Titles and Annotations Drafted for Distribution of Intelligence on the Political and Military Situation in South Vietnam [1] (December 1, 1958)  I. The Communists Cannot Be Completely Eliminated; the Reactionary Forces Are Gripped by Great Panic—This Is a Broadly Similar Situation Throughout the Entire Capitalist World, Not Simply in Ngo Dinh Diem’s [2] Territory Alone. Printed from Mao Zedong’s Manuscript.

II. Comrade Xiaoping [3] Is Requested to Distribute This Document. Mao, December 1, Printed from the Manuscript.

Notes  [1] The first part of this document consists of titles drafted by Mao Zedong for distribution at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the CPC, concerning intelligence on the political and military situation in South Vietnam. The original intelligence report was published in a periodical compiled and printed by the General Staff Department of the People’s Liberation Army of China. According to the report, under the circumstances of the Iraqi Revolution and heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait region, the ruling clique headed by Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam has revealed signs of panic and anxiety. South Vietnamese newspapers have called for the United States to “firmly defend the Middle East, Quemoy, and Southeast Asia,” yet they simultaneously express a lack of confidence in U.S. support and concern over their own fate. Moreover, the South Vietnamese leadership fears both an internal uprising against Diem and the strength of the people and North Vietnam. Recently, it has adopted a series of reactionary measures, including intensifying “anti-Communist” campaigns and armed sweeps, in order to undermine the organizations of the Vietnamese Workers’ Party and suppress popular movements; it has established an “Administrative Personnel Assessment Committee” within the administrative apparatus, set up “Security Committees” in each province with the participation of military personnel, and vigorously promoted the passage of an “Anti-Communist Law” at the most recent National Assembly. In short, the Ngo Dinh Diem clique in South Vietnam, apprehensive about the growing momentum of the Eastern wind overwhelming the Western wind, is striving to consolidate its rule and strengthen its military defenses, while at the same time continuing to plot subversive activities against North Vietnam.

[2] Ngo Dinh Diem was, at that time, President of the Government of South Vietnam.

[3] Xiaoping refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at the time served as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee.