Telegram Concerning Reception Arrangements Along the Return Route
(February 23, 1950)

Ambassador Wang [1], please forward to Comrades Liu Shaoqi and Gao Gang [2]:

Our party, having made en route visits, can reach Irkutsk today, the 23rd. We expect to arrive at Manzhouli on the 26th, after which we plan to stop at Hailar, Qiqihar, Harbin, Changchun, Sipingjie, and Tieling for one to two hours—or up to three to four hours—each, and to stay in Shenyang for one or two days. Comrade Gao Gang is requested to notify the leading comrades in charge at the above-mentioned places to maintain confidentiality. At each location, only a small number of responsible cadres should receive and attend to us; do not let many people know, and especially do not release any news to the public. Thereafter, at Dahushan, Jinzhou, Shanhaiguan, Tangshan, Tanggu, and Tianjin, we plan to make brief visits in each case, and confidentiality must also be maintained. When we disembark at Beijing, as well, only a small number of Party and non-Party figures (around one hundred people) should come to the station to meet us. Do not let many people know; only release the news after we have arrived in Beijing. Please make arrangements accordingly. It would be much appreciated.

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[1] Referring to Wang Jiaxiang, then Chinese Ambassador to the Soviet Union.
Mao Zedong
February 23

[2] Gao Gang, then Vice Chairman of the Central People’s Government and Chairman of the Northeast People’s Government.