Central Committee’s Instructions to All Central Bureaus on the Question of Retaining Former Personnel
# Date: 1949-09-21
# Source: en:auto-trans
# Translated from: zh/1949/1949-09-21_zhong_gong_zhong_yang_guan_yu_liu_yong_jiu_ren_yuan_wen.txt



Instructions to the Central Bureaus [1]
(September 21, 1949)
To all Central Bureaus, all Sub-bureaus, with copy to all Provincial Committees, the Front Committees of all Field Armies, and the Municipal Committees of Beijing and Tianjin:
(2J


(1) In our newly liberated cities, the handling of former personnel should be approached with utmost caution. With the exception of a few war criminals, secret agents, and individuals with notorious records, these people generally place their hopes in us; their primary concern is simply having enough to eat. After the liberation of Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, over 27,000 former government employees were laid off, which caused considerable unrest. Following the peaceful settlement in Beijing, 17,000 officers from Fu Zuoyi’s forces were discharged and dispersed—most fled to Suiyuan, bitterly complaining and blaming others. We are still obliged to provide for them today. All these experiences demonstrate that, as a rule, former personnel cannot be dealt with merely by layoffs or dismissals; they must be given opportunities to work and secure a livelihood.


(2) It is the responsibility of the Party and the People’s Government to reform and support these individuals through employment. We plan, after the nationwide liberation, to keep between nine and ten million people employed—for a certain period—including both old and new military and political personnel. This will undoubtedly present significant financial challenges, but they are surmountable and politically essential.


(3) With regard to cities already liberated—such as Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Changsha, and Lanzhou—and those yet to be liberated—such as Guangzhou, Chongqing, Dihua, and Taiwan—the former Nationalist government employees who remain should:
[1]
This is a telegram to the Central Bureaus, revised by Mao Zedong and others. The text printed in Song typeface represents additions and revisions made by Mao Zedong.
[2]
The boldfaced words here were added during Zhou Enlai’s revision.


Except for those deeply hated by the masses—such as notorious evildoers, serious embezzlers, or individuals who relied on patronage to secure their positions—they should be removed from office and dealt with according to law. Otherwise, such personnel should generally be retained. However, this does not mean restoring them to their original posts and salaries, nor returning everything to its previous state. It is necessary to explain to these retained staff the difficulties facing the people and the government, appropriately reduce their compensation, and adopt a policy whereby three people share the resources meant for five, and housing is shared more closely.


(4) All organs of the People’s Government and economic departments, especially enterprises, must abandon the inefficient, bureaucratic style inherited from the Nationalist regime. Redundant personnel and bloated administrative structures should be streamlined. However, those who are downsized must not be left to fend for themselves; instead, large training classes should be organized. During the training period, they will continue to receive their regular—or, for lower-paid workers, a 60–70 percent reduction in—salaries, so as to ensure their livelihoods and those of their families. Their learning outcomes must be rigorously assessed, and recruitment decisions made accordingly, giving priority to those who perform well.
Ill


All of the above points are to be strictly followed.
[1]
The boldfaced portion was added during Liu Shaoqi’s revision.
Central
Zhong Ma