First Message to Compatriots in Taiwan from the Ministry of National Defence

To our fellow countrymen, military and civilian, of Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, Quemoy and Matsu:

We are all Chinese. Of the thirty-six stratagems, peace is the best. The fighting at Quemoy is by way of punishment. Your leaders have for far too long been too wanton, ordering their aircraft to range at will over the mainland as far as Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Xikang and Qinghai, dropping leaflets, parachuting agents, bombing Fuzhou and disturbing Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If this can be endured, what cannot be? Therefore a few shells have been fired, to draw your attention.

Taiwan, the Penghus, Quemoy and Matsu are Chinese territory — on this you yourselves agree, as your leaders' proclamations show; they are certainly not American territory. Taiwan, the Penghus, Quemoy and Matsu are part of China, not another country. There is only one China in the world, not two. On this point too you agree, as your leaders' proclamations show. The military agreement your leaders have concluded with the Americans is one-sided; we do not recognise it, and it should be annulled.

The Americans are certain sooner or later to discard you. Do you not believe it? The giant History will come forward and prove it. Dulles's remarks of 30 September already show the first signs. Standing where you stand, can you not feel a chill at heart? In the last analysis, American imperialism is the common enemy of us all. The one hundred and thirty thousand soldiers and civilians on Quemoy are short of supplies, hungry and cold — no way to carry on for long. Out of humanitarianism, I have ordered the Fujian front, beginning 6 October, to stop the shelling for seven days, so that you may bring in supplies fully and freely — on condition that there is no American escort. If there is an escort, this does not apply.

The war between you and us has gone on for thirty years and is not yet ended — that is a bad thing. We propose that negotiations be held and a peaceful settlement reached. Premier Zhou Enlai told you this years ago. This is a matter within China, concerning your side and ours — not a matter between China and the United States. The American occupation of Taiwan, the Penghus and the Taiwan Strait is a matter between the Chinese and American sides, and should be settled by negotiations between the two countries, now proceeding in Warsaw.

The Americans will have to go in the end; there is no staying. To go early is to America's advantage, for it would let her seize the initiative; to go late is to her disadvantage, for she is forever in the passive. Why should a country of the eastern Pacific come running to the western Pacific? The western Pacific is the western Pacific of the people of the western Pacific, just as the eastern Pacific is the eastern Pacific of the people of the eastern Pacific. That is common sense, which the Americans ought to understand. Between the People's Republic of China and the United States there is no war, so there is no such thing as a ceasefire. To speak of a ceasefire where there is no fire — is that not a joke? Friends of Taiwan: between you and us there is the fire of war, and it ought to stop, and to be put out. That requires negotiations. Of course, to fight another thirty years would be nothing very remarkable; but an early and peaceful settlement is on every count the better course. Which way to go, please decide for yourselves.

Peng Dehuai, Minister of National Defence of the People's Republic of China

The base text is the Wikisource version, saluted 'Military and civilian compatriots of Taiwan, Penghu, Jinmen and Mazu', seven paragraphs, signed by Defence Minister Peng Dehuai. This is the first of three Ministry messages; the other two were issued a week and nineteen days later.

The text separates two matters: Taiwan-Penghu-Jinmen-Mazu are China's internal affair, while the US occupation of Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait is a matter between China and the US, then under negotiation at Warsaw. This twofold division is the basis of the piece's argument.

The piece mentions Dulles's 30 September remarks and cites Premier Zhou Enlai's proposal, made several years earlier, for peace talks with the Taiwan side. The line 'of the thirty-six stratagems, alliance is best' comes from this piece's opening and also serves to check the 6 October dating.