Telegram to Pan Hannian from Mao Zedong
and Zhou Enlai on the Question of Conditions
That Chiang Kaishek Is Requested to Carry
Out Following the Xi'an Incident
(January 21, 1937)
Comrade Hannian:
I. In order to avoid civil war and present a unified front to the outside, in
principle we do not oppose Chiang's orientation, and Xi'an should be persuaded
to follow Nanjing's unified orientation, and that it is best for Chiang to be lenient
with Zhang [Xueliang] and Yang [Hucheng], to reassure them.
2. But we should demand resolutely of Chiang that he agree to all of the
following points:
a. To guarantee that after a peaceful solution is reached, there will be no
more war.
b. Not to carry out the policy of suppressing the Communists, and to guarantee minimal provisions for the Red Army.
c. To permit some part of the Red Army to station troops for the time being
in southern Shaanxi, but not necessarily in Shang[zhou] and Luo[nan],
because food is extremely scarce in places such as Heshui, Qingyang,
Zhengning, Chunhua, Fuxian, 1 Fushi, and so on, and later troops may be
transferred to station in other locations.
d. Please order Ma Bufang to halt attacks on the Red Army west of the
[Yellow] River.
e. So that Red Army cadres may firmly believe that Chiang is halting his
suppression of the Communists, designating defense sectors, and issuing
provisions, in order to make proper preparations to resist Japan, it is requested that Chiang reply in his own hand to Enlai's letter. We can guarantee absolute secrecy, because there are still many who have suspicions
amongst the Red Army cadres.
f. There have been no changes in Xi'an for now, and the Red Army has not
71. The month is missing in the date as given in the source used by the compilers of this
volume, but the editors indicate in a note that it is probably January. Nianpu, Vol. I, pp.
643-44. confirms that this is the case.
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made propaganda about cooperating with Zhang and Yang. Xi'an provided
one month's provisions, so the Red Army stopped attacking the local bullies. Chiang should not believe the rumors spread by the pro-Japanese
faction.
g. We had no prior knowledge of the erroneous propaganda perpetrated by
the American woman journalist Smedley in Xi'an after the Xi'an Incident.
Said journalist has now come to the soviet areas, and she must be persuaded to use caution in what she says.
Mao Zedong
Zhou Enlai

--- Notes

We have translated this telegram from Documents on the United Front, Vol. 2, pp. 370-

I. The character for this xian, located in central Shaanxi, was changed in 1964 to a
less obscure one than that used here by Mao.
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