Order of the Ministry of National Defence (13 October 1958)

Order of the Ministry of National Defence of the People's Republic of China — To the comrades of the People's Liberation Army on the Fujian front:

The shelling of Quemoy, from this day on, is suspended for another two weeks, in order to observe the enemy's movements and to let our fellow countrymen, military and civilian, on Quemoy receive ample supplies — food and military equipment included — so that they may hold their positions firmly. All warfare is based on deception, but this is not deception. It is aimed at the Americans. It is a matter of great national principle: the line between China and the United States must be drawn crystal clear. Viewed as a whole, what we are doing costs ourselves nothing and benefits others. Benefits whom? The ten million Chinese on Taiwan, the Penghus, Quemoy and Matsu, and the six hundred and fifty million of the whole nation — everyone, in short, but the Americans. Some Communists may for the moment not grasp this reasoning. How could such an idea have been hit upon? They do not understand, they do not understand! Comrades, in a little while you will understand. The Americans sitting in Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait must roll back home. They have no reason to go on squatting here; stay they cannot. Among the Chinese on Taiwan, the Penghus, Quemoy and Matsu, the patriots are many and the sellers of the country few. Political work must therefore be done, so that the majority of the Chinese there gradually come to see the light and the handful of traitors are isolated. Given time, the results will show themselves. Until the Kuomintang in Taiwan holds peace talks with us and a reasonable settlement is reached, the civil war still exists. The spokesman in Taiwan says: stopping and firing, firing and stopping — it is nothing but a trick of the Communists. Stopping and firing — that is exactly what it is; but it is no trick. If you will not have peace talks, then fighting cannot be avoided. While you persist in your present obstinate attitude, we are free to fire when we choose and stop when we choose. The Americans want to thrust a hand into the question of our civil war — they call it a “ceasefire” — and the notion is irresistible to laughter. What standing have the Americans to talk of this matter? May we ask, whom do they represent? They represent nobody. Do they represent the Americans? China and the United States are not at war; there is no fire to cease. Do they represent the people of Taiwan? The Taiwan authorities have issued them no credentials, and the Kuomintang leaders are flatly opposed to Sino-American talks. The American nation is a great nation, and its people are good-hearted; they do not want war, they welcome peace. But among the personnel of the American government there are some — the Dulles crowd, for instance — who are really not very bright. Take this talk of a “ceasefire”: does it not show a want of common sense? To recover Taiwan, the Penghus, Quemoy and Matsu entire and accomplish the unification of the motherland is the sacred task of us six hundred and fifty million people. It is China's internal affair; no outsider has the right to interfere, nor has the United Nations. All the aggressors of the world and their running dogs will be buried without exception, and the day is not far off. They will not escape. There is no hiding for them even on the moon: if the bandits can go somewhere, so can we, and they can always be brought back. In a word, victory belongs to the people of the whole world. On the waters of Quemoy the Americans are forbidden to escort convoys. If they escort, we open fire at once. Let this order be strictly obeyed!

Peng Dehuai, Minister of National Defence

The base text is the Wikisource version, three paragraphs, signed by Defence Minister Peng Dehuai. This piece is a week after the previous message; the matters it describes connect directly: after the seven-day suspension expired, it is extended another two weeks on this day.

The text draws two boundaries: the distinction between the US and the Taiwan authorities, and the distinction between the Sino-US question and China's internal question, calling such an arrangement not a stratagem but a national righteousness. This passage is the only one of the three messages written directly to our own troops.

The closing 'comply strictly with this order' and the American-escort question in the Jinmen waters are handled as in the previous two messages. The piece is the shortest of the three; the 13 October date comes from the upstream filename. This edition places it between the first and third messages, the three to be read in sequence.