Page 243 - SELECTED WORKS OF DENG XIAOPING Volume II

THE PRESENT SITUATION AND THE TASKS
BEFORE US

January 16, 1980

Comrades,
On New Year’s Day I spoke for about 15 minutes at a meeting of the
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Later, Comrade Hu
Yaobang and others asked me to speak to more comrades about our
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expectations for their work in the coming year. At present there are some
problems within the Party and among the people which call for solution. Of
course, it is impossible for me to cover them all in my speech today, and the
comments I am going to make on some of them may not be adequate. But
since you want me to speak, I will do so.
I would like to discuss the following three topics: first, the three major
tasks for us in the 1980s and the situation—mainly the domestic one—as we
enter the new decade; second, the four essential problems to be solved, or
the four prerequisites for achieving the four modernizations; and third,
upholding and improving leadership by the Communist Party.
The first topic, then, is the three major tasks we have to perform in the
1980s and the domestic situation as we enter this decade.
Let me begin by defining our tasks. The three major ones are as follows:
First, in international affairs we must continue to oppose hegemonism
and strive to preserve world peace. There is a consensus throughout the world
that the 1980s will be a dangerous decade. So the task of opposing hegemon-
ism will be on our daily agenda. The 1980s are off to a bad start, what
with the Afghanistan affair and the Iranian affair, not to mention the
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Vietnamese and Middle Eastern questions which came up earlier. There
may be many similar problems in the future. In a word, the struggle against
hegemonism is a grave task constantly confronting our country.
Second, we must work for the return of Taiwan to the motherland, for
Speech at a meeting of cadres called by the Central Committee of the Communist
Party of China.
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