Central Telegram on the Establishment of the Northwestern Sichuan Military
and Political Committee
(November 7, 1949)

Comrade He Long III,

with a copy to Comrades Dehuai (2) of the Northwest Bureau, as well as Liu and Deng:

(1) We concur with Comrade He Long’s views expressed on the 6th. In order to ensure unified command over the 18th Corps and other temporarily attached units, and to direct local affairs in northwestern Sichuan, it is necessary to establish a single leadership body prior to our meeting with the Southwest Bureau. Such an organ might be designated the Northwestern Sichuan Military and Political Committee, with Comrade He Long serving as its chairman to exercise unified leadership over military, political, Party, and mass mobilization work. As for who should serve as vice-chairman and the composition of the committee, please submit your recommendations for consideration and approval at the forthcoming Northwest Bureau meeting in Lanzhou, after which you may telegraph them to the Central Committee for final decision. Since this body will include no non-Party members and is intended to be temporary, Party affairs may be placed under its jurisdiction without the need to set up a separate Party committee. With regard to commanding operations involving the 18th Corps and other forces, if it proves inconvenient to do so in the capacity of chairman of the Northwestern Sichuan Military and Political Committee, orders may instead be issued in the name of the commander of the Southwest Military Region. What are your views on this? Please inform us.

(2) Numerous logistical matters and personnel assignments related to supporting the 18th Corps and other units in their advance into southern Shaanxi and northwestern Sichuan should be included as items on the agenda of the current Lanzhou meeting. Kindly telegraph us any resolutions reached.

The Central Committee
November 7

On November 7, 1949, to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the October Revolution in the Soviet Union, Soviet Ambassador to China Rozen held a cocktail reception. The photograph shows Mao Zedong raising his glass in celebration at the event.