Directive on the Policy Regarding Bandits[1]

(December 9, 1938)

The policy toward bandits shall be: 1. In our armed responsibility to suppress bandits and pacify the people, we must first restore political power, appoint or replace county magistrates and district heads, and restore anti-Japanese order. 2. In areas where our strength is sufficient, select the worst bandits and eliminate them. 3. Incorporate those bandit forces that are relatively weak and not powerful; after incorporation, either win them over or confiscate their arms and disband them. 4. For those bandit forces that cannot be eliminated or incorporated, establish contact with them and prepare to implement the first two measures.

--- Notes

[1] This is the main content of a telegram from Mao Zedong and Wang Jiaxiang to Peng Xuefeng of the Eastern Henan Guerrilla Detachment concerning the policy on bandits.