Central Telegram Regarding the Convening of a Northwest Bureau Meeting (October 25, 1949) To the Northwest Bureau and Comrade Dehuai [1]:  (1) We approve the Northwest Bureau’s telegram dated Youhui; Ma Hongbin shall continue to serve as Vice Chairman of the Ningxia Administrative Office, while Xing Zhaotang is to be reassigned as Vice Chairman of the Qinghai Administrative Office. [2]  (2) Once He [3] has concluded his affairs in Beijing, he will depart for the Northwest either tomorrow or the day after.
Upon his arrival in Xi’an, please instruct Peng to convene a Northwest Bureau meeting in early November—either in Lanzhou, Jiuquan, or Xi’an—to discuss various issues, including the withdrawal of He and the 18th Corps from the Northwest into Sichuan, as well as the finalization of the list of members of the Northwest Military–Administrative Committee and the lists of provincial governments.
The Central telegram, dated Youyou, was published based on Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.

Notes  [1] Dehuai refers to Peng Dehuai, who at that time held the post of First Secretary of the CPC Northwest Bureau.  [2] The views expressed here concerning the appointments of Ma Hongbin and Xing Zhaotang were subsequently revised.
Ma Hongbin, a former Nationalist government military commander, led his forces in an uprising in Ningxia in September 1949 and was appointed Vice Chairman of the Gansu Provincial People’s Government on December 2, 1949.
Xing Zhaotang had previously served as a member of the North China People’s Government and Director of its Water Conservancy Commission; on December 2, 1949, he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Ningxia Provincial People’s Government.  [3] He refers to He Long, who at the time was Second Secretary of the CPC Northwest Bureau and Commander of the Northwest Military Region of the People’s Liberation Army.
In August 1949, he was appointed Third Secretary of the CPC Southwest Bureau, and in October of the same year he was named Commander of the Southwest Military Region of the PLA; however, he had not yet assumed either of these posts at the time.