Praising and Encouraging the Rebel Officers
and Soldiers of the Chongqing
 (March 24, 1949)
Captain Deng Zhaoxiang1 and all officers and soldiers:
I warmly celebrate your brave rebellion. Although the American imperialists
and the Nationalist army have bombed the Chongqing, this can only add to the
glory of your insurrection and to the indignation of patriots throughout China and
in the navy and in the Guomindang army and air force, showing them even more
clearly that yours is the only path the patriotic Guomindang military personnel
can follow. Your rebellion shows that the days of the Guomindang reactionaries and their overlords, the American imperialists, are numbered. They can blast
away one Chongqing, but they cannot prevent more battleships from following
you, or more naval, air, and army divisions from rising in revolt and standing
on the side of the People’s Liberation Army. The Chinese people must establish
a powerful national defense. In addition to an army, we still need to establish
our own air force and navy, and you will be part of the vanguard of the Chinese
People’s Navy. May you work hard!
Mao Zedong, Zhu De
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 524–25, where it is
reproduced from Renmin ribao, March 27, 1949.
1.  Deng Zhaoxiang (1903–1998, native of Guangdong) was captain of the Chongqing. The British government sold it to the Guomindang government on May 19, 1948, to
become the Guomindang Navy’s largest oceangoing vessel. The officers and men of the
Chongqing revolted at Shanghai’s Wusongkou port on February 25, 1949. On March 19,
1949, U.S. and Guomindang bombers attacked the ship near Hulu Island in Liaodong Bay.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-248