Telegram Concerning Approval for Jiang Qing
to Visit the Newly Liberated Areas
(4 January 1950)

Comrade Shaoqi, please read and forward to Jiang Qing:

Your telegram of 1 January has been received. I approve of your going to the new areas to have a look, but this must be with Comrade Shaoqi’s consent. If he agrees, then an introduction letter should be written by the Organization Department of the Central Committee, in the name of a research fellow of the Central Political Research Office, to the Party organizations in the new areas. Therefore, it is also necessary to discuss the matter thoroughly with Comrade Liao Luyan¹ and obtain his consent. After arriving in the new areas, take care only to collect materials, do not express opinions, and be sure not to cause much trouble for the local Party and government authorities. On all the above, contact Comrade Shaoqi, and let him make the decision.

Mao Zedong
4 a.m., 4 January

¹ Liao Luyan, then Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the Policy Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.