Comments on the Huai River Diversion Project (August 31, 1950)

Zhou [1]: Please pay particular attention to the third item of this telegram [2], which concerns the revision of the work plan for Northern Jiangsu. The diversion of the Huai River must be undertaken simultaneously by the three provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, and Henan. The work plans of the party committees of these three provinces should all be centered around this project, and they should be informed of this as soon as possible.

Mao Zedong August 31 Based on the manuscript copy.

Notes  [1] Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai.  [2] Refers to a telegram dated August 28, 1950, from the East China Military and Administrative Committee to Zhou Enlai, forwarding the views of the CPC Northern Jiangsu District Committee on the management of the Huai River. The third point of the views forwarded was as follows: “If the diversion of the Huai River is to be carried out this year, it will inevitably require the mobilization of all political, administrative, military, and civilian forces in Northern Jiangsu. The entire work orientation for Northern Jiangsu this year will then have to be reconsidered, and the previously established arrangements for land reform, demobilization, and other tasks will have to be altered. Making such a major shift in our work this year would present considerable difficulties. Moreover, in terms of technology, manpower organization, ideological mobilization, the relocation of riverbed settlements, and the preparation of other material resources, everything feels rushed, which will greatly affect next year’s agricultural production and the management of the Yi River. If the Central Authorities, in order to alleviate the flood disaster in northern Anhui, require Northern Jiangsu to change its entire work orientation and comply with the overall plan for diverting the Huai River, we shall, for our part, do our utmost to overcome these difficulties and carry out the great undertaking of managing the Huai River.”