To Zhou Enlai[1]

(May 22, 1946)

Under the present conditions, we should resolve to give up Changchun. Please conduct the negotiations based on this resolution. There are three plans for giving up Changchun. The first is as previously proposed by the Central Committee: neither side stations troops, and a middle-of-the-road person serves as mayor. The second is as proposed by Marshall: the executive小组 goes in first, and only after everything is negotiated will Chiang’s troops go in. The third is for Chiang’s troops to enter Changchun unconditionally; this situation is the worst, and the outcome will probably be that negotiations fail, and we will still have to fight.

[1] This is the main content of Mao Zedong’s telegram to Zhou Enlai regarding the Northeast Bureau’s report on the difficulty of holding Changchun.