Commentary on the Lanzhou Military Region’s Cavalry Division No. 1 Summary of Political Efforts (July 16, 1959)

Comrade Peng Dehuai [1]: This document [2] is good and should be circulated to all bandit-suppression areas for implementation.
The Changdu area, in particular, is in great need of this approach.
If you agree, please pass it on to Shang Kun [3] for processing.
Mao Zedong July 16

Based on the manuscript. Notes [ ] Peng Dehuai was then a member of the CPC Central Military Commission, Vice Premier of the State Council, and Minister of National Defense.

[2] Refers to the brief summary of the Cavalry Division No. 1’s political efforts in June, forwarded by the Political Department of the Lanzhou Military Region of the People’s Liberation Army on July 10, 1959.
Its main contents are as follows: First, in the Banma area, the political efforts in June were extensive and robust, yielding significant results.
The number of rebel forces surrendering increased day by day, and both cadres and the masses grew increasingly confident.
Second, in addition to propagating and implementing the Party’s policies, the June political efforts yielded two key lessons: (1) The more consciously and skillfully the Party’s policy of suppressing rebellion is carried out, the greater the effect.
In deploying troops, attention should be paid to applying military pressure on the rebel forces to facilitate political persuasion. (2) Persuading reactionary leaders to surrender and dispatching surrendered leaders to urge others to lay down their arms can accelerate the disintegration of the rebel forces.
Third, in implementing the Party’s policy for suppressing rebellion, there still exist such problems as doubt about the Party’s policies, incorrect attitudes toward those who have surrendered, and an unclear distinction between dealing with prisoners of war and those who have laid down their arms.
In order to carry out extensive political work, all units concerned should, upon receipt of this document, immediately organize study sessions to overcome one-sidedness and correct errors.

On July 21, 1959, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee forwarded both the Lanzhou Military Region’s Cavalry Division No. 1’s summary and Mao Zedong’s commentary to the provincial committees of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou, as well as to the Tibet Working Committee and the party committees of the Lanzhou, Chengdu, and Kunming Military Regions and the Tibet Military Region.

[3] Shang Kun refers to Yang Shangkun, who at that time served as an alternate member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee.