QUESTION: "HOW DID CHINA COPE WITH THE DIFFICULTIES OF LAST YEAR?"



ANSWER: "CHINA'S CONDITION IS NOW GOOD. "IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, OUR COUNTRY ENCOUNTERED A FEW DIFFICULTIES. IN OUR ECONOMICAL FIELDS WE HAD TO USE OUR OWN ENDEAVOURS TO RECONSTRUCT OUR COUNTRY AND OVERCOME OUR TROUBLES. WE FOLLOWED A POLICY OF USING AGRICULTURE AS A BASIS AND INDUSTRY AS A SUPPLEMENT. WE HAVE TAKEN A SERIES OF STEPS AND, WITH THE UNITED HELP OF ALL OUR PEOPLE, WE HAVE OVERCOME OUR DIFFICULTIES. NOW, OUR NATIONAL ECONOMY HAS STARTED TO HAVE AN OVERALL IMPROVEMENT. IN THE INDUSTRIAL FIELD, THE PRODUCTION QUOTA HAS SATISFACTORILY INCREASED, AND THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY HAS DEFINITELY IMPROVED. WE HAVE INITIALLY BUILT UP THE FOUNDATION OF OUR NATIONAL ECONOMIC SYSTEM IN AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY AND THE SYSTEM OF THE PEOPLE'S NATIONAL ECONOMY WAS FURTHER STRENGTHENED IN THE AGRICULTURAL FIELD WHICH WAS BETTER LAST YEAR THAN THE YEAR BEFORE AND BETTER THIS YEAR THAN LAST YEAR. OUR COUNTRYSIDE IS GOING THROUGH A NEW CLIMAX AND IS REALISING A NEW IMPROVEMENT IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION. THE FUTURE OUTLOOK OF CHINA IS VERY BRIGHT. WE BELIEVE IMPLICITLY THAT WE SHALL, IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, HAVE A SYSTEM OF NATIONAL ECONOMY WHICH IS MODERNISED, SOCIALISTIC, UNITED AND INDEPENDENT.



QUESTION: "MR. PRIME MINISTER, DO YOU THINK THE SOCIALIST CAMP AND THE WESTERN WORLD CAN PEACEFULLY CO-EXIST AND DO YOU THINK WAR IS INEVITABLE?"



ANSWER: BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS, THE PEOPLE CAN POSSIBLY EXIST. THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT HAS ALWAYS FOLLOWED THE POLICY OF PEACEFUL DIPLOMACY AND THEY WANTED TO CO-EXIST WITH ALL COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THE WESTERN COUNTRIES. THE COUNTRIES SHOULD RESPECT EACH OTHER'S SOVEREIGNTY, TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY, NON-AGGRESSION, NON-INTERFERENCE AND SHOULD PEACEFULLY CO-EXIST. CHINA HAS A DIFFERENT SOCIAL SYSTEM FROM ASIA, AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA AND EUROPE AND MANY COUNTRIES WHICH ARE DIFFERENT FROM CHINA HAVE ALREADY REALISED THE IDEA OF CO-EXISTENCE. AS REGARDS THE RELATIONS BETWEEN CHINA AND AMERICA, THE OBSTACLE TO PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE DOES NOT LIE ON THE CHINESE SIDE, BUT ON THE AMERICAN. THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT DISREGARDS THE CHINESE STAND AND STILL OCCUPIES THE CHINESE TERRITORY OF TAIWAN AND INTRUDE INTO THE TERRITORIAL WATERS AND AIR SPACE. THEY STILL HOLD MILITARY BASES AND REFUSE TO HAVE PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE WITH THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT, BUT EVEN UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES, THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT STILL PROCEEDS WITH TALKS WITH THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT IN WARSAW. THEY STILL TRY TO USE PEACEFUL MEANS AND NOT MEANS OF FORCE TO TRY TO SOLVE THE DISPUTE. THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO SOLVE THE CONFLICT OF AMERICAN OCCUPATION IN TAIWAN AND THE TAIWAN STRAITS. THE CHINESE PEOPLE ARE FRIENDLY TOWARDS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND WE DEFINITELY DO NOT OPPOSE THE AMERICAN ACTIONS. WE BELIEVE THAT THE WAR BETWEEN THE SOCIALIST CAMP AND THE IMPERIALIST CAMP IS NOT INEVITABLE. AS EARLY AS 1946, CHAIRMAN MAO TSE-TUNG SAID SO LONG AS THE NATIONAL WORKING-CLASS PEOPLE AND THE COUNTRIES WHICH HAVE BEEN OPPRESSED BY AMERICA WILL STAND UP AND UNITE THEMSELVES EFFECTIVELY AND STRUGGLE AGAINST AMERICA AND THE LACKEYS OF THEIR VARIOUS COUNTRIES, THEN THE 3RD WORLD WAR MIGHT BE AVOIDED. ALTHOUGH THE 3RD WORLD WAR COULD BE PREVENTED, AMERICA IS STILL ACTIVELY PREPARING FOR IT. BECAUSE OF AMERICA'S AGGRESSIVE POLICY AND THEIR MILITANT ATTITUDE, THE DANGER OF ANOTHER WORLD WAR IS NOT YET OVER. UNDER THESE KIND OF CIRCUMSTANCES, ALL THE PEACE-LOVING FORCES IN THE WHOLE WORLD, THE SOCIALIST FORCE, THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE AND COUNTRIES, MUST UNITE TOGETHER AND STRUGGLE DETERMINEDLY. IF THEY DO THAT, THEN THEY CAN PREVENT AMERICA FROM STARTING A WORLD WAR AND GUARD PEACE.



QUESTION: "IN WHAT WAY DO YOU THINK THE ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF FRANCE AND CHINA SHOULD BE BETTER DEVELOPED?"



ANSWER: "BETWEEN FRANCE AND CHINA THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A TRADITIONAL FRIENDSHIP. EVER SINCE FROM EARLY TIMES BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CONTACTS IN THE CULTURAL AND ECONOMICAL SPHERE. I BELIEVE THAT IF THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE AND CHINA WOULD JOIN THEIR EFFORTS AND ENDEAVOUR TO NORMALISE THEIR RELATIONSHIPS, THE TWO COUNTRIES WOULD MAKE A JOINT EFFORT AND, AT THE SAME TIME, NORMALISE THE SINO- FRANCO RELATIONS, THEN, I BELIEVE, THE FUTURE CULTURAL AND ECONOMICAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES WOULD BE MUCH BETTER DEVELOPED.



QUESTION: "MR. PRIME MINISTER, ONE LAST QUESTION.... WHAT IS THE MEMORY OF YOUR PAST STAY IN FRANCE LONG AGO?"



ANSWER: "FORTY YEARS AGO, I LIVED IN FRANCE AND THEIR LOVE FOR FREEDOM PLUS THEIR GLORIOUS TRADITION, GAVE ME A VERY BEAUTIFUL MEMORY. I WANT TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SEND MY BEST WISHES TO THE FRENCH PEOPLE AND I WISH THEM TO ARRIVE AT NEW ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE COMING YEAR."



"THANK YOU, MR. PRIME MINISTER."




Initials JRG/R/MR/GH


EDITORS: USE OF THIS FILM IS RESTRICTED - SEE BELOW.

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Background: THE CHINESE PRIME MINISTER, CHOU EN-LAI, DURING HIS VISIT TO RABAT, GAVE THIS INTERVIEW TO THE FRENCH TELEVISION SERVICE, R.T.F. THE PRIME MINISTER GAVE IT ON CONDITION THAT THE INTERVIEW IS TRANSMITTED IN FULL OR NOT AT ALL. THE QUESTIONS ARE IN FRENCH, THE REPLIES IN CHINESE. HERE IS A TRANSLATION: