[I] Comment on Huang Kecheng’s Report Concerning British Merchant Ships Requesting Our Escort
(August 4, 1953)

Request Zhou[2] to handle as he sees fit. It seems this is the only way to handle it.[3]

[1] Huang Kecheng, then serving as Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
[2] Zhou, refers to Zhou Enlai.

Mao Zedong
August 4

[3] Huang Kecheng’s report to Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai on August 4, 1953, stated: According to a report from the East China Military Region, several British steamships, having come under attack from Chiang Kai-shek’s forces, have fled to the Min River in our Fujian province to seek shelter. The British merchants request that the Fujian Military Region provide escort and permit them to navigate within our territorial waters. After considering this matter, it seems we may notify the relevant units that, should these merchant ships come under attack, and under circumstances where our naval vessels and shore batteries are capable and certain of success, we may proactively provide support.