Pay Strict Attention to Policy When Entering
and Garrisoning Areas in the Northeast
(March 17, 1946)
To Peng [Zhen] and Lin [Biao]:1
	 1.	 The Guomindang has still not agreed to a cessation of hostilities. We agree
that you should dispatch troops to enter and garrison in those areas north of
Shenyang along the Changchun railway line from which the Soviet army
will withdraw, and, to create conditions for future negotiations, the quicker
this is done, the better. When entering and stationing troops and after garrisoning, however, do not harm the Guomindang’s takeover personnel. The
Northeast is largely ours and we should make long-term plans. Please pay
strict attention to this point.
	 2.	 Throughout Manchuria, great care must be taken not to kill a single person
other than Chinese traitors who have committed heinous crimes, to win over
popular sentiment and to facilitate the negotiations.
The Central Committee

--- Notes

1.  Peng Zhen was secretary of the Northeast Bureau of the Central Committee of the
Chinese Communist Party and first political commissar of the Northeast Democratic Allied
Army. Lin Biao was deputy secretary of the Northeast Bureau and commander-in-chief of
the Northeast Democratic Allied Army.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-100