Telegram to Zhou Enlai[1]

(May 31, 1941)

The policy of Britain and the United States in the West is to compel Germany to oppose the Soviet Union; in the East, it is for Britain, the United States, Japan, and China to compromise, oppose communism, and oppose the Soviet Union. The tension in the current situation is unprecedented. After Hess’s departure,[2] there has been a slight turn for the better; let us see what follows.

[1] This is the main content of Mao Zedong’s telegram to Zhou Enlai.

[2] Hess, Deputy Leader of the National Socialist Party of Germany, fled alone from Germany to Britain in May 1941, piloting a fighter plane. Hess had long been associated with the pro-Western line in Germany and opposed reaching an understanding with the Soviet Union.