Comrade Major General Hurley:

Your esteemed letter of January 7, 1945, has been received. The five points put forward by our Party in November 1944 have already been rejected by the National Government. The three points put forward by the National Government are utterly impossible for our Party to agree to, hence the request for the four points, including the voluntary implementation by the National Government of the release of political prisoners, so as to prove whether the National Government is sincere in resolving the state affairs on a democratic basis. Now I have received your letter proposing a two-party conference in Yan’an with your participation, and your kind intentions are deeply appreciated. However, I still fear that such a conference will yield no results and will only waste your time and effort in traveling back and forth. All the secret two-party conferences over the past eight years have proven that the Kuomintang side is entirely lacking in sincerity. I now request that you convey to the National Government the following proposal from our Party: that a preparatory conference for the state affairs conference be convened in Chongqing. Such a preparatory conference should have the participation of representatives from the Kuomintang, the Communist Party, and the Democratic League, and it must be guaranteed that the conference will be held openly, with all parties having equal status and freedom of movement. If the National Government agrees to the above proposal, General Zhou Enlai can go to Chongqing for consultations. What is your opinion? I respectfully await your reply. With salutations and best wishes for the times.

Mao Zedong