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To all members of the Communist
Party of Canada from the National
Executive Committee

: Dear Comrades:

In 1957 and again in 1960 the
World conference of the Com-
_™unist and Workers’ parties ag-
Teed unanimously on the neces-
_Sity for common action in the
Struggle to achieve world peace
and the peaceful coexistence of
Countries with different social
and economic systems. It was
agreed that war is no longer
Mevitable and that the forces of
Socialism, national liberation
4nd peace, are becoming the de-
'lsive factor in the world, mak-
Ng it possible to save the world

Fates thermonuclear war and
Mpose peace on the war:
mongers.

| If war can be averted, im-
Perialism, the cause of war, will
€ Weakened, and the prospect
will open up of new socialist
\ictories being won in the con-
ons of peaceful coexistence.

At the same time, it was
/28reed that as long as imperial-
ism exists, the soil of wars of
aggression will also continue to
‘“xist; but that, while the war-
a Nature of imperialism has
hits changed, its power to exert
3 will arbitrarily is limited by
i be Power of the world system
fr Socialist states, the newly-
££ colonial peoples, the strug:
BS of the international work-
a Class and the peace move-

€nts in the capitalist countries.

Peace struggle
‘Supreme task

Bett Struggle for peace and
isle fen Coexistence, the strug:
Bias 5 avert thermonuclear war,
ee ponred by the world Com-
Bipre: Conferences to be the
BWorkens task of Communist and
i ers’ parties everywhere.

;
fae goe: as the 1960 statement
Rialicns is the best ally of so
Bnd ie The prevention of war
ful € establishment of peace-
Bibl coexistence would make pos-
ice peccetal economic competi-
Tis tween socialism and capit-
Super; in which ‘the economic
Been Read of socialism will be
balan y all mankind and the
ca ce of world forces perman-
; a Shifted in favor of social-
Bak his would facilitate the
s ul transition to socialism
~" 8 world scale.

_ The stru

eaceful
Dest |

ates

ggle for peace and for
‘Ut coesixtence is in the
nas of the socialist
De e newly - independent
Bar cs and the colonial people
I a ghting for their freedom.
Bonet the struggle for na-
sracy .Independence and demo-
Boiace the capitalist countries

es ted by American imperial-
‘ealisti € our own. It also makes
Bowen the development of
tratic ments around demo-
Nents ; Programs and move-
initin mae Capitalist countries,
iat ae all sections of the popula-
Bing Ose interests are opposed
, Nnopoly—the source of wat

aggression,

If peace could not be won; if
it were false to assert that war
could be averted, then obviously
the policies of the Communist
movement would be different.

Our party took an active part
in the two world Communist
conferences. We signed the 1957
Declaration and the 1960 State-
ment. The program of our party
that we adopted as early as
1943, and developed further at

our national committee
meeting in 1952 and in our
1954 and 1959 convention, is

in complete harmony with
these famous documents. The
policies of our party are based
on the possibility of averting
world war and defeating the
aims of U.S. imperialism, which
dominates our country.

We see in the victory of peace
and the defeat of the imperialist
drive to war the most favorable
conditions to enable the working
class of Canada to win through
to socialism in conditions of
peace and democracy instead of
war and fascism. At the same
time we said in-our program
that conditions could arise in
which, because of the viglent
resistance of the capitalists to
majority opinion, this path could
not be taken. But we said that
what is new in the situation is
precisely the possibility of the
peaceful path of development
through the parliamentary and
other democratic institutions
which are the fruits of the strug:
gles of the common people.

The policies worked out by
the world Communist movement
fully accorded with our own
ideas and experiences. That is
why our party gladly signed the
historic documents of the world
movement.

Chinese party's
different views

At the November, 1960 con-
ference of the parties, the Chin-
ese Communist Party advanced
a different point of view. This
was reported to our party mem-
bership at the time as well as
at our national convention 1n

January, 1962.

The Chinese Communists, fresh
from great victories for peace,
democracy and socialism in their
own country, waging a heroic
battle to’ transform China,
highly respected by the world
movement and with great inter-
national prestige, advanced a
point of view which in effect
denied the realities of the, strug-
gle for world peace in the condi-
tions now prevailing. Placing
peace and peaceful coexistence
high in their considerations, they
nevertheless did not ascribe to
thermonuclear war the disas-
trous consequences which the
majority of the parties did.

Briefly, their position was as
follows: Imperialism has_ not
changed its bestial nature and

the possibility of preventing
world war placed under ques-
tion. |

It resorts to “nuclear blackmail”
to threaten the socialist countries
and to force them to retreat
from their duties to the world
Communist movement and to
the cause of peace, national
liberation and socialism. U.S. im-
perialism is really a “paper
tiger”, and the “east wind now
prevails against the west wind”.
Consequently, a policy of “blow-
for-blow” should be followed by
the world Communist movement,
and especially by the socialist
states. The dangers and con-
sequences of thermonuclear war
are exaggerated and the U.S. im-
perialists use this exaggeration
to frighten the peace forces.
While preparing for a peaceful
path to socialism, Communists
always have, simultaneously, the
other policy of preparing for the
violent path — the path of arm-
ed struggle. It is not true to say
that what is new in the situation
is that the possibility has now
arisen of taking the peaceful
path; to say that is to “revise”
Marxism-Leninism. This is our
reading of the announced poli-
cies of the Chinese party.

Different tactics
in peace fight

From this very different estim-
ation of the situation in the
world since the end of World
War 2 from that held by most
Communist parties, the Chinese
Communist Party drew a whole
series of tactical conclusions,
such as that the anti-colonial
struggle was now paramount and
greater in importance than the
general struggle.

We saw in the Chinese position
a tmadency to dismiss the working
class in the capitalist countries
as a vital force for peace,
and to see the peace forces in
the world as being composed
only, or mainly, of the socialist
states and the anti-colonial move-

ments. To look at the world in’

this way robs the working-class
movement in the capitalist coun-
tries of a genuine mass policy
and actually would strengthen
imperialism. We also have critic-
ized, on occasion, the policy of
the Chinese Communists in the
world peace movement, because
they demanded of that move-
ment that it be based primarily
on the anti-colonial movements,
which would narrow it by re-
moving the struggle for world
peace as the central, all-unifying
issue.

In our opinion the issue of
world peace and support for
anti-colonial movements objec-

_ tively merge into one great move-

ment of humanity for peace and
national independence.

It can readily be seen that
the Chinese position is far dif-
ferent from the one taken by the
overwhelming majority of Com-
munist and Workers’ parties. At
the 1960 Conference, a prolonged
discussion took place around
these basic questions, and in the
end the Chinese Communist
Party signed the Statement, as
did the Albanian Party of Labor,

Strengthen the unity of the world Communist movement
against thermonuclear war and for peaceful coexistence

whose leaders took an even
stronger position against the
majority of Communist parties.

It is now obvious that the
Chinese Communist Party did
not see eye to eye with the other
parties when they signed the
1960 Statement. Since that time,
mainly through the form of re-
ferences to the revisionist pro-
gram of the Yugoslav League of
Communists, but recently by
direct reference to other Com-
munist parties, the Chinese
Communist Party has maintained
its positions and rejected the
viewpoint of the majority of the
Communist parties.

In: its journals (in English
mainly “Peking Review” and spe-
cial books and pamphlets) the
Chinese Communists have con-
ducted a steady campaign
against the basic political poli-
cies of the struggle for world
peace as adopted in the world
conferences of parties. The lead-
ers of the Albanian ‘Party of
Labor (who have broken off poli-
tical relations with the world
Communist movement and state
relations with a majority of so-
cialist states but not with China)
are waging a systematic and un-
principled attack upon the world
Communist movement through
the circulation of printed ma-
terials to countries, including
Canada, which call upon the
members of the Communist
Party of the Soviet . Union to
“overthrow the Khrushchov re-
visionist leadership”. The Chinese
Communists warmly endorse the

“leadership of the Albanian Party-

of: Labor, which they describe
as a “true Marxist-Leninist
party”, and condemn criticism
of the Albanian campaign against

- the world Communist movement

as “interference in the internal
affairs” of another. party. Thus,
in effect, the Chinese Commu-
nists condone the dangerous
splitting policy of the Albanian
party leaders.

This tragic disagreement be-
tween the Chinese Communist
Party and the majority of Com-
munist parties has now become
a public matter. The capitalist
governments and press are na-
turally making the most of it in
the hope of sharpening divisions
and undermining the unity of
the world Communist movement.
Our party members must be
equipped to combat these at-
tacks.

The importance
of world unity

Let us say at this point that
we have no desire or intention
of interfering with or passing
judgment on the internal policies
and affairs of the Communist
Party of China, or of any other
Communist party. In the com-
plex situation facing the Com-
munist parties in the period of
transition to socialism, the de-
cline of imperialism and the cun-
tinuing danger of thermonuclear
war, there naturally arise some
tactical differences of opinion
between parties who are in full
agreement on basic principles.
The 1960 Statement of the 81
Communist and Workers’ Parties
recognized this and. proposed

the method of consultation be-
tween parties whenever the situa-
tion warranted it.

Each Communist party must
work out its own policies and
apply the principles of Marxism-
Leninism in the light of condi-
tions within its own country,
and there can be no universal
blueprint. There are many dif-
ferent roads to the same socialist
goal. Each Communist party is
responsible to the people of its
own country.

At the same time each party
must preserve the principles of
the international unity of the
world Communist movement,
above all in the fight for peace
and peaceful coexistence. This
is especially necessary on the
part of powerful states like the
Soviet Union and the People’s
Republic of China. Their leader-
ship of the struggle for world
peace, is decisive. In this period
of the danger of thermonuclear
war, which can destroy civiliza-
tion, the socialist states, and in
the first place the Soviet Union,
have special responsibilities to
their own people and the people
of the world, to pursue a stead-
fast, principled and flexible
policy of averting nuclear war.

Opinions as to how this can
best be dore, while strengthen-
ing the forces of democracy and
socialism, is not the “private
affair” of any one party but
the responsibility of the world
Communist movement. All par-
ties must see eye to eye on this
crucial matter if peace is to
be preserved.

Nature of war
has changed

As our party pointed out
through its representative at the
81-Party Conference, the Chinese
Communists’ attitude to nuclear
weapons actually minimizes the
fact that the nature of war was
qualitatively changed by the
thermonuclear bomb and long-
range rockets, so much so that
there would be little if any time,
should nuclear war break out,
to develop a mass movement
against war (as was possible be-
fore thermonuclear bombs).

As the 1960 Declaration puts it,
the thing is to prevent war
before the bombs start falling.
Here we must say that the Chi-
nese Communists do not place in
the forefront the struggle for
complete and general disarm--
ament — the only way to pre.
vent the bombs falling.

We also fully support the De-
claration’s words—that it is pos-
sible to prevent war before the

entire world has turned to so-
cialism.

We cannot accept the assertion
of the Communist Party of China
that a_ socialist foreign policy
which includes mutual, rational
and sane compromise and
concessions, which is pursued
by the USSR and the other
socialist states, cripples
the forces of democracy and
socialism or that it constitutes a
policy of submission “to im-
perialist pressure” or fear of
U.S. imperialism, as is said in

(Continued on next page)

January 4, 1963—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 9