November 15, 1949
From the Diary of N.V. Roshchin, Memorandum of Conversation with Prime Minister Zhou Enlai on 15 November 1949
This document was made possible with support from Leon Levy Foundation
From the Diary of N. V. ROSHCHIN
Top Secret, Copy 4, 1 December 1949
Memorandum of Conversation
with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister ZHOU ENLAI on 15 November 1949
[After a long discussion of China’s internal finances and prospects, Zhou Enlai turns to the military operations of the ongoing civil war. As part of this he mentions his timetable for unifying China.]
Right after the liberation of Sichuan and Xinjiang, we will carry out an attack on Tibet. In March we will land on Hainan Island, where we have had large partisan units for many years.
Our leadership’s further plans are the preparation in the spring of 1950 for landing operations against Formosa and a landing in the summer of 1950. We think this operation should be carried out only after careful preparation for a combined air and sea strike.
For the landing operations against Formosa we will certainly draw lessons from the sad experience of the battles for Shantou (Swatow), where we lost three and a ha lf regiments (7 thousand fighters) in one small landing operation.
USSR Ambassador to the PRC N. Roshchin
Conversation between Soviet Ambassador Roshchin and Chinese Premier Enlai. Zhou Enlai puts forth some future military plans of the PLA. Specifically, the plans to enter Tibet following liberation in Xinjiang and Sichuan, and to attack Hainan are discussed. He adds that the losses incurred in the Battle of Shantou will inform the eventual attack on Formosa.
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