April 21, 1949

[This order was drafted by Comrade Mao Tse-tung. After the reactionary Kuomintang
government refused to sign the Agreement on Internal Peace, the People's
Liberation Army acted on this order issued by Chairman Mao Tse-tung and
Commander-in-Chief Chu Teh and embarked upon a general advance, unprecedented
in scale, into the vast areas which had not yet been liberated. On the morning
of April 21, 1949, the Second Field Army led by Liu Po-cheng, Teng Hsiao-ping
and other comrades and the Third Field Army led by Chen Yi, Su Yu, Tan Chen-lin
and other comrades, forced the Yangtse River on a front extending more than
five hundred kilometres from Hukou (northeast of Kiukiang) in the west to
Kiangyin in the east and completely destroyed the defence line along the
Yangtse which the enemy had painstakingly built in three and a half months.
On April 23 these forces liberated Nanking, which had been the centre of
the counter-revolutionary rule of the Kuomintang for twenty-two years, and
proclaimed the downfall of the reactionary Kuomintang regime. Then they thrust
south along separate routes, liberated Hangchow on May 3 and Nanchang on
May 22 and captured Shanghai, China's biggest city, on May 27. In June they
began their march into Fukien Province; they liberated Foochow on August
17 and Amoy on October 17. On May 14 the Fourth Field Army led by Lin Piao,
Lo Jung-huan and other comrades forced the Yangtse on a front of more than
one hundred kilometres in the Tuanfeng-Wuhsueh sector east of Wuhan. On May
16 and 17 it liberated Wuchang, Hanyang and Hankow, cities of strategic
importance in central China. Then it marched south into Hunan. Cheng Chien,
Kuomintang governor of Hunan Province, and Chen Mingjen, Commander of the
1st Army renounced their allegiance to the Kuomintang on August 4, and Hunan
Province was peacefully liberated. The Fourth Field Army fought the
Hengyang-Paoching campaign in September and October, wiped out the main force
of the Kuomintang troops under Pai Chung-hsi and then pushed on to Kwangtung
and Kwangsi Provinces. It liberated Canton on October 14, Kweilin on November
22 and Nanning on December 4. While the Second and Third Field Armies were
forcing the Yangtse River, the armies in northern China led by Nieh Jung-chen,
Hsu Hsiang-chien and other comrades captured Taiyuan on April 24, 1949. The
First Field Army led by Peng Teh-huai, Ho Lung and other comrades, after
liberating Sian on May 20, continued its march into the Kuomintang areas
in the Northwest together with two armies from northern China. They captured
Lanchow on August 26, liberated Sining on September 5 and Yinchuan on September
23 and completely annihilated the Kuomintang troops under Ma Pu-fang and
Ma Hung-kuei. Late in September Tao Chih-yueh, Kuomintang Garrison
Commander-in-Chief of Sinkiang Province, and Burhan, the governor, renounced
their allegiance to the Kuomintang, and Sinkiang was peacefully liberated.
At the beginning of November the Second Field Army led by Liu Po-cheng, Teng
Hsiao-ping and other comrades, together with the 18th Army of the Northern
China Field Army and part of the First Field Army led by Ho Lung, Li Ching-chuan
and other comrades, began their march into southwestern China. They liberated
Kweiyang on November 15 and Chungking on November 30. On December 9 Lu Han,
Kuomintang governor of Yunnan Province, Liu Wen-hui, Kuomintang governor
of Sikang Province, and Teng Hsi-hou and Pan Wen-hua, deputy directors of
the Kuomintang Bureau of Military and Administrative Affairs in the Southwest,
renounced their allegiance to the Kuomintang, and the two provinces of Yunnan
and Sikang were peacefully liberated. In late December the People's Liberation
Army which had entered the Southwest fought the Chengtu campaign, completely
wiped out the Kuomintang troops under Hu Tsung-nan and liberated Chengtu
on December 27. By the end of December 1949 the People's Liberation Army
had wiped out all the Kuomintang troops on China's mainland and liberated
the entire mainland except Tibet.]


Comrade commanders and fighters of all field armies, comrades of the People's
Liberation Army in the guerrilla areas of the south!

The Agreement on Internal Peace, drafted after long negotiations between
the delegation of the Communist Party of China and the delegation of the
Nanking Kuomintang government, has been rejected by that
government.[1] The responsible members of the Nanking
Kuomintang government have rejected the agreement because they are still
obeying the orders of U.S. imperialism and Chiang Kai-shek, the chieftain
of the Kuomintang bandit gang, and because they are trying to block the progress
of the cause of the Chinese people's liberation and prevent the internal
problem from being solved by peaceful means. The Agreement on Internal Peace,
comprising eight sections with twenty-four articles formulated by the two
delegations in the negotiations, is lenient on the problem of war criminals,
is lenient towards the Kuomintang officers, soldiers and government personnel
and provides appropriate solutions for other problems, all proceeding from
the interests of the nation and the people. The rejection of this agreement
shows that the Kuomintang reactionaries are determined to fight to the finish
the counter-revolutionary war which they started. The rejection of this agreement
shows that in proposing peace negotiations on January 1 of this year the
Kuomintang reactionaries were only trying to check the advance of the People's
Liberation Army and thus gain a breathing space for a later comeback to crush
the revolutionary forces. The rejection of this agreement shows that the
Li Tsung-jen government at Nanking was utterly hypocritical in professing
to accept the Chinese Communist Party's eight terms for peace as the basis
for negotiations. Inasmuch as the Li Tsung-jen government had already accepted
such fundamental terms as the punishment of war criminals, the reorganization
of all the reactionary Kuomintang troops on democratic principles and the
handing over of all power and authority by the Nanking government and its
subordinate governments at all levels, it had no reason to reject the specific
measures which were drawn up on the basis of these fundamental terms and
which are most lenient. In these circumstances, we order you as follows:


1. Advance bravely and annihilate resolutely, thoroughly, wholly and completely
all the Kuomintang reactionaries within China's borders who dare to resist.
Liberate the people of the whole country. Safeguard China's territorial
integrity, sovereignty and independence.

2. Advance bravely and arrest all the incorrigible war criminals. No matter
where they may flee, they must be brought to justice and punished according
to law. Pay special attention to arresting the bandit chieftain Chiang Kai-shek.

3. Proclaim to all Kuomintang local governments and local military groups
the final amended version of the Agreement on Internal Peace. In accordance
with its general ideas, you may conclude local agreements with those who
are willing to cease hostilities and to settle matters by peaceful means.

4. After the People's Liberation Army has encircled Nanking, we are willing
to give the Li Tsung-jen government at Nanking another opportunity to sign
the Agreement on Internal Peace, if that government has not yet fled and
dispersed and desires to sign it.

Mao Tse-tung

Chairman of the Chinese People's Revolutionary Military Commission

Chu Teh

Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese People's Liberation Army


NOTES


1. On April 1, 1949, the Kuomintang government delegation
headed by Chang Chih-chung arrived in Peiping to negotiate peace with the
delegation of the Communist Party of China. An Agreement on Internal Peace
was drafted after a half month of negotiations. The agreement (final amended
version) was handed to the Nanking government delegation by the delegation
of the Communist Party of China on April 15 and was rejected by the Nanking
government on April 20. The full text of the agreement (final amended version)
is as follows:

In the 35th year of the Republic of China, the National Government at Nanking,
with the aid of the Government of the United States of America, defied the
will of the people, wrecked the truce agreement and the resolutions of the
Political Consultative Conference and, on the pretext of opposing the Communist
Party of China, launched a country-wide civil war against the Chinese people
and the Chinese People's Liberation Army. This war has lasted two years and
nine and a half months. It has brought untold disaster to the people throughout
the country. The country has suffered tremendous losses of financial and
material resources, and its sovereignty has been further infringed. The people
of the whole country have always expressed dissatisfaction with the National
Government at Nanking for its violation of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary
Three People's Principles and of his correct policies of alliance with Russia,
co-operation with the Communist Party and assistance to the peasants and
workers, and for its violation of his revolutionary testament. In particular,
the whole people have voiced their opposition to the launching of the present
unprecedented large-scale civil war by the National Government at Nanking
and to the erroneous political, military, financial, economic, cultural and
foreign policies and measures which that government has adopted in its pursuit
of the civil war. The National Government at Nanking has completely forfeited
the confidence of the entire people. In the present civil war its troops
have already been defeated by the People's Liberation Army led by the Communist
Party of China and commanded by the Chinese People's Revolutionary Military
Commission. Finding itself in this situation, the National Government at
Nanking proposed to the Communist Party of China on January 1 of the 38th
year of the Republic of China that negotiations should be held for the cessation
of the civil war and the restoration of peace. On January 14 of the same
year, the Communist Party of China issued a statement agreeing to this proposal
of the Kuomintang government at Nanking and putting forward eight terms as
the basis for the peace negotiations between the two sides. These terms are
as follows: punish the war criminals; abolish the bogus constitution; abolish
the bogus "constituted authority"; reorganize all reactionary troops on
democratic principles; confiscate bureaucrat-capital; reform the land system;
abrogate treasonable treaties; convene a New Political Consultative Conference
without the participation of reactionary elements and form a democratic coalition
government to take over all the power and authority of the reactionary Nanking
Kuomintang government and of its subordinate governments at all levels. These
eight basic terms were agreed to by the National Government at Nanking.
Thereupon, the Communist Party of China and the National Government at Nanking
appointed their respective delegations, fully empowered to conduct negotiations
and to sign an agreement. The delegates of both parties met in Peiping, have
affirmed first of all that the National Government at Nanking should bear
the full responsibility for the present civil war and for all its erroneous
policies and have agreed to conclude this agreement.

SECTION ONE

Article 1. In order to distinguish between right and wrong and to establish
responsibility, the delegation of the Communist Party of China and the delegation
of the National Government at Nanking (hereinafter referred to as both sides)
affirm that, as a matter of principle, punishment shall be meted out to the
war criminals of the National Government at Nanking who are held responsible
for launching and prosecuting the present civil war, but that they will be
dealt with on the merits of each case in accordance with the following
conditions:

  Item 1. All war criminals, no matter who they are, may be cleared of the
  charge of being war criminals and treated with leniency, provided they show
  by actual deeds that they are really sincere in distinguishing right from
  wrong and are determined to make a clean break with their past, thus facilitating
  the progress of the cause of the Chinese people's liberation and the peaceful
  settlement of the internal problem.

  Item 2. All incorrigible war criminals, no matter who they are, shall be
  severely punished if they obstruct the progress of the cause of the people's
  liberation, hinder the peaceful settlement of the internal problem, or go
  so far as to instigate rebellion. The Chinese People's Revolutionary Military
  Commission will be responsible for suppressing the ringleaders of rebellion.

Article 2. Both sides affirm that the National Government at Nanking was
wrong in pronouncing General Yasuji Okamura, war criminal in the Japanese
aggression against China, not guilty and releasing him on January 26 of the
38th year of the Republic of China and in granting permission on January
31 of the same year for the repatriation to Japan of 260 other Japanese war
criminals. The cases of all these Japanese war criminals shall be reopened
as soon as the Democratic Coalition Government of China, the new central
government representing the people throughout China, is formed.

SECTION TWO

Article 3. Both sides affirm that the "Constitution of the Republic of China",
adopted by the "National Assembly" convened by the National Government at
Nanking in November of the 35th year of the Republic of China, shall be
abolished.

Article 4. After the abolition of the "Constitution of the Republic of China",
the fundamental law to be observed by the state and the people shall be
determined in accordance with the resolutions of the New Political Consultative
Conference and the Democratic Coalition Government.

SECTION THREE

Article 5. Both sides affirm that the entire legally constituted authority
of the National Government at Nanking shall be abolished.

Article 6. After the Democratic Coalition Government is formed, the people's
democratic constituted authority shall be established, and all reactionary
laws and decrees shall be annulled in all places entered and taken over by
the People's Liberation Army.


SECTION FOUR

Article 7. Both sides affirm that all armed forces under the Nanking National
Government (all the ground, naval and air forces, gendarmerie, communications
police corps, local troops, all military institutions, academies, factories,
rear-service establishments, etc.) shall be reorganized into the People's
Liberation Army on democratic principles. After the signing of the Agreement
on Internal Peace, a national reorganization committee shall be established
at once to take charge of this work of reorganization. The reorganization
committee is to consist of seven to nine members, four to five of whom shall
be appointed by the People's Revolutionary Military Commission, and three
to four by the National Government at Nanking, with one of the members appointed
by the People's Revolutionary Military Commission serving as chairman and
one of the members appointed by the National Government at Nanking serving
as vice-chairman. In places entered and taken over by the People's Liberation
Army, regional sub-committees of the reorganization committee may be established
as required. The proportion of the members of both sides in the sub-committees
and the allocation of the posts of chairmen and vice-chairmen shall be the
same as in the national reorganization committee. A reorganization committee
shall be established for the navy and another for the air force. All matters
relating to the People's Liberation Army's entry into, and taking over of,
the areas at present administered by the National Government at Nanking shall
be decided by orders issued by the Chinese People's Revolutionary Military
Commission. The armed forces of the National Government at Nanking must not
resist the entry of the People's Liberation Army.

Article 8. Both sides agree that the reorganization plan in each region shall
be carried out in two stages:

  Item 1. The first stage -- assembling and regrouping.

  Point 1. All the armed forces under the Nanking National Government (ground,
  naval and air forces, gendarmerie, communications police corps, local troops,
  etc.) shall be assembled and regrouped. The principle of regrouping shall
  be as follows: the reorganization committee shall, on the basis of the actual
  local conditions, order such armed forces in the areas entered and taken
  over by the People's Liberation Army to move, area by area and stage by stage,
  to the designated places for assembling and regrouping, according to their
  original designations, formations and numerical strength.

  Point 2. Before the People's Liberation Army enters and takes over, all the
  armed forces under the Nanking National Government shall be held responsible
  for maintaining local order and preventing any acts of sabotage where they
  are stationed: in all large and small cities, along important lines of
  communication and rivers, at seaports and in the villages.

  Point 3. In the above-mentioned places, when the People's Liberation Army
  enters and takes over, the armed forces under the Nanking National Government
  shall, in accordance with the orders of the reorganization committee and
  its sub-committees, hand over peacefully and move to the designated places.
  While moving to the designated places and after arriving there, the armed
  forces under the Nanking National Government shall observe strict discipline
  and shall not disturb local order.

  Point 4. When, in compliance with the orders of the reorganization committee
  and its sub-committees, the armed forces under the Nanking National Government
  leave their original stations, the local police or peace preservation corps
  stationed in those places shall not withdraw, but shall be responsible for
  maintaining local peace and order and shall obey the directions and orders
  of the People's Liberation Army.

  Point 5. The reorganization committee, its sub-committees and the local
  governments shall be responsible for providing all the armed forces of the
  Nanking National Government which are being moved or assembled with necessary
  supplies, such as grain, fodder, bedding and clothing.

  Point 6. The reorganization committee and its sub-committees shall, according
  to the actual conditions in various areas, order the authorities of the Nanking
  National Government to hand over, area by area and stage by stage, all its
  military establishments (institutions, schools, factories, storehouses and
  the like, belonging to all its organizations ranging from the Ministry of
  National Defence to the Combined Rear-Service Headquarters), all its military
  installations (naval ports, forts, air bases and the like) and all its military
  supplies to the People's Liberation Army and the latter's Military Control
  Commissions in various places.

  Item 2. The second stage -- reorganization area by area.

  Point 1. After the ground forces under the Nanking National Government (infantry,
  cavalry, special arms, gendarmerie, communications police corps and local
  troops) have moved to the designated places and have been assembled and
  regrouped, area by area and stage by stage, the reorganization committee
  shall, according to the actual conditions in different areas, draw up plans
  for their reorganization area by area and carry out these plans at specified
  times. The principle of reorganization shall be that all the above-mentioned
  ground forces, after being assembled and regrouped, shall be reorganized
  into regular units of the People's Liberation Army in conformity with its
  democratic system and regular structure. The reorganization committee and
  its sub-committees shall be responsible for handling the cases of those soldiers
  who have been found eligible for retirement because of age or disability
  and who wish to retire, as well as the cases of those officers and
  non-commissioned officers who wish to retire or take up other occupations;
  the committees shall provide them with facilities to return home and with
  means of livelihood, so that everyone will be properly placed and no one
  will commit misdeeds because he lacks means of support.

  Point 2. After the naval and air forces under the Nanking National Government
  have moved to the designated places and been assembled and regrouped, area
  by area and stage by stage, they shall be reorganized according to their
  original designations, formations and numerical strength by the navy and
  air force reorganization committees, in conformity with the democratic system
  of the People's Liberation Army.

  Point 3. All the armed forces under the Nanking National Government, after
  being reorganized into the People's Liberation Army, must strictly observe
  the Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention of
  the People's Liberation Army and loyally abide by the military and political
  systems of the People's Liberation Army, without any violation,

  Point 4. The officers and men who have retired after reorganization must
  respect the local people's governments and obey the laws and decrees of the
  People's Government. The people's governments and the people of various
  localities shall be considerate of these retired officers and men and shall
  not discriminate against them.

Article 9. After the signing of the Agreement on Internal Peace, all the
armed forces under the Nanking National Government must cease conscripting
or recruiting soldiers or other personnel. They must be responsible for
protecting all their arms and ammunition, equipment, military institutions
and installations and military matériel, and must not destroy, conceal,
transfer or sell any of them.

Article 10. After the signing of the Agreement on Internal Peace, the National
Government at Nanking must, in case any of its armed forces refuses to carry
out the reorganization plan, assist the People's Liberation Army to enforce
the reorganization plan and ensure its thorough execution.

SECTION FIVE

Article 11. Both sides agree that all bureaucrat-capitalist enterprises and
property (including banks, factories, mines, vessels, companies and shops)
acquired or seized during the rule of the National Government at Nanking
through the use of political prerogatives and the influence of wealth and
position shall be confiscated and become the property of the state.

Article 12. In areas not yet entered and taken over by the People's Liberation
Army, the National Government at Nanking shall be held responsible for
supervising the bureaucrat-capitalist enterprises and property mentioned
in Article 11 so that no theft or concealment, damage, transfer or secret
sale shall occur. Assets which have already been moved shall be frozen wherever
found, and their being subsequently removed, transported abroad or damaged
shall not be permitted. Bureaucrat-capitalist enterprises and property located
abroad shall be declared the property of the state.

Article 13. In areas already entered and taken over by the People's Liberation
Army, the bureaucrat-capitalist enterprises and property mentioned in Article
11 shall be confiscated by the local Military Control Commissions or institutions
authorized by the Democratic Coalition Government. Private shares in them,
if any, shall be investigated, after they have been verified as being in
fact private and not secretly transferred bureaucrat-capital, they shall
be recognized, and their owners shall be permitted to remain shareholders
or to withdraw their shares.

Article 14. Bureaucrat-capitalist enterprises dating from the period prior
to the rule of the National Government at Nanking, as well as those dating
from the period of the rule of the National Government at Nanking, which
are neither large nor harmful to the national economy and the people's
livelihood, shall not be confiscated. But among these, the enterprises and
property of certain persons who have committed criminal offences, such as
reactionaries guilty of heinous crimes which have been reported by the people
and confirmed, shall be confiscated.

Article 15. In cities not yet entered and taken over by the People's Liberation
Army, the provincial, municipal and county governments under the National
Government at Nanking shall be responsible for protecting the people's democratic
forces and their activities in the locality and must not suppress or injure
them.

SECTION SIX

Article 16. Both sides affirm that the feudal system of landownership in
the rural areas of China shall be reformed step by step. After the entry
of the People's Liberation Army, reduction of rent and interest shall generally
be carried out first and distribution of land later.

Article 17. In areas not yet entered and taken over by the People's Liberation
Army, the local governments under the National Government at Nanking shall
be responsible for protecting the organizations of the peasant masses and
their activities and must not suppress or damage them.

SECTION SEVEN

Article 18. Both sides agree that all treaties and agreements concluded with
foreign states during the rule of the National Government at Nanking and
other diplomatic documents and archives, open or secret, shall be handed
over by the National Government at Nanking to the Democratic Coalition Government
and examined by the Democratic Coalition Government. All treaties or agreements
which are detrimental to the Chinese people and their state, especially those
which are in the nature of selling out the rights of the state, shall be
either abrogated, or revised, or new treaties and agreements shall be concluded
instead, as the case may be.

SECTION EIGHT

Article 19. Both sides agree that after the signing of the Agreement on Internal
Peace and before the formation of the Democratic Coalition Government, the
National Government at Nanking and its yuan, ministries, commissions
and other organs shall temporarily continue to function but must consult
the Chinese People's Revolutionary Military Commission in the conduct of
affairs and assist the People's Liberation Army in matters relating to the
taking over and handing over of the various areas. After the formation of
the Democratic Coalition Government, the National Government at Nanking shall
immediately hand over to the Democratic Coalition Government and proclaim
its own termination.

Article 20. Upon the handing over of the National Government at Nanking and
its local governments at various levels and all their subordinate organs,
the People's Liberation Army, the local people's governments and the Democratic
Coalition Government of China shall take care to enlist all the patriotic
and useful persons among the former's personnel, give them democratic education
and assign them to suitable posts so that they will not become destitute
and homeless.

Article 21. Before the People's Liberation Army enters and takes over, the
National Government at Nanking and its subordinate local governments in the
provinces, cities and counties shall be responsible for maintaining peace
and order in their respective areas, looking after and protecting all government
organizations and state-owned enterprises (including banks, factories, mines,
railways, postal and telegraph offices, aircraft, vessels, companies, warehouses
and all communications facilities) and other movable and immovable properties
belonging to the state; and no destruction, loss, removal, concealment, or
sale is permitted. Books, archives, antiques, valuables, bullion, foreign
currencies and all properties and assets which have been removed or concealed
shall be frozen at once wherever they are found, pending their take-over.
As for those properties which have been sent abroad or were originally abroad,
the National Government at Nanking shall be responsible for their recovery
and safekeeping and be prepared to hand them over.

Article 22. All the powers as well as the properties and assets of the state
in areas already entered and taken over by the People's Liberation Army shall
be taken over by the local Military Control Commissions, the local people's
governments or institutions authorized by the Coalition Government.

Article 23. After the Agreement on Internal Peace has been signed by the
delegation of the National Government at Nanking and carried out by that
government, the delegation of the Communist Party of China will take the
responsibility of proposing to the preparatory committee of the New Political
Consultative Conference that the National Government at Nanking should be
permitted to send a number of patriotic persons as representatives to the
Conference; after securing the approval of its preparatory committee, the
representatives of the National Government at Nanking may attend the New
Political Consultative Conference.

Article 24. After the National Government at Nanking has sent its representatives
to the New Political Consultative Conference, the Communist Party of China
will take the responsibility of proposing to the Conference that in the interests
of co-operation there should be included in the Democratic Coalition Government
a number of patriotic persons from the National Government at Nanking.

The delegations of both sides declare: We hereby assume the responsibility
of signing this agreement for the sake of the liberation of the Chinese people
and the independence and freedom of the Chinese nation and for the sake of
an early conclusion of the war and the restoration of peace so that the
commencement of the great task of production and construction on a nation-wide
scale will be facilitated and so that our country and people will steadily
attain prosperity, strength and well-being. It is hoped that the people of
the entire country will unite as one to struggle for the complete fulfilment
of this agreement. This agreement shall enter into force immediately upon
signature.

Transcription by the Maoist Documentation Project.