A Comment on the Matter of Paying Attention to Replying to the Dalai Lama’s Letter
(March 15, 1959)

To the Central Committee:

The letter sent on the 14th replying to the Dalai Lama in the name of Tan Guansan[1] was very good; it has put us politically in the position of initiative. Let us see how he reacts. If there is a reply, no matter what attitude it takes, we should send another letter in return. Hereafter, courtesy calls for reciprocity, and we may continue to send letters. These letters are to be prepared for future publication. To this end, a letter should be drafted recounting in detail the purpose of the Central Committee’s leniency and forbearance over the past few years regarding major events, which was none other than to wait for the traitorous and separatist elements to repent and turn back, and to express the hope that the Dalai Lama, upholding the Seventeen-Article Agreement[2] and all his previous pledges, will work wholeheartedly with the Central Committee, quell the rebellion, put an end to the separatist elements, and bring about the unity of the whole nation. Then Tibet will have a bright future; otherwise, harm will be brought to the Tibetan people, and they will eventually be cast aside by the people. The above is submitted for consideration.

Mao Zedong
March 15, 4 p.m.

[1] Tan Guansan, then serving as the Central Government’s Acting Representative in Tibet and Political Commissar of the Tibet Military Region of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
[2] This refers to the “Agreement Between the Central People’s Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet,” signed on May 23, 1951, comprising seventeen articles. The main contents included: the expulsion of imperialist forces from Tibet and the return of the Tibetan people to the great family of the motherland; the active assistance of the local government of Tibet to the People’s Liberation Army in entering Tibet and consolidating national defense; the implementation of regional ethnic autonomy under the unified leadership of the Central People’s Government; regarding various reform matters in Tibet, the central authorities would not compel such reforms, the local government of Tibet should carry out reforms of its own accord, and when the people raise demands for reform, they shall be resolved through methods of consultation with Tibetan leading personnel, and so forth.