To the Secretariat of the People's Political Council, for the public attention of all esteemed Council Members:

Your telegram has been received and read. We are all deeply moved by your concern for unity. For the past four years, the members of the Chinese Communist Party have exhausted their hearts and minds to safeguard the national War of Resistance and domestic unity, a fact long recognized by the people of our country. The Communist Party Council Members have never failed to attend any session of the People's Political Council, a fact also witnessed by all of you. However, regarding this particular session of the People's Political Council, there are impediments that make attendance difficult. For the Communist Party Council Members were invited by the Government, yet recently the Government has treated the Chinese Communist Party almost as a sworn enemy, annihilating the armies under its leadership, arresting and killing its party members, and seizing and banning its newspapers. In particular, the Southern Anhui Incident and the January 17th Order are truly major upheavals since the beginning of the War of Resistance, and their impact on domestic unity has indeed inflicted a deep and painful wound. After the January 17th Order, the enemy and the puppets clapped their hands in glee, the people of our country were filled with indignation, and friendly nations were alarmed and suspicious, all believing that a rupture between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was imminent. Witnessing this perilous situation, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party could not but take appropriate steps to avert the crisis and preserve unity, and thus proposed to the authorities eleven points for resolving the aftermath. After a delay of months, not a single reply was received, while political oppression and military attacks, on the contrary, intensified. The New Fourth Army has been called the "282 rebellious army," the Eighth Route Army has been called the "bandit army," the Communist Party has been called the "traitorous party," and on the road from Yan'an to Chongqing, startling slogans such as "Down with the Communist Party," "The War of Resistance and bandit suppression are of equal importance," and "Bandit suppression is not a civil war" have been written in large characters on walls by official government offices and regular army units. If such a situation does not change, even if Zedong and the others wished to attend the meeting, it would not only be emotionally unbearable and rationally baseless, but also practically impossible. With this sincere heart, we once sent a telegram to the Secretariat of the People's Political Council, briefly outlining the general situation, which we trust you understood. Subsequently, many of our fellow Council Members have bustled about, attempting to mediate a turnaround. Zedong and the others, moved by this earnest sentiment and for the sake of the overall situation, making concessions to achieve a compromise, had Council Members Biwu and Yingchao, who are in Chongqing, propose eleven points for a temporary solution, requesting that the Government resolve them so that our Party's Council Members could attend the general assembly. At the same time, we notified the Secretariat of the People's Political Council of this intention, but we have also not been favored with a reply from the Government. The conditions in the aftermath resolution and the temporary solution proposed by Zedong and the others were presented to the Government authorities who invited us to be Council Members, requesting a resolution, to serve as the standard for whether Zedong and the others would attend this session of the People's Political Council. The Government certainly has the freedom to resolve them or not, and Zedong and the others also have the freedom to attend or not. The heart with which Zedong and the others cherish the People's Political Council has not changed in the slightest from past to present. If, during this session, through the efforts of you gentlemen and the decisive judgment of the gentlemen in the Government, our proposed measures are adopted, and once there is a definite agreement and a guarantee of implementation, then even if the general assembly is nearing its end, the Communist Party Council Members in Chongqing will certainly obey the summons and attend. Otherwise, we can only wait for the day when these problems are resolved. Zedong and the others accepted the Government's invitation for the sake of unity and the War of Resistance. As long as the deep rift inflicted upon Kuomintang-Communist unity since the Southern Anhui Incident has not been eliminated for a single day, it will be difficult for Zedong and the others to attend any meeting convened by the Government for a single day. The reason why the circumstances in which Zedong and the others currently find ourselves are not entirely the same as yours lies precisely in this. We respectfully set forth these humble thoughts and hope for your understanding and consideration.

The Chinese Communist Party Council Members: Mao Zedong, Chen Shaoyu, Qin Bangxian, Lin Zuhan, Wu Yuzhang, Dong Biwu, Deng Yingchao, together.