Comments on Hu Qiaomu’s [1] Request for Instructions Regarding Issues Such as Kai Feng’s [2] Attendance of Central Committee Meetings During His Temporary Absence
(December 10, 1953)

To be read by Liu, Zhou, Zhu, Chen, Gao, Xiaoping, Zhongxun, and Shangkun, and returned to Shaoqi for handling.

(1) During Qiaomu’s temporary absence, it is necessary for Kai Feng to attend Central Committee meetings [3] as a non-voting participant.
(2) The issue of written language will be discussed later.

Mao Zedong
December 10

[1] Hu Qiaomu, then Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary to Mao Zedong.
[2] Kai Feng, then Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee.
[3] In a request for instructions submitted to Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi on December 7, 1953, Hu Qiaomu proposed:
First, “Under the circumstances that I am about to leave Beijing and temporarily step away from the work of the Propaganda Department, it seems necessary for Comrade Kai Feng to be able to regularly attend Central Committee meetings as a non-voting participant.” “Since the Propaganda Department is responsible for guiding daily propaganda work, especially newspaper commentary, and Comrade Zhongxun is currently able to oversee the work of the Propaganda Department only minimally, I hope the Central Committee will give special consideration to this matter.”
Second, two documents concerning the issue of minority languages and the reform of Chinese characters have been distributed. Regarding the issue of minority languages, it is planned to be issued by the Government Administration Council in the form of a directive, and it is hoped that it can be approved at an upcoming Central Committee meeting. The issue of Chinese character reform is relatively complex, and it is hoped that the Central Committee can provide a principled directive on the proposed reform measures.