Telegram to Zhou Enlai[1]

(March 14, 1937)

The negotiations have not broken down; it is only that the He proposal is not accepted, while the Fifteen Articles[2] must be supplemented and amended in principle and in their specific provisions. The grand plan for peace has been decided; what is now under negotiation are the concrete plans regarding state policy and the relationship between the two parties (including questions of the organizational forms of the Red Army, the Soviet areas, etc.), which must be appropriate in principle and feasible in practice. Therefore, further discussions must be held before continuing the talks.

[1] This is the main content of a telegram sent by Mao Zedong and Luo Fu (Zhang Wentian) to Zhou Enlai.

[2] On March 8, 1937, Zhou Enlai, Ye Jianying, and Gu Zhutong, He Zhonghan, and Zhang Chong held talks, summarizing the negotiations of the past month. Zhou Enlai drafted the provisions, which were to be submitted to Chiang Kai-shek for final decision. The provisions drafted by Zhou Enlai included five articles on political issues, four articles on reorganization issues, and six articles on follow-up issues, totaling fifteen articles. On the same day, Zhou Enlai telegraphed these fifteen articles to the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.