Excerpts of Key Statements [1] with Chairman Mao’s Annotations
(September 11, 1964)
Comrade Xu Bing:
I hope you will steadfastly uphold the class stand, unite the majority of comrades, and urge them never to waver.
Returned to Comrade Xu Bing.
Mao Zedong
September 11
[1]
On September 3, 1964, the Office of the Central United Front Work Department circulated an excerpt of key remarks by Li Weihan (also known as Luo Mai), Minister of the Central United Front Work Department, on ethnic and religious issues. The document was divided into eight sections: I. Reform and suppression of rebellions; II. Religious questions; III. Regional autonomy; IV. The Panchen Lama issue; V. The united front among the upper classes; VI. The Xinjiang question; VII. Ethnic relations and nationalism, among other topics; and VIII. Socialist nationalities. At the time, this compilation was used to criticize Li Weihan.
On September 3, 1964, Xu Bing, Vice Minister of the Central United Front Work Department, wrote a letter to Peng Zhen, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Secretariat, in order to submit this material. The letter stated: “I am sending Comrade Luo Mai’s remarks on ethnic and religious issues. The text is brief and easy to read. Please review it, and if you deem it appropriate, please forward it to the Chairman for his perusal. We will separately circulate copies to the Secretariat and the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau.” After Peng Zhen passed Xu Bing’s letter and Li Weihan’s remarks to Mao Zedong, Mao inscribed his annotations on the letter.