Comrade D. Damba, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party:

I have received your letter dated April 26, 1957.

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of our country, the government of the Mongolian People's Republic sent a government delegation to participate in the celebration. We were very pleased and wish to express our gratitude.

We have studied the issue you raised in your letter regarding the supply of labor from China to the Mongolian People's Republic. We believe that this is something that should be done. However, as you have envisioned, the large-scale relocation of Mongolian residents from China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to settle in the Mongolian People's Republic would be difficult. This is because the population of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is 8.7 million, of which over 7 million are Han Chinese, while our Mongolian compatriots number just over 1 million.

Furthermore, we consider that if we are to mobilize labor from China to engage in production and construction in the Mongolian People's Republic, we can only mobilize labor for industrial and agricultural work; mobilizing labor for animal husbandry would be difficult. Therefore, we envisage that we can only mobilize Han Chinese to work in sectors of industry and agriculture in the Mongolian People's Republic that require labor. Even so, the number we can send each year cannot be very large. If the number is too large, there will be difficulties in terms of language, living habits, and administrative management.

We envisage that among the labor force sent to the Mongolian People's Republic to participate in industrial construction, the majority should be skilled workers, so as to help Mongolian residents learn certain production operation skills. In our opinion, once these Chinese skilled workers engaged in industrial and agricultural production have taught the Mongolian residents the production operation skills within the period agreed upon by both sides, they may return to China. According to our calculations, it is possible to supply several thousand people each year in the coming years.

In order to facilitate the work of the Han Chinese going to work in the Mongolian People's Republic and to make it easier for them to unite and cooperate with the Mongolian people, we plan to assign several dozen Mongolian people who understand both Mongolian and Chinese languages among the labor force sent each year, so as to liaise with the relevant administrative bodies of the Mongolian People's Republic and thereby reduce difficulties in management.

We suggest that the issue of supplying labor can be handled through diplomatic channels between our two governments. If you believe that Han Chinese are unfamiliar with the Mongolian language and living habits and that this would cause difficulties, we can send fewer, or none at all. In short, everything should be decided based on your needs and what is convenient for you.

At present, we already have over 8,000 people working in various fields in the Mongolian People's Republic. According to the information we have, many of them have violated the laws of the Mongolian People's Republic. With the assistance of the relevant authorities of the Mongolian People's Republic, we have already dealt with some of these individuals. Some have been transferred back to China, while others have been dealt with according to the laws of the Mongolian People's Republic based on the circumstances of their violations. We envisage that such incidents will continue to occur in the future. We will continue to adhere to the principle that any Chinese employee who violates the laws of the Mongolian People's Republic should be dealt with according to Mongolian law. If you believe there are personnel unsuitable to remain in their jobs, you may notify us, and we are prepared to transfer them back at any time, so as not to add to your difficulties in management.

With fraternal greetings!

Mao Zedong
May 20, 1957

Printed based on the original document preserved in the Central Archives.

Note
〔1〕 Damba, namely D. Damba (1908–1989), now translated as Dashin Damba. At the time, he served as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.