The People’s Liberation Army General
Headquarters Spokesperson’s Solemn
Statement on the Atrocities of the British
Warship
(April 30, 1949)
(Xinhua News Agency, Beiping, broadcast on the 30th) Chinese People’s
Liberation Army General Headquarters Spokesperson General Li Tao today
issued a statement as follows regarding the incident with the British warship HMS
Amethyst:
We denounce warmonger [Winston] Churchill’s wildly arrogant statement.
On April 26 before the House of Commons, Churchill demanded that the British
government send two aircraft carriers to the Far East, “to carry out armed retaliation.” Mr. Churchill, what did you “retaliate” against? British warships, along
with Nationalist Party warships, intruded into the garrison area of the People’s
Liberation Army and opened fire against the People’s Liberation Army, causing the injury or death of 252 loyal and brave People’s Liberation Army soldiers. With British people running in and committing this type of great criminal
offense within China’s borders, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is justified
in demanding that the British Government admit its mistake and provide an apology and reparations. Could it be that you do not do this, and instead your march
troops into China to initiate “retaliation” against the People’s Liberation Army?
[Clement] Attlee’s remarks were also false. He said that Britain has the right to
sail warships on China’s Yangzi River. The Yangzi is China’s inland river, so
what right do you British people have to sail warships on it? You do not have this
right. The Chinese people must safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty, and they
absolutely do not allow foreign governments to encroach upon it. Attlee said: The
People’s Liberation Army “is prepared to allow the British ship HMS Amethyst
to sail toward Nanjing, but under one condition, which was that this ship should
assist the People’s Liberation Army in crossing the river.” Attlee is lying, the
People’s Liberation Army did not allow the HMS Amethyst to sail toward Nanjing.
Our source for this document is Mao Zedong ji, Vol. 10, pp. 277–79, where it is taken
from Renmin ribao, May 1, 1949.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-265

The People’s Liberation Army does not want any foreign armed force to help it
cross the river, nor does it want [any foreign armed force] to do anything else. On
the contrary, the People’s Liberation Army demands that Britain, America, and
France’s warships, warplanes, marine corps, and other types of armed forces on
the Yangzi River, Huangpu River, and elsewhere 1 in China swiftly withdraw from
China’s territorial waters, territorial land, and territorial airspace, and not help
the enemy of the Chinese people fight a civil war. Up to the present, the Chinese
People’s Revolutionary Military Affairs Commission and the people’s government have still not established diplomatic relations with any foreign government.
The Chinese People’s Revolutionary Military Affairs Commission and the people’s government are willing to protect foreigners who are handling normal business in China. The Chinese People’s Revolutionary Military Affairs Commission
and the people’s government are willing to consider establishing diplomatic relations with every foreign nation, but this type of relationship must be established
on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, and mutual respect for the independence and integrity of territorial sovereignty, 2 and of first importance is that the
foreign nations cannot help the reactionary faction of the Nationalist Party. The
Chinese People’s Revolutionary Military Affairs Commission and the people’s
government are not willing to accept any threatening actions by any foreign government. If a foreign government is willing to consider establishing diplomatic
relations with us, it must sever ties with the remaining forces of the Nationalist
Party, and it also must withdraw its armed forces from China. In the past, Attlee
grumbled about the Chinese Communist Party because it has not established diplomatic relations with foreign nations and it is not willing to have relations with
old diplomatic personnel (consuls recognized by the Nationalist Party) of foreign
governments. This type of complaint is unreasonable. In the past several years,
America, Britain, Canada, and other national governments helped the Nationalist
Party oppose us; could it be that Mr. Attlee has also forgotten this? The heavy
cruiser, the Chongqing, that was sunk not long ago was given to the Guomindang
by what country? Could it also be that Mr. Attlee does not know?

--- Notes

1.  elsewhere → everywhere else

2.  respect for the independence and integrity of territorial sovereignty, → respect for
the sovereignty and territorial integrity,