Reply to Pan Hannian[1]

(February 10, 1949)

You may meet with Zuo Gong and Zhong Tianxin and tell them that among the war criminals, only Chiang Kai-shek and those diehard elements within his clique who are guilty of heinous crimes cannot be pardoned. As for all others, including Sun Ke, Xue Yue, Yu Hanmou, Zhang Fakui, and so on, so long as they can, at some critical juncture in the future, stand on the side beneficial to the people’s cause, oppose imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism, and be willing to accept the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, then their past criminal acts may gain the people’s understanding and be pardoned, and they will be given a new way forward. You should seize this opportunity to intensify work on Sun Ke, Xue Yue, Yu Hanmou, and others.

[1] This is the main content of a reply telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party to Pan Hannian.