CAPITALIST COUNTRIES MUST NEGOTIATE
WITH US TO ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC
RELATIONS WITH CHINA*
(December 19, 1949)
Regarding the Burmese government's request to establish diplomatic
relations with us, we should in our reply telegram ask whether it is willing to
sever diplomatic relations with the Kuomintang, and at the same time ask it
to send a responsible representative to Beijing to negotiate establishing Sino-Burmese diplomatic relations, whose decision will depend on results of the
negotiations. Such a negotiating procedure is fully necessary and applicable to
all capitalist countries. If a capitalist country declares publicly its wish to
establish diplomatic relations with us, we should also ask it by telegram to send
a representative to China to negotiate establishing diplomatic relations, and at
the same time we can publish the gist of the telegram in a news dispatch, thus
keeping the initiative in our hands. What are your views on the matter?
(From the original manuscript)
* This is the main part of Mao Zedong's telegram to Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai sent
during his visit to the Soviet Union.