The Fourth Plenum of the 13th CPC Central Committee

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was a great success, said Jiang Zemin, the newly elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), at a forum attended by non-Communist Party figures in Beijing on June 28.

He said he believed that the Party's plenary session, which was held on June 23 and 24 in Beijing, would not only play an important role in stabilizing the general situation in the country, but would also have far-reaching significance in ensuring the continuity of the Party's guidelines and policies adopted since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978.

Leaders of China's democratic parties and non-party personalities were invited to the forum which was sponsored by the Party's Central Committee. Li Peng presided and other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee also attended.

Jiang said concerted efforts should be made for a period ahead to implement the four important tasks set at the session.

"We must be resolute and prompt in thoroughly quelling the counter-revolutionary rebellion and putting an end to the turmoil, but at the same time, we must strictly differentiate between two different types of contradiction, namely those among the people and those between the people and their enemies," Jiang said.

"We are determined to dig out all instigators, organizers and conspirators of the turmoil and rebellion, leading members of illegal organizations and other criminals who engaged in assaulting and killing of soldiers, burning, looting and other crimes that brought serious damage to society.

"We must mete out severe and timely punishment to them according to law. Otherwise, there will be no peace and security for the country and people. For those cruel enemies of the people, we should not have an iota of forgiveness or we shall make a serious historical mistake.

"But on the other hand, we must make a strict distinction between the two different types of contradiction and act seriously according to the law and policies."

Jiang said that for those who participated in parades, demonstrations and a hunger strike due to their ignorance of the truth, especially the young students, it was mainly a question of education. They should be earnestly helped so that they would draw experience and lessons from the events.

Jiang stressed that education on the four cardinal principles and the struggle against bourgeois liberalization should be seriously carried out for a long time. This struggle, however, would never change the Party's policy towards intellectuals, nor the policy of "letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend."

While continuing to quell the counter-revolutionary rebellion and stabilizing the situation, leaders at all levels must concentrate on economic construction.

"We must ensure a rational and feasible economic growth rate, avoiding any possible economic downturn," he said." Measures must be resolutely taken to straighten out the economy and deepen the reform.

"Effective efforts should be made to strengthen the basic industries, communications, transport and agriculture, and more efforts should be devoted to science and technology and education."

Jiang reiterated that China's overall policy of reform and opening to the outside world would never change. On the contrary, this reform and openness would be carried out even more effectively.

But he stressed that the socialism-oriented reform and openness is different from that advocated by those who stubbornly stick to bourgeois liberalization.

Jiang said the multiparty cooperative system and the political consultative system under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party should be adhered to and the role of the People's Political Consultative Conference, and of all the democratic parties and various people's organizations in political life in China should be given fuller recognition.

He expressed the hope that the democratic parties would continue to help the Communist Party and the government to correct mistakes, eliminate corruption and arouse the socialist enthusiasm of people from all walks of life.

Because of the complicated nature of the current struggle and the time needed for events to develop and to be exposed, it was understandable that some noncommunist friends had for a time some doubts and different views.

It was gratifying, however, that they had gradually got rid of their doubts and reached a common understanding of events after they got to know more facts and studied Deng Xiaoping's June 9 speech.

He said that in the future the Party would persist in building a patriotic united front and expanding it, and all the principles concerning the united front, the policy of "one country, two systems" and the Party's policies on the Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao questions, would remain unchanged. The existing policy on nationalities, religions and overseas Chinese affairs would also remain the same.

"The Party and government are still facing many problems and difficulties," Jiang said. He urged all the people at the meeting to make their due contributions to striving for the thorough victory of quelling the counterrevolutionary riot, promoting reform and openness and strengthening the construction of democracy and the legal system.

(NO. 28 JULY 10, 1989, title: "Jiang Reiterates Party's Policies")