Telegram on the Inadvisability of Issuing War Communiqués in the Name of the Joint Command at Present

(November 5, 1950)

Peng[1] and inform Gao[2]:

For the purpose of deceiving the enemy, it is still inadvisable at present to issue war communiqués in the name of the Joint Command. They should be issued in the name of the General Headquarters of the People’s Army. However, a few sentences should be included in the communiqués mentioning that China’s People’s Volunteer Units for Resisting U.S. Aggression, Aiding Korea, and Defending the Homeland and Safeguarding the Country (abbreviated as the Volunteer Units; externally, they are not to be called the Volunteer Army, but internally they are to be called the Volunteer Army) are taking part in the operations and are fighting very bravely. After the war communiqués are drafted, please send them to me for review before they are released.

Mao Zedong
5 November 1950, 2:00 a.m.
Printed from the manuscript.

Notes
[1] Peng refers to Peng Dehuai, then Commander and Political Commissar of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army.
[2] Gao refers to Gao Gang, then Commander and Political Commissar of the Northeast Military Region of the People’s Liberation Army.