Modern History Sourcebook:
Chinese Communist Party:
The Leaders of the CPSU are the Greates Splitters of Our Times, February 4, 1964
Never before has the unity of the international communist movement been so gravely
threatened as it is today when we are witnessing a deluge of modern revisionist ideology.
Both internationally and inside individual Parties, fierce struggles are going on between
Marxism-Leninism and revisionism. The international communist movement is confronted with
an unprecedentedly serious danger of a split.It is the urgent task of the Communists, the proletariat and the revolutionary people
of the world to defend the unity of the socialist camp and of the international communist
movement.The Communist Party of China has made consistent and unremitting efforts to defend and
strengthen the unity of the socialist camp and the international communist movement in
accordance with Marxism-Leninism and the revolutionary principles of the 1957 Declaration
and the 1960 Statement. It has been and remains the unswerving position of the Chinese
Communist Party, to uphold principle, uphold unity, eliminate differences and strengthen
the struggle against our common enemy.Ever since they embarked on the path of revisionism, the leaders of the CPSU have
tirelessly professed their devotion to the unity of the international communist movement.
Of late, they have been pariicularly active in crying for "unity." This calls to
mind what Engels said ninety years ago. "One must not allow oneself to be misled by
the cry for 'unity.' Those who have this word most often on their lips are the ones who
sow the most dissension . . . ... ... . . the biggest sectarians and the biggest brawlers
and rogues at times shout loudest for unity." ("Engels to A. Bebel, June 20, 1873,"
Selected Correspondence of Marx and Engels, Foreign Languages Publishing House,
Moscow, p. 345.)While presenting themselves as champions of unity, the leaders of the CPSU are
trying to pin tbe label of splittism on tbe Chinese Communist Party. In its Open Letter
the Central Committee of the CPSU says:
The Chinese leaders are undermining the unity not only of the socialist camp but of the
entire world communist movement, trampling on the principles of proletarian
internationalism and grossly violating accepted standards of relations between fraternal
parties.
And the subsequent articles published in the Soviet press have been condemning the
Chinese Communists as "sectarians" and "splitters."But what are the facts? Who is undermining the unity of the socialist camp? Who is
undermining the unity of the international communist movement? Who is trampling on the
principles of proletarian internationalism? And who is grossly violating the accepted
standards of relations between fraternal Parties? In other words, who are the real,
out-and-out splitters? . . .The events of recent years show that the leaders of the CPSU headed by Khrushchov have
become the chief representatives of modern revisionism as well as the greatest splitters
in the international communist movement.Between the 20tb and 22nd Congresses of the CPSU, the leaders of the CPSU developed a
rounded systcm of revisionism. They put forward a revisionist line which contravenes the
proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, a line which consists of
"peaceful coexistence," "peaceful competition," "peaceful
transition," "a state of the whole people" and "a party of the entire
people." They have tried to impose this revisionist line on all fraternal Parties as
a substitute for the common line of the international communist movement which was laid
down at the meetings of fraternal Parties in 1957 and 1960. And they have attacked anyone
who perseveres in the Marxist-Leninist line and resists their revisionist line.The leaders of the CPSU have themselves undermined the basis of the unity of the
international communist movement and created the present grave danger of a split by
betraying Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism and pushing their revisionist
and divisive line. . . .They have violated the principles guiding relations among fraternal countries as laid
down in the Declaration and the Statement, pursued a policy of great-power chauvinism and
national egoism towards fraternal socialist countries and thus disrupted the unity of the
socialist camp.They have arbitrarily infringed the sovereignty of fraternal countries, interfered in
their internal affairs, carried on subversive activities and striven in every way to
control fraternal countries.In the name of the "international division of labour," the leaders of the
CPSU oppose the adoption by fraternal countries of the policy of building socialism by
their own efforts and developing their economies on an independent basis, and attempt to
turn them into economic appendages. They have tried to force those fraternal countries
which are comparatively back ward economically to abandon industrialization and become
their sources of raw materials and markets for surplus products.The leaders of the CPSU are quite unscrupulous in their pursuit of the policy of
great-power chauvinism. They have constantly brought political, economic and even military
pressure to bear on fraternal countries.The leaders of the CPSU have openly called for the overthrow of the Party and
government leaders of Albania, brashly severed all economic and diplomatic relations with
her and tyrannically deprived her of her legitimate rights as a member of the Warsaw
Treaty Organization and the Council of Economic Mutual Assistance.The leaders of the CPSU have violated the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance
and Mutual Assistance, made a unilateral decision to withdraw 1,390 Soviet experts working
in China, to tear up 343 contracts and supplementarv contracts on the employment of
experts and to cancel 257 projects of scientific and technical co-operation, and pursued a
restrictive and discriminatory trade policy against China. They have provoked incidents on
the Sino-Soviet border and carried on large-scale subversive activities in Sinkiang. On
more than one occasion, Khrushchov went so far as to tell leading comrades of the Central
Committee of the CPC that certain anti-Party elements in the Chinese Communist Party were
his "good friends." He has praised Chinese anti-Party elements for attacking the
Chinese Partys general line for socialist construction, the big leap forward and the
people's communes, describing their action as a "manly act.". . .The great-power chauvinism and splittism of the leaders of the CPSU are equally glaring
in their conduct vis-a-vis fraternal Parties.Since the 20th Congress of the CPSU its leaders have tried, on the pretext of
"combating the personality cult," to change the leadership of other fraternal
Parties to conform to their will. Right up to the present they have insisted on
"combating the personality cult" as a pre-condition for the restoration of unity
and as a "principle" which is "obligatory on every Communist Party."Contrary to the principles guiding relations among fraternal Parties laid down in the
Declaration and the Statement, the leaders of the CPSU ignore the independent and equal
status of fraternal Parties, insist on establishing a kind of feudal patriarchal
domination over the international communist movement and turn the relations between
brother Parties into those between a patriarchal father and his sons. Khrushchov has more
than once described a fraternal Party as a "silly boy" and called himself its
"mother." With his feudal psychology of self-exaltation, he has absolutely no
sense of shame.The leaders of the CPSU have completely ignored the principle of achieving unanimity
through consultation among fraternal Parties and habitually make dictatorial decisions and
order others about. They have recklessly torn up joint agreements with fraternal Parties,
taken arbitrary decisions on important matters of common concern to fraternal Parties and
forced faits acccorriplis on them. . . .The leaders of the CPSU regard fraternal Parties as pawns on their diplomatic
chessboard. Kliruslicbov plays fast and loose, lie blows hot and cold, lie talks one wav
one day and another the next, and et he insists on the fraternal Parties dancing to his
everv tune without knowing whence or whither.The leaders of the CPSU have stirrcd up trouble and created splits in niany Communist
Parties by encouraging the followers of their revisionist line in these Parties to attack
the leadership, or usurp leading positions, persecute Marxist-Leninists and even expel
them from the Party. It is this divisive policy of the leaders of the CPSU that has given
rise to organizational splits in the fraternal Parties of many capitalist countries. . . .The leaders of the CPSU have coiripletely reversed enemies and comrades. Thev have
directed the edge of struggle, which should be against U.S. imperialism and its lackeys,
against the Marxist-Leninist fraternal Parties and countries.The leaders of the CPSU are bent on seeking Soviet-U.S. co-operation for the domination
of the world, they regard U.S. imperialism, the most ferocious enciny of the people of the
world, as their most reliable friend, and they treat the fraternal Parties and countries
adhering to Marxism-Leninism as their enemy. They collude with U.S. imperialism, the
reactionaries of various countries, the renegade Tito clique and the Right-wing social
democrats in a partnership against the socialist fraternal countries, the fraternal
Parties, the Marxist-Lemnists and the revolutionary people of all countries.When they snatch at a straw from Eisenhower or Kennedy or others like them,. or think
that things are going smoothly for them, the leaders of the CPSU are beside themselves
with joy, hit ou wildly at the fraternal Parties and countries adhering to
Marxism-Leninism, and endeavour to sacrifice fraternal Parties and countries on the altar
of their political dealings with U.S. imperialism. . . .These facts show that the leaders of the CPSU have taken the road of complete betrayal
of proletarian internationalism, in contravention of the interests of the Soviet people,
the socialist cairip and the international communist movement and those of all
revolutionary people. . . .We would like to advise the leaders of the CPSU to think matters over calmly: what will
your clinging to revisionism and splittism lead to? Once again, we would like to make a
sincere appeal to the leaders of the CPSU: We hope you will be able to return to
Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, to the revolutionary principles of the
1957 Declaration and the 1960 Statement and to the principles guiding relations among
fraternal Parties and countries as laid down in these documents, so that the differences
will be eliminated and the unity of the international communist movement and the socialist
camp and unity between China and the Soviet Union will be strengthened on these principled
bases.Despite our serious differences with the leaders of the CPSU, we have full confidence
in the vast membership of the CPSU and in the Soviet people, who grew up under the
guidance of Lenin and Stalin. As always, the Communists and the people of China will
unswervingly safeguard the unity between China and the Soviet Union, and consolidate and
develop the deep-rooted friendship between our two peoples.Communists of the world, unite on the basis of Marxism-Leninism!
Source:from The Leaders of the CPSU Are the Greatest Splitters of Our Times: Comment on the
Open Letter of the Central Committee of the CPSU (Peking: Foreign Languages Press,
1964), VII, pp. 1-2, 16-26, 59-63.
This text is part of the Internet
Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and
copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in modern European and World history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright.
Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational
purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No
permission is granted for commercial use of the Sourcebook.
© Paul Halsall, November 1998
[email protected]
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 2 April 2023 [CV]
|
