Lin Piao and his handful of sworn followers were a counter-revolutionary conspiratorial clique "who never showed up without a copy of Quotations in hand and never opened their mouths without shouting 'Long Live' and who spoke nice things to your face but stabbed you in the back." The essence of the counter-revolutionary revisionist line they pursued and the criminal aim of the counterrevolutionary armed coup d'etat they launched were to usurp the supreme power of the Party and the state, thoroughly betray the line of the Ninth Congress, radically change the Party's basic line and policies for the entire historical period of socialism, turn the Marxist-Leninist Chinese Communist Party into a revisionist, fascist party, subvert the dictatorship of the proletariat and restore capitalism. Inside China, they wanted to reinstate the landlord and bourgeois classes, which our Party, Army and people had overthrown with their own hands under the leadership of Chairman Mao, and to institute a feudal-comprador-fascist dictatorship. Internationally, they wanted to capitulate to Soviet revisionist social-imperialism and ally themselves with imperialism, revisionism and reaction to oppose China, communism and revolution.

Lin Piao, this bourgeois careerist, conspirator and double-dealer, engaged in machinations within our Party not just for one decade but for several decades. On his part there was a process of development and self-exposure, and on our part there was also a process of getting to know him. Marx and Engels said in the Manifesto of the Communist Party that "all previous historical movements were movements of minorities, or in the interest of minorities. The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority." Chairman Mao has made "working for the interests of the vast majority of people of China and the world" one of the principal requirements for successors to the cause of the proletarian revolution, and it has been written into our Party Constitution. To build a party for the interests of the vast majority or for the interests of the minority? This is the watershed between proletarian and bourgeois political parties and the touchstone for distinguishing true Communists from false. Lin Piao joined the Communist Party in the early days of China's new-democratic revolution. Even at that time he was pessimistic about the future of the Chinese revolution. Right after the Kutien Meeting [December 1929 - Tr.], Chairman Mao wrote a long letter "A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire" to Lin Piao, trying seriously and patiently to educate him. But, as the facts later proved, Lin Piao's bourgeois idealist world outlook was not at all remoulded. At important junctures of the revolution he invariably committed Right opportunist errors and invariably played double-faced tricks, putting up a false front to deceive the Party and the people. However, as the Chinese revolution developed further and especially when it turned socialist in nature and became more and more thoroughgoing, aiming at the complete overthrow of the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat in, place of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and the triumph of socialism over capitalism, Lin Piao and his like, who were capitalist-roaders in power working only for the interests of the minority and whose ambition grew with the rise of their positions, overestimating their own strength and underestimating the strength of the people, could no longer remain under cover and therefore sprang out for a trial of strength with the proletariat. When under the baton of Soviet revisionism he attempted to have his "decisive say" in order to serve the needs of domestic and foreign class enemies, his exposure and bankruptcy became complete.

Engels rightly said, "The development of the proletariat proceeds everywhere amidst internal struggles. . . . And when, like Marx and myself, one has fought harder all one's life long against the alleged socialists than against anyone else (for we only regarded the bourgeoisie as a class and hardly ever involved ourselves in conflicts with individual bourgeois), one cannot greatly grieve that the inevitable struggle has broken out. . . ." (Frederick Engels' letter to August Bebel, October 28, 1882)

Comrades!

In the last fifty years our Party has gone through ten major struggles between the two lines. The collapse of the Lin Piao anti-Party clique does not mean the end of the two-line struggle within the Party. Enemies at home and abroad all understand that the easiest way to capture a fortress is from within. It is much more convenient to have the capitalist-roaders in power who have sneaked into the Party do the job of subverting the dictatorship of the proletariat than for the landlords and capitalists to come to the fore themselves; this is especially true when the landlords and capitalists are already quite odious in society. In the future, even after classes have disappeared, there will still be contradictions between the superstructure and the economic base and between the relations of production and the productive forces. And there will still be two-line struggles reflecting these contradictions, i.e., struggles between the advanced and the backward and between the correct and the erroneous. Moreover, socialist society covers a considerably long historical period. Throughout this historical period, there are classes, class contradictions and class struggle, there is the struggle between the socialist road and the capitalist road, there is the danger of capitalist restoration and there is the threat of subversion and aggression by imperialism and social-imperialism. For a long time to come, there will still be two-line struggles within the Party, reflecting these contradictions, and such struggles will occur ten, twenty or thirty times. Lin Piaos will appear again and so will persons like Wang Ming, Liu Shao-chi, Peng Teh-huai and Kao Kang. This is something independent of man's will. Therefore, all comrades in our Party must be fully prepared mentally for the struggles in the long years to come and be able to make the best use of the situation and guide the struggle to victory for the proletariat, no matter how the class enemy may change his tactics.

Chairman Mao teaches us that "the correctness or incorrectness of the ideological and political line decides everything." If one's line is incorrect, one's downfall is inevitable, even with the control of the central, local and army leadership. If one's line is correct, even if one has not a single soldier at first, there will be soldiers, and even if there is no political power, political power will be gained. This is borne out by the historical experience of our Party and by that of the international communist movement since the time of Marx. Lin Piao wanted to "have everything under his command and everything at his disposal," but he ended up in having nothing under his command and nothing at his disposal. The crux of the matter is line. This is an irrefutable truth.

Chairman Mao has laid down for our Party the basic line and policies for the entire historical period of socialism and also specific lines and policies for Specific work. We should attach importance not only to the Party's lines and policies for specific work but, in particular, to its basic line and policies. This is the fundamental guarantee of greater victories for our Party.

Having summed up the experience gained in the ten struggles between the two lines within the Party and particularly the experience acquired in the struggle to smash the Lin Piao anti-Party clique, Chairman Mao calls on the whole Party: "Practise Marxism, and not revisionism; unite, and don't split; be open and aboveboard, and don't intrigue and conspire." He thus puts forward the criterion for distinguishing the correct line from the erroneous line, and gives the three basic principles every Party member must observe. Every one of our comrades must keep these three principles firmly in mind, uphold them and energetically and correctly carry on the two-line struggle within the Party.

Chairman Mao has constantly taught us: It is imperative to note that one tendency covers another. The opposition to Chen Tu-hsiu's Right opportunism which advocated "all alliance, no struggle" covered Wang Ming's "Left" opportunism which advocated "all struggle, no alliance." The rectification of Wang Ming's "Left" deviation covered Wang Ming's Right deviation. The struggle against Liu Shao-chi's revisionism covered Lin Piao's revisionism. There were many instances in the past where one tendency covered another and when a tide came, the majority went along with it, while only a few withstood it. Today, in both international and domestic struggles, tendencies may still occur similar to those of the past, namely, when there was an alliance with the bourgeoisie, necessary struggles were forgotten and when there was a split with the bourgeoisie, the possibility of an alliance under given conditions was forgotten. It is required of us to do our best to discern and rectify such tendencies in time. And when a wrong tendency surges towards us like a rising tide, we must not fear isolation and must dare to go against the tide and brave it through. Chairman Mao states, "Going against the tide is a Marxist-Leninist principle." In daring to go against the tide and adhere to the correct line in the ten struggles between the two lines within the Party, Chairman Mao is our example and teacher. Every one of our comrades should learn well from Chairman Mao and hold to this principle.

Under the guidance of the correct line represented by Chairman Mao, the great, glorious and correct Communist Party of China has had prolonged trials of strength with the class enemies both inside and outside the Party, at home and abroad, armed and unarmed, overt and covert. Our Party has not been divided or crushed. On the contrary, Chairman Mao's Marxist-Leninist line has further developed and our Party grown ever stronger. Historical experience convinces us that "this Party of ours has a bright future." Just as Chairman Mao predicted in 1966, "If the Right stage an anti-Communist coup d'etat in China, I am sure they will know no peace either and their rule will most probably be short-lived, because it will not be tolerated by the revolutionaries, who represent the interests of the people making up more than 90 per cent of the population." So long as our whole Party bears in mind historical experience, and upholds Chairman Mao's correct line, all the schemes of the bourgeoisie for restoration are bound to fail. No matter how many more major struggles between the two lines may occur, the laws of history will not change, and the revolution in China and the world will eventually triumph.

On the Situation and Our Tasks

Chairman Mao has often taught us: We are still in the era of imperialism and the proletarian revolution. On the basis of fundamental Marxist principle, Lenin made a scientific analysis of imperialism and defined "imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism." Lenin pointed out that imperialism is monopolistic capitalism, parasitic or decaying capitalism, moribund capitalism. He also said that imperialism intensifies all the contradictions of capitalism to the extreme. He therefore concluded that "imperialism is the eve of the social revolution of the proletariat," and put forward the theories and tactics of the proletarian revolution in the era of imperialism. Stalin said, "Leninism is Marxism of the era of. imperialism and the proletarian revolution." This is entirely correct. Since Lenin's death, the world situation has undergone great changes. But the era has not changed. The fundamental principles of Leninism are not outdated; they remain the theoretical basis guiding our thinking today.

The present international situation is one characterized by great disorder on the earth- "The wind sweeping through the tower heralds a rising storm in the mountains." This aptly depicts how the basic world contradictions as analysed by Lenin show themselves today. Relaxation is a temporary and superficial phenomenon, and great disorder will continue. Such great disorder is a good thing for the people, not a bad thing. It throws the enemies into confusion and causes division among them, while it arouses and tempers the people, thus helping the international situation develop further in the direction favourable to the people and unfavourable to imperialism, modern revisionism and all reaction.