The Issue of Secrecy Deserves Our Utmost Attention
(September 1, 1950)

Comrade Chen Yi,[1] and inform Rao[2]:

Regarding the various issues discussed here, when you draft telegrams, for the sake of secrecy, please send them by wire, not by radio. Henceforth, for all confidential telegrams, pay attention to using wire, not radio. Use radio only for non-confidential ones. This applies to the Party, the government, and the military alike. The Party, government, and military should also do the same with lower levels; wherever wire equipment is available, use wire in order to achieve the purpose of secrecy. At a time when the struggle between the enemy and ourselves is growing increasingly acute, the issue of secrecy deserves our utmost attention.

Mao Zedong
September 1

[1] Chen Yi, then serving as Second Secretary of the East China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Commander of the East China Military Region, and Mayor of Shanghai.
[2] Rao, referring to Rao Shushi, then serving as First Secretary of the East China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Chairman of the East China Military and Political Committee, and Political Commissar of the East China Military Region.