Reply to Lin Boqu and Dong Biwu[1]
(July 7, 1944)
Regarding the KMT-CCP negotiations, the current step should be to request a meeting with Zhang and Wang. At the meeting, state that the proposed case has been forwarded to the Central Committee, and the Central Committee has replied that the views of the two sides remain far apart. In the interest of further discussions, invite Zhang and Wang to come to Yan’an together with Lin. If Zhang and Wang refuse to come to Yan’an, then Lin shall return to Yan’an to report on the course of the negotiations, so as to discuss a counter-proposal to the proposed case. If the other side neither sends Zhang and Wang to Yan’an nor permits Lin to return to Yan’an to make a detailed report, then continued discussions cannot proceed, nor can a counter-proposal to the proposed case be formulated. The responsibility for delaying the negotiations shall rest entirely with the other side; our side bears no such responsibility.

[1] This is the main content of Mao Zedong’s reply telegram to Lin Boqu and Dong Biwu.