--- Notes



Commentary on Nie Rongzhen’s〔1〕 explanation of “separatist rule in fixed areas, implemented through a wave-like advance policy”〔2〕 (April 28, 1950): Approved.
Printed from the manuscript by Mao Zedong on April 28.

Notes: 〔1〕 Nie Rongzhen was then acting Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. 〔2〕 On April 15, 1950, Luo Guibo, the CCP Central Committee’s liaison representative to the Vietnamese Communist Party, sent a telegram to the Military Commission requesting an explanation of Mao Zedong’s concept of establishing and developing base areas based on “separatist rule in fixed areas, implemented through a wave-like advance policy.”
On April 28 of the same year, Nie Rongzhen drafted a reply to Luo Guibo and submitted it to Mao Zedong for review; Mao approved it.
The full text of the telegram reads as follows: Comrade Luo Guibo: With regard to your inquiry concerning the interpretation of “separatist rule in fixed areas, implemented through a wave-like advance policy,” the answer is as follows: This military principle of the Chairman was formulated during the national democratic revolutionary war, under conditions where the enemy was strong and we were weak.
It involves creating revolutionary base areas, consolidating them, and then using these bases as springboards to further expand and develop them.
This approach seeks to avoid both conservatism and adventurism, combining the consolidation of existing base areas with their continued expansion.
The so-called wave-like advance means that once a base area has been extended to a certain point, one must temporarily halt further advance in order to carry out work in the new areas—mobilizing the masses, establishing local governments, organizing people’s armed forces, and other consolidation tasks.
Only when the new areas have been sufficiently consolidated can they serve as new bases for resuming the advance.
Please refer to the report from the Jinggangshan Front Committee to the Central Committee, included in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong.
Nie, April 28.