We must see to it that land reform and bandit suppression are co-ordinated in our work[1]
(November 22, 1950)
To the Central-South Bureau, the South China Sub-Bureau, the CPC Guangxi Provincial Committee, and also inform the Southwest Bureau and the Northwest Bureau:

In the present tense situation we must set a deadline for wiping out bands of bandits, accelerate land reform, expand local armed forces and firmly suppress counter-revolutionary activities. Only thus can our Party and our army gain the initiative, otherwise we run the risk of being thrown into a passive position. In Fujian, as in Guangdong and Guangxi, liberation came rather late, and, as large numbers of local tyrants have not yet been eliminated, in the past the Fujian Provincial Committee considered it impossible for large-scale land reform to be carried out in the coming winter and spring. Now they have accepted the opinion of the Central Committee and the East China Bureau and decided to call a meeting of prefectural Party secretaries and regional military commanders on November 25 to rearrange the work and co-ordinate land reform with the suppression of local tyrants, thus extending land reform to 36 counties. This plan is well worth adopting in Guangdong and Guangxi. I request Comrades Deng Tan, Ye Fang and Zhang Mo[2] to look into the matter and present their views to me.

Dong
Ze
Mao
November 22

[1]This was Mao Zedong’s comment on a report forwarded by the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee concerning bandit suppression and land reform.
[2]Deng Tan refers to Deng Zihui and Tan Zheng, who at the time held the posts of Third Secretary of the CPC Central-South Bureau and concurrently Second Political Commissar of the Central-South Military Region, and Standing Committee member of the CPC Central-South Bureau and Third Political Commissar of the Central-South Military Region, respectively. Ye Fang refers to Ye Jianying and Fang Fang, who at the time held the posts of First Secretary of the CPC South China Sub-Bureau, Commander and concurrently Political Commissar of the Guangdong Military Region, and Third Secretary of the CPC South China Sub-Bureau, respectively. Zhang Mo refers to Zhang Yunxuan and Mo Wenhua, who at the time held the posts of Secretary of the CPC Guangxi Provincial Committee, Commander and concurrently Political Commissar of the Guangxi Military Region, and Deputy Secretary of the CPC Guangxi Provincial Committee and concurrently Deputy Political Commissar of the Guangxi Military Region, respectively.