On the Issue of Meeting with T. V. Soong: Telegram to Zhou Enlai
(December 20, 1936)

Zhou: If T. V. Soong’s attitude is sympathetic to the Shaanxi Incident, you may find a way to meet with him. On the one hand, put forward our Party’s propositions of mediating the Shaanxi Incident, halting the civil war, and jointly confronting Japan. Speak from the standpoint of a completely disinterested third party, and emphatically state the critical danger of the current situation and the idea that civil war is a dead end. Seek his agreement to immediately convene a peace conference to resolve national affairs.

Mao