Letter to

Zhang Zhizhong
# Date: 1949-09-21
# Source: en:auto-trans
# Translated from: zh/1949/1949-09-21_gei_zhang_zhi_zhong_de_xin.txt



Letter to Zhang Zhizhong [I)
(September 21, 1949)
Mr. Wenbo (Bai):
Two telegrams from the Dihua authorities replying to your two messages are enclosed herewith. In my previous telegram to Tao Zhiyue in Yueyang, I added a few sentences at the end, instructing Tao to make proper arrangements for contact with Deng Liqun [3], the CCP liaison officer. Deng Liqun (younger brother of Deng Feihuang [4]) had already traveled from Yining to Dihua on the fifteenth and met privately with Tao and Baohuan [5]. The talks went quite well.
Zhang Zhizhong
(1890–1969), courtesy name Wenbai, was born in Chaoxian County, Anhui Province. Beginning in March 1946, he served as Director of the Northwest Administrative Office of the Nationalist Government and concurrently as Governor of Xinjiang Province.
In the spring of 1949, he was appointed chief representative of the Nationalist Government’s peace negotiation delegation, participating in negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. After the Nationalist Government refused to sign the Domestic Peace Agreement, he remained in Beiping. Following the founding of the People’s Republic of China, he held positions such as Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission.
[2]
Tao Zhiyue (1892–1988) was from Ningxiang County, Hunan Province. At that time, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the Nationalist Xinjiang Garrison Command. On September 25, 1949, he led his troops in an uprising.
[3]
Deng Liqun, born in 1915 in Guidong County, Hunan Province, was then the Central Committee of the CPC’s liaison officer stationed in Xinjiang.
[4]
Deng Feihuang (1895–1953), also from Guidong County, Hunan, had previously been a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang and head of the party organizations in Henan and Yunnan provinces. In August 1949, he participated in an uprising in Hunan and later served as a counselor in the Advisory Office of the Central-South Military and Political Committee.
[5]
“Tao” refers to Tao Zhiyue, while “Baohuan” refers to Baohuan (1894–1989), who was from Wensu County in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In 1946, he served as Vice Chairman of the United Government of the Three Districts Revolutionary Movement in Xinjiang. In 1949, he took part in the peaceful liberation of Xinjiang. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, he became Chairman of the Xinjiang Provincial People’s Government and later served as Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference during its second, third, fifth, and sixth sessions.


Good. As for the Zhou and Huang armies [1], after they withdrew toward Ganzhou, Liangzhou, and Suzhou [2], their current location remains unknown. I have already telegraphed Comrade Peng Dehuai [3] to pay close attention to establishing contact with these two forces, adopting a policy of reorganization rather than annihilation. However, it is uncertain whether this can be achieved as planned. What is crucial is that, in addition to dispatching representatives from Dihua to Lanzhou for negotiations, Zhou and Huang themselves should promptly and proactively send their own representatives to the front lines to engage in serious talks and demonstrate sincerity. Our forces have already advanced rapidly toward Zhangye from Lanzhou via Qinghai along two separate routes; yet since Zhou and Huang began retreating westward from Tianshui, their envoys sent along the way to negotiate consistently failed to show genuine intent—conducting talks while simultaneously fleeing (likely out of fear of being wiped out, aiming to concentrate in Hexi Corridor for self-preservation), which has left some of our frontline commanders rather impatient.


(Your letter to Zhou Jiabin has reached Zhou’s unit, but it is unclear whether Zhou himself has seen it.) Should you now wish to send a telegram to Zhou, it could be forwarded through Deng Liqun to Tao Zhiyue.


With best regards!
Mao Zedong
September 21st
[1]
Refers to the Nationalist Army’s 120th Division, commanded by Zhou Jiabin, and the 91st Division, commanded by Huang Zuxun.
[2]
Refers to the historical regions of Ganzhou, Liangzhou, and Suzhou within present-day Gansu Province—corresponding to today’s Zhangye, Wuwei, and Jiuquan.
[3]
Peng Dehuai was at that time Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the People’s Liberation Army and Commander and Political Commissar of the First Field Army.
Letter to Zhang Zhizhong
A handwritten draft of Mao Zedong’s letter to Zhang Zhizhong.