All of the Guomindang’s Initiatives Are to
Fight; for the Time Being, There Is
No Hope for Peace
(June 25, 1946)
To Lin [Biao]:1
We respectfully received your telegram of the 24th.2
	 1.	 All the Guomindang’s initiatives are to fight, and for the time being there is
no hope for peace.
	 2.	 When the negotiations break down, the fighting will be nationwide and not
limited to the Northeast.
	 3.	 In everything, we must completely rely on our own efforts.
	 4.	 If we win a victory within six months to a year, there is hope for peace.
	 5.	 In the future, a friendly nation 3 may offer assistance on the diplomatic front.
	 6.	 In the Nanjing negotiations, our Party must make the ultimate effort and the
greatest concessions to seek a compromise, but you must not harbor any
illusions.
The Central Committee
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 134–35, where it is reproduced
from Mao’s handwritten manuscript.

--- Notes

1.  Lin Biao was commander-in-chief and political commissar of the Northeast Democratic Allied Army.

2.  The telegram from the Northeast Bureau stated that it would be better to fight to
retain the cities of Baichengzi, Harbin, Jiamusi, Mudanjiang, and Andong rather than to
hand them over to the Guomindang forces. It advocated the launch of major offensives in
North and Central China to force the Guomindang to accept an armistice.

3.  I.e., the Soviet Union.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-187