Chapter 47 Huge waste of Third Front construction 1964-1976

Journalist: “After the Great Famine, the problem of food was solved first, right?”

Mao: “Yes, Liu Shaoqi and the others thought so. 1958 Great Leap Forward, especially after the Great Famine of 1959 to 1961, I was no longer directly involved in economic work, and the restoration of agricultural production became the focus of the economy. The Central Committee had envisioned that the ‘Third Five-Year Plan’ from 1966 to 1970 was to adjust and restore the national economy. Chen Yun proposed that the ‘Third Five-Year Plan’ should ‘solve the problem of food, clothing and use.’ In early 1963, the Central Planning Leading Group studied the economic plan and the ‘Third Five-Year Plan,’ putting In early 1963, the Central Planning Leading Group studied the economic plan and the “Third Five-Year Plan”, and made it a priority to ‘solve the problem of feeding, clothing and using the people.,”

Journalist: “Do you agree? How do you swing it?”

Mao: “May 10, 1964, the National Economic Commission reported to me the ‘Third Five-Year Plan,’ I opposed, I reversed the plan. I said: ‘The third five-year plan, the original plan in the Second Front of the circle, not enough attention to the foundation of the Third Front, now we have to lay the foundation in the southwest. I emphasized that the defense industry is the fist and the basic industry is the butt. ‘To make the fist strong, the buttocks must sit firmly.’ I pointed out that when allocating investment, the focus should be on basic industry, defense industry, and then agriculture.”

Journalist: “Liu Shaoqi is agricultural, light and heavy. You are heavy, light, agricultural?”

Mao: “It was May 1964, I held a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee in Zhongnanhai said: ‘The First Front is the coast, Baogang to Lanzhou this line is the Second Front, the southwest is the Third Front. Panzhihua iron ore mine is determined to engage in, take all our salary to engage in. In the period of the atomic bomb, no rear is not possible, be prepared to go up to the mountains, up to the mountains always need a place.’ At my insistence, neither Liu Shaoqi nor anyone else said a word. I said, ‘There is no money, take my manuscript money to get it.’ I said this time no one will die of hunger and exhaustion, unlike in 1958.”

Journalist: “You have to go to the poor places in the mountains to engage in heavy industry?”

Mao: “Yes, I am afraid of the U.S. bombing my nuclear facilities and my entire military industrial system. Most of the military factories are in the eastern plains, and I want to move them into the mountains in the interior. In June 1964, I ordered that in order to cope with the ‘atomic bomb period,’ I would move them into the mountains. More than 1,100 enterprises were dismantled and moved thousands of miles into the ravine. Some were drilled into hollowed out mountains, some were hidden in the mountains. Everything was started from scratch, and steel and power plants were all re-established. Some of the nuclear facilities were set up in duplicate, just in case. This big tumble lasted for more than 10 years, eating up 2/3 of the national investment at its peak and causing huge waste, even bigger than the Great Leap Forward.”

Journalist: “Oh, you engage in the big three lines, the big move, 10 years to eat 2/3 of the national investment?”

Mao: “Yes. Engaging in ‘three lines’ is actually ridiculous, modern warfare really fought, where there are still divided into one, two, three lines. Most of the enterprises are completely dependent on land transportation, the road is broken and even water is not. The oil relies on the northeast of Daqing. The big move can not effectively protect the military industry. The construction of factories and infrastructure follows the principle of ‘dispersal, seclusion, and leaning on mountains.’ Many enterprises were located in places where transportation was difficult and far from raw materials and related enterprises. Due to the hasty planning, many First Front projects were designed, constructed and produced at the same time, resulting in huge waste.”

Journalist: “Yes, modern warfare is fought in a comprehensive three-dimensional, where also divided into 1 line, 2 lines, 3 lines it?”

Mao: “Yes, because I’ve always wanted to be fast, three lines of factories too late to do geological exploration. Improper site selection doubled the construction costs. Hastily built plants, can not resist the danger of floods, earthquakes, dangerous rocks, mudslides, had to often stop work, some of the entire workshop was buried. Tanks, ship manufacturing plants, a major construction but never built. Jiuquan steel plant in Gansu, it took 27 years to produce steel.”

Journalist: “Wow, it turned out that it took 27 years for the Jiuquan Iron and Steel Plant to produce steel?”

Mao: “Yes, the waste of manpower and needless sacrifice cannot be calculated. Four million people participated in the construction of the Third Front, building factories, laying railroads and opening up mineral deposits, and the working and living conditions were extremely difficult. The caves were poorly ventilated and breathable, and people were nauseated and suffocated inside. There was a severe shortage of water and daily necessities.

Deaths occurred frequently. Countless families were torn apart for 20 years due to relocation. It was only a few years after my death that we started to solve the problem of ‘separation between husband and wife’ and to take care of ‘cadres and workers who have reached the age of 40, have 20 years of service, and have worked in the Third Front area for more than 8 years.’

After my death, after the 1980s, a large number of First Front enterprises closed down, and only a small number of them successfully transformed and became the pillars of local industry.”