Regarding the Problems of Restraining Tang
Enbo and Diplomatic Countermeasures
(April 28, 1949)
To the General Front Committee; Su [Yu] and Zhang [Zhen]; and Liu [Bocheng],
Zhang [Jichun], and Li [Da]:1
	 1.	 In order to hold Tang Enbo2 in Shanghai for a period of time, which will
facilitate the seizure by our armies of Hangzhou and then, with preparation,
of Shanghai, we believe that you should refrain from occupying the areas
of Suzhou, Kunshan, Taicang, Wujiang, and Jiaxing for the time being. Let
Tang Enbo guard these aforementioned areas so he will not sense a direct
threat to Shanghai.
	 2.	 American warships and a battalion of marines retreated from Shanghai to
the sea beyond Wusongkou on the 26th. America only left one warship
with medical capabilities (a medical ship) in Shanghai. The British warships London and Forever also retreated beyond Wusongkou along with the
American warships. They left only the destroyer Black Swan in Shanghai
(this ship has been damaged, and some wounded soldiers have remained
in Shanghai to receive treatment). There used to be a French warship in
Shanghai. We do not know whether or not it has retreated. It is to our benefit
that England and America have taken this attitude.
	 3.	 We need to instruct our troops to protect British and American personnel
(and all foreign personnel) and every country’s diplomatic personnel, such
as ambassadors, ministers, and consuls, especially American and British diplomatic personnel. Recently, America has sent people to request the establishment of diplomatic relations with us. Britain has also tried its best to do business with us. We believe that we will be able to consider the issue
of establishing diplomatic relations with them if America and Britain can
cut off their relations with the Guomindang. We ask Deng [Xiaoping], Rao
[Shushi], Chen [Yi], and Liu [Bocheng]3 to pay special attention to this issue.
	 4.	 The old policy in which America supported the Guomindang against the
Communist Party has fallen through. It seems that America’s policy has
recently been changed to one in which it is attempting to establish diplomatic relations with us. Regarding the intrusion into John Leighton Stuart’s
residence,4 America might issue a verbal or written protest to our Nanjing
office. But as long as such an event does not reoccur, America will not blow
up the matter.
	 5.	 It seems that the incident with the British warship Amethyst5 was an accident. Britain has not even come forward with a protest. Therefore, aside from
using it as educational propaganda for the people, we have no actual need to
blow up this incident.
The Central Military Commission
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Notes

--- Notes

Our source for this document is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 285–86, where it is
reproduced from Mao Zedong’s handwritten manuscript.

1.  Su Yu was deputy commander and second deputy political commissar of the Third
Field Army, and Zhang Zhen (张震) was chief-of-staff of the Third Field Army. Liu
Bocheng was commander of the Second Field Army, Zhang Jichun was political commissar and head of the Political Department of the Second Field Army, and Li Da was chiefof-staff of the Second Field Army.

2.  Tang Enbo was commander-in-chief of the Guomindang army’s Beiping-ShanghaiHangzhou Garrison Command.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-261

3.  Deng Xiaoping was political commissar of the Second Field Army. Rao Shushi was
secretary of the East China Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist
Party and political commissar of the East China Military Region. Chen Yi was commander
and political commissar of the Third Field Army.

4.  On April 25, 1949, soldiers of the Thirty-fifth Army of the People’s Liberation Army
forced their way into the residence of the U.S. ambassador to China, John Leighton Stuart.

5.  From April 20 to 21, 1949, while the People’s Liberation Army was fighting its
way across the Yangzi River, four British military vessels entered the Yangzi and pressed
toward the People’s Liberation Army’s garrison in order to impede the crossing of the river.
A military conflict ensued during which cannon fire from the British gunboats injured or
killed 252 People’s Liberation Army soldiers. The British ship Amethyst was damaged by
the People’s Liberation Army and forced to anchor near Zhenjiang.