Wage a Struggle on Two Fronts

The struggle within the working class party or within the revolutionary ranks against both the wrong tendencies of the “Left” and the wrong tendencies of the right.

At the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth CPC Central Committee, Mao Zedong summed up the historical experience since the founding of the Party and pointed out: "Our Party, in general, has learned to use the Marxist-Leninist weapon of ideological struggle to oppose erroneous ideas within the Party from two sides: right-leaning opportunism on the one hand, and 'left-leaning opportunism' on the other.”

The Party must struggle on two fronts in order to consolidate and strengthen. The Party must also struggle on two fronts is that both right tendency and left tendency prevent the Party from formulating and implementing correct lines, guidelines and policies, and will lead the Party's cause to failure; moreover, both right-leaning and left-leaning have their roots in subjectivism, and they can be transformed into each other.

Mao Zedong pointed out that to oppose the “Left” and right tendency in the Party, the policy must be decided on a case-by-case basis. Emphasis should be placed on opposing the right when the right deviation is likely to occur and on opposing the left when the “Left” deviation is likely to occur. To focus on opposing the right is not to ignore preventing the “Left” and opposing the “Left”; to focus on opposing the “Left” is not to ignore preventing the right and opposing the “Right” either. When opposing one tendency, we must pay attention to another tendency that may be concealed. In order to prevent and overcome the wrong “Left” and “Right” tendencies, the Party should strengthen the education of Party members, cadres and the masses on the Party line and policies.

Mao Zedong pointed out: "It is a Marxist-Leninist art of leadership to be good at translating the Party's policy into the actions of the masses, to be good at making every movement and every struggle known not only to the leading cadres but also to the masses. The line between making mistakes and not making mistakes in our work is also here.”