Polemic on General Line of International ... - From Marx to Mao

In an effort to justify its actions in the eyes of the people,the CPC leadership recently put forward the theory of “relyingon one’s own forces.” In general, for each country to buildsocialism, relying primarily on the efforts of its people andmaking the best use of its own resources is the correct wayof laying the material and technical basis of socialism. Theconstruction of socialism is, in each country, primarily theconcern of the people of that country, of its working class andits Communist party.The Soviet Union, which was the first socialist country,was obliged to build socialism relying only on its own forcesand utilizing its internal resources. And although there isnow a system of socialist countries, this by no means signifiesthat the people of any country can sit back with folded armsand rely exclusively on the assistance of other socialist countries.The Communist party of each socialist country regardsit as its duty to mobilize all internal reserves for successfuleconomic development. In its direct sense, therefore, thestatement of the CPC Central Committee on the constructionof socialism mainly by one’s own forces would raise no objections.However, as the entire text of the CPC Central Committeeletter and numerous statements in the Chinese press show,this proposition is in effect given an interpretation that iswholly unacceptable.The “building of socialism chiefly by one’s own forces”formula cloaks the concept of building up self-sufficient nationaleconomies with economic relations with other countriesrestricted to trade alone. And this approach the Chinese comradesare trying to impose on other socialist countries.Proclamation of the “relying on one’s own forces” line wasapparently needed by the CPC leadership in order to weakenthe bonds of close friendship among the socialist countries.This policy, it goes without saying, has nothing in commonwith the principles of socialist internationalism. It cannot be577