Mao Zedong`s letter to UK politician sells for £600,000

In the letter, typed in English and signed by Mao, the founder of Communist China asks Clement Attlee, Labour leader, to lend the support of his party to `any measures of practical assistance`.

London: A letter from Mao Zedong calling on the leader of the British Labour Party in 1937 for help against Japanese invaders sold for more than £600,000 (850,000 euros) at auction in London on Tuesday.

In the letter, typed in English and signed by Mao, the founder of Communist China asks Clement Attlee, Labour leader and future prime minister, to lend the support of his party to "any measures of practical assistance".

The buyer was a Chinese private collector, auction house Sotheby`s said in a statement.

The letter was one of the first communications between the Chinese leader and a Western politician, and only the second letter from Mao to be sold at auction in decades, Sotheby`s said.

The letter is dated November 1, 1937, and was written in Yan`an in remote northwest China, where the Communists had taken refuge at the end of the 1934-1935 Long March.

In the letter, Mao expressed solidarity with the British people and hoped they would urge the government to help him resist the Japanese invaders, "a danger that ultimately threatens them no less than ourselves".

"Long live the Peace Front of the Democratic Nations against Fascism and Imperialist War!" concludes the letter, which was also signed by Zhu De, founder of the Red Army.