Telegram to Deng Xiaoping [1] on the Question of the Current Tasks and Troop Distribution of the Forces Entering Tibet (September 13, 1951)

Comrade Xiaoping:

Our advance detachment has already arrived in Lhasa, and the troops led by Zhang Guohua [2] will also soon be able to reach the Taizhao-Lhasa line. Regarding the question of whether the task of these troops in 1951 should be primarily road construction or primarily grain production to solve the problem of provisions, Zhang Guohua told me when he was in Beijing that it should be road construction and not production. Zhang also believed that the Ganzhi to Lhasa road could be completed in one year, next year. However, according to intelligence obtained later, it is impossible to complete it next year; it may take two to three years to complete. In this case, if our army does not engage in production, provisions will become a serious problem; relying on the Tibetan government for supply, or relying on purchases, will have a bad influence on the Tibetan people. Therefore, please consider whether it can be decided that production and road construction be given equal importance, that is, to order the troops stationed along the route from Ganzhi to Lhasa to assign one part to production and one part to road construction, using more people for production during the production season, and using all forces for road construction in other seasons. This point should be determined now, so that preparations can be made in the winter.

Furthermore, regarding the question of troop distribution, it seems that within a few months, a portion of the army should be sent to be stationed in Xigaze and at an intermediate point between Xigaze and Lhasa, and production should be arranged in these places, so that the Panchen [3] can return to Ulterior Tibet and to facilitate the unfolding of work. The original plan to not station troops at the aforementioned points next year seems to need to be changed, but the timing of the stationing would be appropriate after Zhang Guohua arrives in Lhasa and relations with the Tibetan government are completely settled, that is, after three or four months.

I await your reply on the above.

Mao Zedong
September 13

Published according to the manuscript.

Notes
[1] Deng Xiaoping was at that time First Secretary of the Southwest Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Political Commissar of the Southwest Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
[2] Zhang Guohua was at that time Commander of the 18th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
[3] Panchen refers to Panchen Erdini Qoigyi Gyaincain, one of the religious leaders of Tibet.