Photo Caption
July 1963, Mao Zedong in conversation with Zhang Shizhao, a teacher he had known since his early years and Director of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History.
July 1963, Mao Zedong shaking hands with Xu Guangping, Vice-Chairwoman of the All-China Women’s Federation.

(July 20, 1963)
In 1945, Japan surrendered. In 1946, Chiang Kai-shek attacked us. In 1949, the People’s Republic of China was founded. Chiang Kai-shek’s army of several million was wiped out by us, and the remaining several hundred thousand remnant defeated soldiers fled to Taiwan. The city of Beiping was liberated without going through war. The troops that accepted reorganization were led by General Fu Zuoyi.[1] General Fu Zuoyi is still here, still working in the government. He is our Minister of Water Resources and Electric Power and also Vice-Chairman of the National Defense Council. His officers have all been given work. In dealing with these people, so long as they do not adopt a hostile attitude, we cooperate with them, even those generals who fought against us and were captured. There are several dozen Kuomintang generals now here with us, most of whom have already been granted amnesty. There is no need to adopt inhumane methods toward them, that is to say, there is no need to kill them, nor is there any need to lock them up in prison for long periods. After a period of time, they can be granted amnesty, have their citizenship rights restored, and be given work. Some of the older ones can receive pensions. Those who wish to return to Taiwan may return to Taiwan. Why do very few of them return to Taiwan? Some have family members

[1] Fu Zuoyi, formerly Commander-in-Chief of the Kuomintang Army’s North China “Bandit Suppression” General Headquarters. In January 1949, he led his troops in Beiping to accept peaceful reorganization.

in Taiwan, so why don’t they go? They may fear that the Taiwan authorities would kill them. Because Taiwan has repeatedly announced that they were killed by us; if they were to go back, it would prove that they were not killed. Not a single one, whether general, field officer, or junior officer, was killed by us. Taiwan fears that these people would go back and announce this news, saying that as long as they did not resist or once the fighting was over, not a single one was killed. Taiwan fears the army learning of this news. As for casualties during the fighting, both sides suffered them. For example, in the battle of Xuzhou, that is, the Huaihai Campaign, the forces participating on each side numbered several hundred thousand. The casualties in that battle were a small portion; the majority suffered no casualties. Especially in the final battle near Xuzhou, there was hardly any fighting before the opposing troops laid down their arms.
This John Leighton Stuart,[1] I also met him and spoke with him. That was in Chongqing, just after he had been released from a Japanese prison in Beiping. This is not a question of him as an individual; it is a question of the policy of the U.S. government. The U.S. government initially spoke of mediation, mediating between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. They said they would help neither side, would not help the Kuomintang fight the Communist Party, nor help the Communist Party fight the Kuomintang. Their ambassador went to Yan’an and brought me to Chongqing; this man was called Hurley.[2] Later, the special envoy of the U.S. President, five-star General Marshall,[3] also came to China to mediate and stayed for several months. He went to Yan’an, and I spoke with him once. Later it proved to be a deception, aimed at giving Chiang Kai-shek time to transfer, assemble, and deploy his troops to attack us. Afterwards, the U.S. mask was torn off; it stood completely on Chiang Kai-shek’s side, helping with weapons, helping with finances—this account is impossible to calculate clearly, possibly amounting to several billion U.S. dollars. By the time our People’s Liberation Army liberated Nanjing, the U.S.

[1] John Leighton Stuart, formerly President of Yenching University, appointed U.S. Ambassador to China in July 1946.
[2] Patrick J. Hurley, served as U.S. Ambassador to China from November 1944 to November 1945.
[3] George C. Marshall, from December 1945 to August 1946, in his capacity as Special Envoy of the U.S. President, “mediated” the military conflict between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in China, while supporting the Nationalist government in launching civil war.