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September 1963

Mao Zedong, 'There Are Two Intermediate Zones'

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两个中间地带*

一九六三年九月,一九六四年一月、七月

 

大家担心的是形势问题,尤其是国际形势。有些同志担心苏、美合作对我们不利。我总相信《红楼梦》上王熙凤说的那句话,“大有大的难处”。现在,美、苏两国都很困难。美国政策委员会主席罗斯特曾发表一篇文章,基调是说美、苏都碰到了许多困难,而且是没法解决的。我也不认识这个人,他同我的某些想法不谋而合,差不多。美国不论国内、国际到处都碰钉子,赫鲁晓夫也是这样。不要忘记这一点。还是《红楼梦》上冷子兴说的,“百脚之虫,死而不僵”。美国《锤与钢》杂志也说:美国像一株空了的大树,里边已被虫子咬空了,外边还枝叶茂盛。

 

我看中间地带有两个,一个是亚、非、拉,一个是欧洲。日本、加拿大对美国是不满意的。以戴高乐为代表的,有六国共同市场,都是些强大的资本主义国家。东方的日本,是个强大的资本主义国家,对美国不满意,对苏联也不满意。东欧各国对苏联赫鲁晓夫就那么满意?我不相信。情况还在发展,矛盾还在暴露。过去几年法国人闹独立性,但没有闹到今天这样的程度。苏联与东欧各国的矛盾也有明显发展,关系紧张得很。什么缓和国际形势,不要信那一套。苏、美达成协议,我看不那么容易。大西洋许多国家也不会赞成美国。戴高乐到处说法国不当卫星国,他们是控制和反控制的斗争。赫鲁晓夫说我们同戴高乐站在一条线上,其实我们同戴高乐也没有见过面。我们无论国内、国外,主要靠人民,不靠大国领袖。靠人民靠得住。

 

(一九六三年九月二十八日)

 

 

我们同苏联有外交关系,而且是社会主义阵营中的两个国家,但是中、苏两国之间的关系,还不如中国同日本自由民主党的关系好,也不如中国同池田派的关系好。这很值得我们大家想一想,是什么原因?就是因为美、苏两国都有核武器,想统治全世界,而自由民主党是受美国控制的。从国际地位来说,日本同美、苏比,占第二位。像这样第二位的国家还有英、法、西德、意大利等。我们还是有工作可做。日本垄断资本同美国并非那样团结。英国同美国比较好,但也不是那样团结。法国使美国感到恼火。西德的地位重要起来了,这样一来,势必会同美国发生对抗。

 

所以讲到中间地带有两部分:一部分是指亚洲、非洲和拉丁美洲的广大经济落后的国家,一部分是指以欧洲为代表的帝国主义国家和发达的资本主义国家。这两部分都反对美国的控制。在东欧各国则发生反对苏联控制的问题。这种情况看起来比较明显。

(一九六四年一月五日)

 

 

美国的手伸到我们整个西太平洋、东南亚,它的手伸得太长了。驻在这里的第七舰队是美国最大的舰队。美国有十二艘航空母舰,第七舰队就占了一半――六艘。它还有一个第六舰队驻在地中海。当一九五八年我们在金门打炮时,美国人慌了,把第六舰队的一部分向东调。美国控制欧洲,控制加拿大,控制除古巴之外的整个拉丁美洲。现在它把手伸到非洲去了,在刚果打仗。

 

整个亚洲、非洲、拉丁美洲的人民都反对美帝国主义。欧洲、北美、大洋洲也有许多人反对美帝国主义。有的帝国主义者也反对美帝国主义,戴高乐反对美国就是证明。我们现在提出这么一个看法,就是有两个中间地带:亚洲、非洲、拉丁美洲是第一个中间地带;欧洲、北美加拿大、大洋洲是第二个中间地带。日本也属于第二个中间地带。日本的垄断资本是不满意美国的,现在已经有一部分人公开反对美国;另一部分人依靠美国,但我看,随着时间的延长,日本这一部分人中的许多人也会把骑在头上的美国赶走。

 

(一九六四年七月十日)

 

*本篇一是毛泽东在中共中央工作会议上讲话的节录。本篇二是毛泽东同日本共产党中央政治局委员听涛克己谈话的节录。本篇三是毛泽东同日本社会党佐佐木更三、黑田寿男、细迫兼光等谈话的节录

 

THERE ARE TWO INTERMEDIATE ZONES*

(September 1963; January and July 1964)

 

I

 

All of you are concerned about the situation, particularly the international situation. Some comrades are concerned that the collaboration between the Soviet Union and the United States will bring disadvantages to us. I always believe what Wang Xifeng says in A Dream of Red Mansions: "Bigness has the difficulties of being big." Now the U.S. and the Soviet Union both have big difficulties. Rost, chairman of the U.S. Policy Committee, once published an article whose keynote was that both the U.S. and the Soviet Union faced many difficulties and that these difficulties were insurmountable. I don't know this man, but our views happen to coincide at some points. The United States is being rebuffed everywhere, both domestically and internationally; Khrushchev146 too. Don't forget this point. In the words of Leng Zixing in A Dream of Red Mansions, "A centipede does not topple over even when dead." The American magazine Hammer and Steel also says that the U.S. is like a hollowed big tree, leafy outside but insect-ridden inside.

 

In my view there are two intermediate zones: the first, Asia, Africa and Latin America and the second, Europe. Japan and Canada are not happy with the United States. The six-nation Common Market, represented by De Gaulle, is made up of powerful capitalist countries. Japan in the East is a powerful capitalist country. They are unhappy with the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Are the Eastern European countries that satisfied with Khrushchev of the Soviet Union? I don't believe so. Things are evolving and contradictions are revealing themselves. In the past few years the French were trying to assert their independent character, but not to the degree they are today. The contradictions between the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries are also developing and their relations are very tense. Relaxation in the world situation? Don't be deceived by all that. In my view it is not so easy for the Soviet Union and the U.S. to come to an agreement. Many Atlantic countries will not support the U.S. either. De Gaulle has said everywhere that France will not be a satellite country; their struggle is one of control and countercontrol. Khrushchev claims that we follow the same line as De Gaulle; in fact we have never seen De Gaulle We mainly rely on the people domestically and internationally, not on the leaders of major countries. People are reliable.

 

(September 28, 1963)

(From the verbatim record)

 

II

 

We have diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union; we are two countries in the socialist camp. But the relations between our two countries are not as good as those between China and the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party or China and the Ikeda faction. This is something we should think about. What's the reason? Because the U.S. and the Soviet Union both have nuclear weapons and want to dominate the world. The Liberal Democratic Party is, however, under American control. So far as its international status is concerned, Japan is secondary to the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Secondary countries also include Britain, France, West Germany, Italy, and so on. Thus we have some work to do. Japanese monopoly capitalists are not that united with the U.S. Though Britain is quite close to the U.S., they are not that united either. France annoys the U.S., and West Germany has become important. It will inevitably confront the U.S.

 

So when we talk about intermediate zones, we refer to two separate parts. The vast economically backward countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America constitute the first. Imperialist and advanced capitalist countries represented by Europe constitute the second. Both are opposed to American control. Countries in Eastern Europe, on the other hand, are against control by the Soviet Union. This trend is quite obvious.

 

(January 5, 1964)

(From the verbatim record)

 

III

 

The United States reaches out to the entire West Pacific and Southeast Asia. Its reach is too long. The Seventh Fleet, stationed in this area, is the biggest in the U.S.; it has six aircraft carriers, half of America's total number of 12. The Sixth Fleet is stationed in the Mediterranean. When we shelled Jinmen in 1958, the Americans got scared and maneuvered part of the Sixth fleet eastward. The United States has Europe and Canada under its control; it controls all of Latin America, except for Cuba. It has now reached out to Africa and is waging a war in the Congo.

 

People all over Asia, Africa and Latin America are opposed to U.S. imperialism. A large number of people in Europe, North America and Oceania are against U.S. imperialism. Some of the imperialists are against U.S. imperialism too. De Gaulle's opposition to the U.S. is evidence. We now put forward the view that there are two intermediate zones: Asia, Africa and Latin America are the first, and Europe, North America and Oceania, the second. Japan belongs to the second intermediate zone too. The monopoly capitalists in Japan are not happy with the U.S.; some openly oppose it. Although there are still others who rely on it, in my view, in the course of time many of these people will finally throw out the Americans sitting on their backs.

 

(July 10, 1964)

(From the verbatim record)

 

* These are excerpts from three talks: ( 1) at the Working Conference of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, ( 2) with Kikunami Katsumi, Politburo member of the Japanese Communist Party, and ( 3) Japanese Socialists.

 

Mao Zedong begins to espouse his theory of the “Two Intermediate Zones,” with Asia, Africa, and Latin America constituting the first, and Europe and North America constituting the second.

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Translation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and the Party Literature Research Center, eds., Mao Zedong on Diplomacy (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1998), 387-389.

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