The key to building a powerful socialist country is to modernize science and technology (Zhou Enlai)
The key to building a powerful socialist country is to modernize science and technology | |
|---|---|
| Author | Zhou Enlai |
| Spoken on | January 29, 1963 |
| First published | Shanghai |
| Type | Speech |
I am a layman in natural science. But as my trip to Shanghai coincides with your discussion of a 10-year programme for science, I'd like to avail myself of this opportunity to speak on a few questions.
First, we should understand how important the modernization of science and technology is to socialist construction. China's science started on a poor foundation. If we want to build a powerful socialist country, we must modernize agriculture, industry, national defence, science and technology, and of these the most crucial are science and technology.
To modernize science and technology we must do the following: seek truth from facts, move forward in an orderly way, make each of the four modernizations promote the other and try to catch up with the more advanced countries. The first two points refer to the scientific approach. As early as in the rectification movement of 1942, Chairman Mao Zedong set forth the principle of seeking truth from facts, a principle that is also applicable to natural science. China is a socialist country with the largest population in the world. In addition to seeking truth from facts and advancing in an orderly way, we should foster great aspirations and lofty ideals, so as to catch up with the advanced countries in the shortest possible time. We must proceed with the four modernizations simultaneously so that each promotes the other. We must on no account postpone the modernization of agriculture, national defence and science and technology until we have modernized industry. Although we lag behind the developed countries, we can draw on their advanced experience and make use of their latest scientific and technological achievements. By doing so we shall broaden our horizons and move faster. Of course detours are unavoidable, but we shall try not to make too many. We can and must catch up with the developed countries. But we don't have to follow on the heels of others at every step. That way we'll remain behind forever. Only if we combine these principles of seeking truth from facts, advancing in an orderly way, making each of the four modernizations promote the other and trying to catch up with the developed countries can we make our scientific and technological development meet the requirements of the 1960s and approach the level of the most developed countries at a fairly rapid pace.
Second, we should recognize the factors that favour our effort to modernize science and technology.
We have dialectical materialism as the guide to our thinking, not subjective idealism or mechanical materialism. Dialectical materialism will help us to understand objective laws better and will give freer rein to our subjective initiative.
China is endowed with abundant manpower and natural resources. Our country boasts many nationalities, a huge population and all kinds of products, and naturally we are duty bound to make a great contribution to our country and to mankind. In ancient times, our forefathers had many inventions to their credit; in modern times, why shouldn't we have even more? Newcomers surpass the old-timers, and we ought to surpass our ancestors.
The superior socialist system will guarantee our success. In the old society, scientists made their contributions single-handed, without help from others; in the new society, with a fundamentally changed social system in which both the productive forces and people's minds have been emancipated, scientists need no longer struggle in isolation but can pool their knowledge and efforts and can work freely to bring their talents into full play. Of course, this will take time. Moreover, dialectically combining collective needs with personal freedom requires a process of practice and cognition. Some of you comrades present here have witnessed four stages of history: the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the northern warlord government, Chiang Kai-shek's reactionary regime and socialist society. When you compare the four periods, you can clearly see the superiority of our socialist system.
We have a large contingent of scientists, technicians and other intellectuals, many times larger than the one in old China. From the time students were first sent abroad, during the last years of the Qing Dynasty just before 1911, to the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, there were altogether 200,000 college graduates. But in the short span from the founding of New China to the end of last year, we have produced 960,000 college graduates and millions of middle-school graduates. And 10 years from now we shall see a million more college graduates, a number unparalleled in the old era. Today we have a considerable corps of technicians and a number of scientific research institutes, and these are valuable assets to the country.
We have built a preliminary foundation for industrialization. We can make or produce most of the equipment and raw and semi-finished materials we need. This provides favourable conditions for the advance of our science and technology. We can surely make greater contributions than our forefathers did, provided that, under the leadership of the Party, we make the best use of our advantages, pool all our knowledge and efforts and rely on ourselves.
Third, I'd like to suggest some ways in which we can modernize science and technology with faster, greater, better and more economical results.
1. We should enhance the sense of scientists and technicians that they are masters of the country. In other words, they should accept the Party's leadership, serve socialism and voluntarily remould themselves. Throughout our lives we should learn while we work. You'll feel happy when you become aware of the need for constantly studying and remoulding yourselves. We must guard against complacency and rectify our shortcomings, if we want to make progress; otherwise, we shall slip back. Mankind should always advance, so we should all encourage each other and advance together.
2. We should concentrate the scientific and technological forces and increase them. Research institutes, educational institutions and factories should closely combine their efforts, sharing the work and co-operating with one another. We should not place lopsided emphasis either on the role of research institutes or on that of schools or factories. For example, Shanghai is pooling the efforts of its technical forces in an attempt to master semi-transistor technology, so specialists in this field should be transferred from other places to Shanghai to lend a hand.
3. We should improve relations among all sectors of society, first of all, relations between the Party and the masses and those between the leaders and the led. By the leaders I mean collective leadership, not any individual Party member. Of course, individual Party members sometimes speak according to the Party's directives and convey its ideas. Nevertheless, each person has his or her personality with more interest in a particular field of work. In conveying the Party's ideas, a person is likely to talk more about this particular field. Not all speeches of leaders represent directives. If they did, how could people get along? That's why I'm not in favour of taking everything a person says as a directive from the Party. Conveying the Party's views is only one aspect of the matter. We should attach more importance to close ties between the Party and the masses, between the young and the old, and between teachers and pupils. In relations between the old and the young, the former should enjoy first priority. It is they who are leading the way, but being vigorous, the younger people can push our cause forward. In addition, we should correctly handle the relations between theory and practice and between tasks and the scientific approach to them. We should enable the leaders, the experts and the masses to combine their efforts and bring about close co-ordination among scientific research institutes, schools and production units. It is the responsibility of the State Science and Technology Commission to deal with these relations satisfactorily. The Commission should intensify ideological work, organize scientists and technicians and readjust relations among all sectors.
We should improve the working conditions and environment for scientists and technicians engaged in research. The State Science and Technology Commission and the relevant government departments should facilitate their work. Laboratories are indispensable for research and teaching, and workshops are indispensable for production. Shanghai should be provided with the equipment it lacks, and when necessary, it should import some for the purpose. We shall try our best to meet your needs. Research institutes, schools and factories can support each other with materials and publications. For some time, lax control over the ordering of foreign publications resulted in duplicate subscriptions; this was followed by too rigid control. We should continue to order the necessary books and reference materials and to give the necessary exchange publications to our foreign partners, or we'll get nothing in return. As for additional research assistants and skilled workers, I'm sure you can solve those problems yourselves. Of course we can help by transferring a few from other parts of the country, when necessary. All in all, with favourable conditions, you will achieve new successes.
As for the working conditions, true scientists are never too particular about that. Still, we cannot ignore their difficulties in their everyday lives and in housing. For instance, we should help those whose homes are far away from their places of work. Some research projects call for concerted efforts and collective activities, but that doesn't rule out individual research. The State Science and Technology Commission should make arrangements for scientists to focus on their special research and not to be involved too much in other things. All departments and institutes should do that too. We have been used to doing rush jobs and haven't made proper arrangements for routine work. I hope you will make suggestions about the working and living conditions of scientists.
I'm convinced that you will be able to work out an excellent 10-year programme for the development of science.
Our task is a hard one, but we are all optimistic; our responsibility is enormous, but we are full of energy. Shanghai is China's largest industrial city and a vital base for science and technology. We have high hopes for scientific and technological circles here. We wish you all success in working for the four modernizations.