In the course of reviewing
the draft editorial of the *People’s Daily*
“Support the Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet,”
the words added and rewritten by Mao Zedong
(May 26, 1951)

This policy of the Central Committee\[1\] applies not only to Tibet, but to all minority fraternal nationalities within the country. Because if the reform of inherent systems in politics, economy, culture, religion, and other areas, as well as the reform of customs and habits, is not carried out voluntarily and willingly by the people of each nationality and by the leaders who have ties with the people, but is instead forced upon them by orders from the Central People’s Government, or is rigidly and coercively imposed by personnel of Han or other nationalities, it will only provoke national antipathy and fail to achieve the goal of reform.

Among the Tibetan people, Buddhism holds very high prestige. The people’s faith in the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Erdeni is very deep. Therefore, the Agreement stipulates not only that religion shall be respected and temples shall be protected, but also that the status and authority of the two aforementioned leaders of the Tibetan people shall be respected. This is not only to reconcile the two sides within the Tibetan nationality that were previously discordant, but also to ensure that all nationalities within the country extend the necessary respect to the Tibetan leaders.

All military personnel and local functionaries entering Tibetan areas must strictly abide by the nationality policy and religious policy, must strictly abide by the Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, must strictly observe discipline, must conduct trade fairly, that is, entirely in accordance with the principle of exchange of equal value, must guard against and rectify great-nation chauvinist tendencies, and must, through their own heartfelt respect for the Tibetan nationality and their practice of serving the Tibetan people, eliminate the great national estrangement left over from history and win the heartfelt trust of the local government of Tibet and the Tibetan people. If among these military personnel and functionaries there are acts that violate the nationality policy and the Agreement, if they fail to observe discipline, if they bully the Tibetan people and show disrespect toward leaders who have ties with the people, if they commit the principled error of Han chauvinism, then the leading organs and leading personnel shall be responsible for promptly correcting them. At the same time, the local government of Tibet and the Tibetan people shall have the right to criticize and the right to report and reflect the situation to the higher-level people’s governments and the Central People’s Government. This principle applies not only to the Tibetan nationality, but to all fraternal nationalities.

---

\[1\] The text printed in Song typeface in the article consists of words added and rewritten by Mao Zedong. When reviewing the draft editorial, in addition to adding and rewriting these three passages, Mao also wrote the following note on Li Weihan’s report submitting the editorial and news draft for review: “These can immediately mobilize some people to translate into Tibetan, proofread without error, and together with the Agreement and the speeches made at the signing (in Tibetan), print them as a booklet for them to take back, and also send copies to the 18th Army, the Northwest troops in the Yushu area, and Wang Zhen’s troops entering Tibet.”

\[2\] This refers to the stipulation in the “Agreement Between the Central People’s Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet”: “Concerning all matters of reform in Tibet, the Central authorities shall not impose compulsion. The local government of Tibet shall carry out reforms of its own accord, and when the people raise demands for reform, they shall be resolved through consultation with the leading personnel of Tibet.”