Directive on Forwarding the Report of the Tibet Work Committee Concerning the Recent Situation of All Social Strata in Tibet (April 28, 1959)

Comrade Shangkun [1]:

(1) This document [2] is to be forwarded to all localities and all Party groups, as previously instructed;
(2) Please send a copy to Comrade Yudin [3] to be forwarded to Comrade Khrushchev [4] for his perusal;
(3) Regarding the handling of the above two items, please inform Liu, Deng, and Zhou [5].

Mao Zedong
April 28

Published according to the manuscript.

Notes

[1] Shangkun refers to Yang Shangkun, who was then an alternate member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Director of the General Office of the Central Committee.
[2] This comprehensive report, sent by the CPC Tibet Work Committee on April 24, 1959, to the Central Committee, Zhang Jingwu, Secretary of the Tibet Work Committee, and all sub-work committees, stated that since the victory in quelling the rebellion in Lhasa and the issuance of the State Council's order to dissolve the local government of Tibet, the leftists in Lhasa, headed by Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, actively supported the State Council's order; the general trend of the centrists was to lean to the left; the main manifestation of the rightists at present was one of helplessness and panic. The Panchen Erdini Qoigyi Gyaincain's faction was generally in high and excited spirits. The leftists among the upper strata in the Qamdo area also cheered loudly upon hearing the State Council's order. The reaction of the masses was generally quite good. In the areas where the rebellion had been quelled, their main concerns were issues such as reform, production, and livelihood; in the areas where the rebellion had not yet been quelled, the most pressing concern was the issue of quelling the rebellion. In religious circles, the lamas generally believed that this was the general trend of events and hoped for stability to be restored soon.
[3] Yudin was then the Soviet Ambassador to China.
[4] Khrushchev was then the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union.
[5] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping, who was then General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Vice Premier of the State Council. Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai.