To Comrade Zhou Enlai
(September 13, 1952)

Comrade Enlai:

(1) The upcoming United Nations General Assembly is set to discuss the Korean question. Mexico has put forward a three-point proposal for resolving the prisoner-of-war issue: first, prisoners on both sides who have expressed a desire to return home should be exchanged; second, other prisoners should be granted temporary asylum by other UN member states, with repatriation to be arranged through procedures to be determined later; and third, once the situation in Korea has fully normalized, the prisoners’ respective home countries should provide all guarantees and facilities necessary for their immediate return. Should any prisoners request repatriation before full normalization is achieved, the governments concerned should likewise comply and afford them every possible convenience for their return. It appears that the initiative to bring the Korean question before the United Nations originated with Britain, and Mexico’s proposal may also have been instigated by Britain. The United States has indicated willingness to consider the former but has yet to take a position on the latter. What stance we should adopt toward these two matters should be coordinated with our Soviet comrades.

(2) India and Burma have indirectly indicated their readiness to conclude non-aggression pacts with our country and have expressed the hope that you will pay visits to both India and Burma. Their underlying intention seems to be that Nehru would like to visit China first, followed by a reciprocal visit to India by the Chinese Premier. This information was conveyed by Ambassador Yao Zhongming. In my view, it is quite likely that they will formally raise this issue. Given that it would be difficult for us to refuse if India and Burma were to make formal proposals, whether or not we should conclude the aforementioned agreements with them should also be discussed with our Soviet colleagues.

Mao Zedong
September 13, 10:00 PM