deng, though in fact coined by a colleague: "We are crossing the river by feeling the stones."
↑McKenzie Wark,Capital is Dead: Is This Something Worse?, Verso, 2019,ISBN 978-1-78873-530-8, p. 101
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