Reply to Zhou Enlai’s Telegram[1]

(February 11, 1945)

The categorical rejection of Hurley[2] is entirely correct. We must uphold the eight points and first implement the four points; otherwise, we will boost the morale of the dictatorship and deflate the prestige of democracy. The fact that the “Declaration of the Democratic League” is selling for two hundred yuan a copy shows where public opinion lies. Today, the U.S. News Service broadcast that ten overseas Chinese newspapers in the Americas are demanding the abolition of one-party dictatorship and the establishment of a coalition government, which shows that our Party’s proposition has gained support abroad, and the majority of foreign public opinion also supports this proposition. The U.S. government’s policy of supporting Chiang may be forced to be abandoned, and our Party must work to defeat this policy.

--- Notes

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


[2] On February 11, Zhou Enlai sent a telegram to Mao Zedong reporting on the talks with Hurley, Song Ziwen, Zhang Zhizhong, and Wang Shijie on February 10. During the talks, Zhou Enlai stressed that before convening a conference of parties and groups, the Nationalist government must fulfill the four demands put forward by the Chinese Communist Party, including the release of political prisoners. Hurley prevaricated and proposed issuing a joint statement drafted by him and Song Ziwen that favored the Nationalists, which Zhou Enlai categorically rejected on the spot. Later, Hurley proposed that Zhou Enlai draft a joint statement. Zhou Enlai stated that if a statement were to be issued, it must clarify the demands of the Chinese Communist Party side and the points of difference between the positions of the two parties, so as to reveal the truth.