Friday, 11 February

Heavy snow

At noon the Afghanistan Ambassador, Prince Ahmed, visited me. With regard to the international condition in the past few weeks he is still pessimistic. He said that not long after the Moscow Conference and the Four Powers Declaration, as well as the Tehran Conference, the actions of the big countries were all contrary to the purposes of these conferences. They still only believed in their own power and for things within their capability, they would not allow others to infringe and work independently. Then, in the future there will be no such thing as international justice. Small countries will be precarious, and big countries will still squabble with each other and the future will be very bleak. The things that have happened recently have really made people suspicious. But in all matters there will be nothing perfectly good or absolutely bad. The evolution of human beings comes from painful experience. The mistakes committed by various big countries are essential stages of evolution. We can only hope that they will learn and improve eagerly through making mistakes. Then the future of the world will be less pessimistic.

The editorial in Volume 3 of War and Working Class, which was published yesterday, said that with regard to the change in the Soviet diplomatic system, it is evident that the Soviet Union has abandoned its isolationist policy. It also said that the efforts and sacrifices of the Red Army in this war, and its politics, economy and culture should be given due recognition for their international importance. Also although Soviet political and economic systems are different from other democratic states, these are not obstacles for mutual beneficial cooperation. It also denied that the Soviet Union had any ambition to expand, and any attempt to threaten others. The tone seemed to be quite mild, and this might be the result of the American public outcry.