Telegram to Xinjiang Political and Military Authorities

September 28, 1949

[Source: People's Daily, September 29, 1949. ]

General Tao Zhiyue^[1] and the officers and soldiers under his command, Chairman Burhan^[2] and the government workers under him:

Your telegram of September 25 and 26 have been received. We believe that your standpoint is a correct one. You have declared your severance from the remnants of the reactionary government in Guangzhou^[3] and your new orientation towards the camp of People's Democracy; you have accepted the leadership of the People's Political Consultative Conference^[4] and await and abide by the orders and disposition of the Central People's Government and the People's Revolutionary Military Council. This attitude conforms to the wishes of the people of the entire nation. We are most happy. We hope that you will unite all military and civilian governmental personnel in maintaining the unity of the nationalities and local order and cooperate with the People's Liberation Army, which is preparing at this moment to move northward, to abolish the old system and implement the new one, so as to strive for the establishment of a new Xinjiang.

(Co-signed with Zhu De and dated)

NOTES

1. Tao Zhiyue (b. 1982) a Hunancse military officer who graduated from the Baoding Military Academy in 1961 and served in various officer positions in the Hunan Army before participating in the KMT army in the Northern Expedition period. At the beginning of the War of Resistance against Japan, he was commander of the 36th Army, and later the commander of the First Army and deputy commander. At the end of the war of Resistance he became the deputy commander of the KMT’s 8th Battle Zone, and in 1946, assumed command of the KMT’s Xinjian Garrison. In 1948, the Hexi district garrison was added to his command, and he also became deputy director of the Northwest Communist-Suppression Bureau of the KMT. His defection and surrender to the Communist forces at this time (Sept. 1949) was a severe blow to the KMT forces. In 1949-50, the PRC commissioned him as commander of the 22nd Army Group and deputy commander of the Xinjiang Military District under Peng Dehuai, In 1950 he also become a member of the Provisional People's Government of Xinjiang and a member of the Northwest Military and Government Council.

2. Burhan Shahidi (b. 1896), also know by the sinicized version of his name. Baoerhan, was made governor of Xinjiang Province by the KMT government in 1948. On the eve of the Communist victory, Burhan Joined the Communist side and assume the positions of chairman of the Provisional People's Government of Xinjiang and president of the Xinjiang People's Court. In 1950, he became a member of the Northwest Military and Government Council, and since then he has been a prominent representative of the people of Xinjiangin various national organizations in the PRC, such as the National Committee of the CPPCC.

3. A reference to the KMT Government which had its headquarters in Guangzhou and which was nominally headed by Li Zongren since the "retirement" of Chiang Kai-shek in January, 1949.

4. The First plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was held on September 21-30, 1949 in Beijing.

Transcription by the Maoist Documentation Project.
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