Telegram to Liu Shaoqi and Hu Qiaomu [I] on Revising the Editorial "A New Era of Sino-Soviet Friendly Cooperation"


(February 14, 1950)


(Immediate delivery) Shaoqi and Qiaomu:
Please immediately make the following revisions to the Xinhua News Agency editorial "A New Era of Sino-Soviet Friendly Cooperation" and then broadcast it together with the treaty tonight. (1) In the first paragraph, delete the 17 characters "the supplementary agreement to the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance"; also delete the 22 characters "the exchange of notes between the foreign ministers of China and the Soviet Union and the protocols related to the above agreements"; also delete the 9 characters "and the Sino-Soviet Civil Aviation Agreement"; also delete the 4 characters "and its annexes"; also delete the 7 characters "and the Civil Aviation Agreement."
A total of 59 characters are deleted from the first paragraph. (2) In the first sentence of the second paragraph, after the two characters "treaty," delete the 8 characters "various," "protocols, and exchange of notes" from the 15 characters "and other various agreements, protocols, and exchange of notes indicate," leaving only the 7 characters "and other agreements indicate." (3) In the third paragraph, delete the 19 characters "namely, the 1945 Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance and other exchange of notes"; also, in the phrase "this treaty and other exchange of notes," change the two characters "exchange of notes" to "agreements." (4) In the seventh paragraph, delete the 9 characters "and the Sino-Soviet Civil Aviation Agreement"; also delete the 43 characters "At the same time, China sells to the Soviet Union strategic raw materials that the Soviet Union lacks to repay the Soviet loan, which is also beneficial to the Soviet side." (5) In the first sentence of the eighth paragraph, change the two characters "various" to "two." (6) Delete the entire ninth paragraph, namely, the 53 characters "The supplementary agreement to the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance is a necessary measure to safeguard the national defense interests of both countries, and this measure is beneficial to both China and the Soviet Union." (7) For the above deletions and revisions, Qiaomu is responsible for making the corrections and ensuring there are no errors, and Comrade Shaoqi is requested to carefully proofread it once, ensuring there are absolutely no regrets and that it is completely consistent with the content of the treaty and agreements published by both China and the Soviet Union.
Otherwise, discrepancies will have a very bad impact.
Please pay close attention to this; it is of utmost importance!


Mao Zedong
February 14, 5:00 a.m.