The enemy will not perish of himself. Neither the Chinese reactionaries nor the aggressive forces of U.S. imperialism in China will step down from the stage of history of their own accord. Precisely because they realize that the country-wide victory of the Chinese People’s War of Liberation can no longer be prevented by purely military struggle, they are placing more and more importance each day on political struggle. (“Carry the Revolution Through to the End”. 30 December 1948)    

The method of self-criticism can be applied only within the ranks of the people; it is impossible to persuade the imperialists and the Chinese reactionaries to show kindness of heart and turn from their evil ways. The only course is to organize forces and struggle against them, as in our People’s War of Liberation and the agrarian revolution, to expose the imperialists, “irritate” them, overthrow them, punish them for offences against the law and “allow them only to behave themselves and not to be unruly in word or deed”. Only then will there be any hope of dealing with imperialist foreign countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. (“Cast Away Illusions, Prepare for Struggle”, 14 August 1949)    

The slogan, “Prepare for struggle”, is addressed to those who still cherish certain illusions about the relations between China and the imperialist countries, especially between China and the United States. With regard to this question, they are still passive, their minds are still not made up, they are still not determined to wage a long struggle against U.S. (and British) imperialism because they still have illusions about the United States. There is still a very wide, or fairly wide, gap between these people and ourselves on this question. (“Cast Away Illusions, Prepare for Struggle”, 14 August 1949)