to the activities of roving Red Guard goon squads, and
 steps to minimize damage to the economic and administrative
 machinery--in short an appeal for a return to something
 like normalcy.
 31.
 was in sharp contrast with the violent
 "Seize Power" editorial printed by People's Daily on 22
 January and the directive of 23 January ordering the army
 in the Cultural Revolution fray on the side of the Maoist
 "rebels." He did call for formation of the "grand alliance"
 demanded by People's Daily but said action should
 be taken "systematically." He declared that take-over
 of an organization must be carried out by using the
 "revolutionaries" within the body as the main force
 utilizing outsiders only as "helpers." Chou referred
 specifically to military units and "those departments
 engaged in war preparations" in this connection, noting
 that "if the question of power seizure arises it can
 only be carried out internally and in accordance with
 the spirit of the instructions of the central committee."
 32. His third main point was that personnel--presumably
 mangers or technicians--in organizations which
 had been taken over must continue to perform their jobs
 with revolutionaries acting as "supervisors." Chou
 then called on Red Guards to go home and seize power
 "together with the broad masses." As for the role of
 the armed forces, Chou declared that the PLA would "resolutely
 support and assist" revolutionaries and that it
 "stands on their side and joins in the common struggle."
 An editorial in Liberation Army Journal broadcast by
 Peking on 25 January emphasized the point that in assisting
 the "rebel revolutionaries" the army should rely on
 political persuasion rather than force.
 33. A new directive to the armed forces issued on
 27 January provided justification for a slowdown in the
 pace of the Cultural Revolution. According to posters
 observed in Peking, Mao on that day had ordered all military
 regions to be alert against the "forces of imperialism
 and revisionism," specifically mentioning Sinkiang
 and the military regions on China's Pacific coast. Mao
 was quoted as saying that in view of the current military
 situation the "timetable for the Cultural Revolution
 may be set back somewhat." The directive was issued
 under the name of Yeh Chien-ying for the Military Affairs
 -14-
 
 TOP SECRET
 No Foreign ??
 No Foreign ??
 TOP SECRET
 COPY
 Lyndon Baines Johnson Library