Comment on the Exchange of Prisoners of War [1] (December 7, 1951) To be read by Zhou [2]. The Americans have announced that only 174 prisoners have been captured, while more than ten thousand others are listed as “missing.” They have no grounds for demanding from us every single “missing” person. Mao Zedong, December 7. Printed from the manuscript. Notes [1] This comment was written on a provisional intelligence bulletin compiled by the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which excerpted three news items from the New York Times, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report concerning the exchange of prisoners during the Korean Armistice Talks. On November 26, Newsweek reported: “Of the 99,226 American casualties listed last week, 10,836 are currently missing, while only 174 are confirmed to be in captivity.” The December 7 issue of U.S. News & World Report stated: “It has been suggested that the problem of armistice supervision and prisoner exchanges could be resolved through a bargain whereby the United States would drop its demand for inspections, and the Chinese side would hand over all Allied prisoners in its custody. In return for the American soldiers now in Chinese hands, the Allies would be prepared to run the risk that the Chinese might use this as a pretext to mass their forces.” Next to this passage, Mao Zedong wrote in the margin: “This point is also worth noting.” [2] Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai.