The Panchen Lama is now in Lanzhou. When you attack Lanzhou, please take great care to protect and respect the Panchen Lama and the Tibetans in Gansu and Qinghai, as preparation for resolving the Tibet issue.
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This is an excerpt from a telegram sent by Mao Zedong to Peng Dehuai, commander and political commissar of the First Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The Panchen Erdeni, namely the Panchen Erdeni Chokyi Gyaltsen (1938–1989), the 10th Panchen Lama, was a native of Xunhua, Qinghai. At the time, he was one of the religious and political leaders of the Tibet region. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, due to various reasons, contradictions existed between the upper-level Dalai Lama clique and the Panchen Lama clique in Tibet. The 9th Panchen Erdeni, Chokyi Nyima, was forced to leave Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, Tibet, in 1923 and took up residence in the interior. Due to obstruction by the local Tibetan authorities, he was never able to return to Tibet and passed away in Yushu, Qinghai, in December 1937. After the Panchen Erdeni Chokyi Gyaltsen succeeded to the position in June 1949, he continued to reside in Qinghai and other places. On the very day of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Panchen Erdeni Chokyi Gyaltsen sent telegrams to Mao Zedong and Zhu De, expressing support for the Central People's Government and the hope for the early liberation of Tibet. In view of the Panchen Erdeni's historical status in Tibet and the wishes of the broad masses of Tibetan monks and laypeople, as well as to promote unity within the Tibetan ethnic group and the peaceful resolution of the Tibet issue, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China supported the Panchen Erdeni Chokyi Gyaltsen's return to Tibet. The "Agreement Between the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet," signed in Beijing on May 23, 1951, stipulated: "The inherent status and authority of the Panchen Erdeni shall be maintained." The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Mao Zedong instructed the Northwest Military and Political Committee to take charge of the preparations and escort work for the Panchen Erdeni Chokyi Gyaltsen's return to Tibet. On December 29, 1951, the Panchen Erdeni Chokyi Gyaltsen and officials of the Panchen Khenpo Assembly Hall set out from Xining, Qinghai, arriving in Lhasa on April 28, 1952, and returning to Shigatse in Tsang on June 8.