Mao praised Afghanistan as early as 1919!

 

On September 3, 2021, the Chinese “red” website Utopia, published a statement on Afghanistan made by Mao in 1919, and a comment he made in a discussion with Afghan’s King Zahir and Queen Hermana when they visited China in 1964.

Here is the text, in Chinese, written by Mao on July 14, 1919 and published in the Xiangjiang Review, of which he was the editor:

 

I have tried to translate the text, but found one sentence particularly difficult, so if anyone with a good grasp of Chinese can clarify it, please use the Comments box below to do so. The sentence in question uses a Chinese idiom which has been interpreted differently by different people.  One source I looked at said that the expression, literally “grasp die rabbit sad” referred to a story in which a rabbit was saddened by the death of its enemy, the fox.  Without the fox, the rabbit felt it would relax its vigilance and become easy prey for other enemies. In other words, living in an environment without danger is often more terrifying than an environment full of danger.

However, another variation on this idiom stated that a fox and a rabbit befriended each other to offer protection from their mutual enemy, the hunters. One day, while they were enjoying the beauty of nature in the field, a group of hunters suddenly came and shot the rabbit to death with one arrow, and the fox was almost inconsolable. An elderly man passed by and saw the fox crying next to the rabbit. He was surprised and asked why the fox was crying. The fox said sadly: Now my ally is shot to death by a hunter. His death today means my death tomorrow. We are true friends, how can I not cry in sorrow?

I have translated it as “when the fox dies, the rabbit cries”, but I’m still not sure what Mao intended by quoting it. Nevertheless, here is my translation of Mao’s short 1919 opinion piece:

Afghanistan arises (14 July 1919)

There must be a big reason why a small Afghanistan is at war with the big ruler of the waves, Britain. According to the British telegrams alone, it was not possible to rely on the fact that Turkey was going to be swallowed up by the tigers. India is willing to help the British, and has earned a red rag to make a fool of its representatives in the peace talks. The Indians' demands were not allowed. The political movement of the Indians was to level the troops and the village (1). Afghanistan is a Muslim country.  If the “rabbit cries when the fox dies”, you don’t need to hold the sword.

Printed from the inaugural issue of [Xiangjiang xx], 14 July 1919. Signed Zedong.

Notes

[1] This is the original text, but there is a mistake

 

Mao remained very appreciative of Afghanistan’s long struggles against colonialist and imperialist aggression. When King Zahir and Queen Hermana visited China, Zahir said, "China is a great country, and Afghanistan is a small neighbour of China." Chairman Mao responded, "No, Afghanistan is a great country, and China is a great friend of Afghanistan."