BUREAU OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA

February 18, 1951

[Inner-Party circular drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist
Party.]


The Political Bureau convened a meeting in mid-February at which responsible
comrades from the bureaus of the Central Committee were present and various
important questions were discussed. We herewith notify you of the main points
of the resolution.

I. TWENTY-TWO MONTHS FOR PREPARATION

The idea of "three years for preparation and ten years for planned economic
construction" must be made clear to all cadres from the provincial and municipal
level upwards. Counting from now, we have twenty-two months left for making
preparations and so we must step up our work in all fields.

II. PROPAGANDA AND EDUCATION CAMPAIGN FOR RESISTING U.S. AGGRESSION AND
AIDING KOREA

Persistent efforts must be made to push this campaign throughout the country,
to deepen it where it is already under way and spread it where it is not,
so as to make sure that this education reaches everyone in every part of
the country.

III. AGRARIAN REFORM


1. During the busy farming season, agrarian reform in every place should
stop for a while and experience should be summed up.

2. Strive for a good harvest this year.

3. Rely on the county conferences of peasant representatives and on the training
classes.

4. Work hard to prepare the necessary conditions. Whenever and wherever they
are not ripe, don't force the agrarian reform through.

5. As soon as agrarian reform is completed, switch over to the two major
tasks of production and education.

6. East China's method of returning security money in instalments
[1] is approved.

7. Persuade the peasants that it is to our advantage to refrain from using
torture, which is illegal.

8. After the agrarian reform establish more districts and townships and reduce
the area under the jurisdiction of each district and township.

IV. SUPPRESSION OF COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES


1. As a general rule, before passing a death sentence, refer the case to
the masses and consult democratic personages.

2. Exercise strict control, guard against indiscriminate action and avoid
mistakes.

3. Pay attention to the "middle layer", [2] and
carefully weed out counter-revolutionaries hiding among the old personnel
and among the intellectuals recently drawn into our work.

4. Pay attention to the "inner layer", carefully weed out counter-revolutionaries
who have sneaked into the Party, and strengthen to the maximum our work of
safeguarding secret information.

5. In addition, give education to the cadres and back them up in their work.

V. URBAN WORK

1. Every bureau and sub-bureau of the Central Committee and every Party committee
at the level of province, municipality and administrative region must call
two meetings on urban work during the year with the agenda set by the Central
Committee and report twice on this subject to the Central Committee.

2. Strengthen the leadership of the Party committees over urban work and
carry out the resolution adopted at the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh
Central Committee.

3. Educate the cadres so that they are clear in their minds about relying
on the working class.

4. In factories, the Party should exercise unified leadership over the work
of the Party organization, the management, the trade union and the Youth
League, with the fulfilment of production plans as the central task.

5. Strive for a gradual improvement in the workers' living conditions on
the basis of increased production.

6. The idea of serving the needs of production and of the workers should
permeate the planning of urban construction.

7. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions and the higher levels of each
trade union should lay stress on solving the specific problems of the lower
levels.

8. Party committees and trade unions should make a point of creating models
and promptly spread their experience to other places.

VI. PARTY CONSOLIDATION AND PARTY BUILDING

1. Ours is a Party that is great, glorious and correct; this is the principal
aspect which must be affirmed and made clear to cadres at all levels. However,
it must also be made clear to them that there are problems which have to
be straightened out and that in the new liberated areas a prudent attitude
should be adopted towards Party building.

2. The consolidation and building of the Party should proceed under the strict
control of the Central Committee and its bureaus, and organizations at lower
levels must in no case act as they please.

3. The consolidation of the Party should be accomplished in three years.
The steps to be taken are as follows. Devote one year (1951) to extensive
education on what is required of a Communist, so that the entire membership
will know the standards a Communist should live up to, and to the training
of personnel for organizational work. At the same time experiment with typical
units to serve as models. Then in the light of the experience gained, proceed
with consolidation; in cities, however, this can start in 1951. In Party
consolidation, first clear out the "persons in the fourth category".
[3] Then differentiate between the "persons in the
second category" and the "persons in the third category", and persuade those
who, after education, are still not up to the standards of Party membership
to withdraw from the Party, but make sure that they withdraw of their own
free will and that their feelings are not hurt. Don't repeat the practice
of "removing rocks" [4] as in 1948.

4. A policy of prudence must be adopted in building the Party in the cities
and the new liberated areas. In the cities Party organizations should be
set up primarily among the industrial workers. In the rural areas it is only
after the completion of the agrarian reform that Party branches can be set
up by admitting those who prove themselves qualified for Party membership
as a result of education, and for the first two years the membership of a
rural Party branch should in general not exceed ten. In city and countryside
alike, education on how to be a Communist should be conducted among activists
who are ready to receive it, and after such education those really qualified
for Party membership should be admitted.

VII. UNITED FRONT WORK

1. The bureaus and sub-bureaus of the Central Committee and Party committees
at the level of province, municipality and administrative region are required
to call two meetings in 1951 to discuss united front work and report twice
on this subject to the Central Committee.

2. It must be made clear to the cadres why our united front work needs to
be strengthened.

3. It is necessary to unite intellectuals, industrialists and businessmen,
leading religious figures, the democratic parties and democratic personages
on the basis of the struggle against imperialism and feudalism and to carry
out education among them.

4. Work conscientiously among the minority nationalities, the two central
tasks being to push for regional autonomy and to train cadres from these
nationalities.

VIII. RECTIFICATION MOVEMENT

This movement should be carried out once every winter for a short period;
the aim is to review our work, sum up experience, enhance achievements and
overcome mistakes and shortcomings, and thus educate the cadres.

NOTES


1. Before liberation the peasants who rented land from
the landlords had to pay a considerable sum of security money in advance
for their tenancy. During the agrarian reform the peasants demanded reimbursement
of this money by the landlords, and this was known as the return of security
money. Those landlords who were also running industrial and commercial
enterprises or who were unable to repay the sum all at once were allowed
to return it in instalments.

2. In the work of suppressing counter-revolutionaries,
there are three layers to be swept clean, the outer, middle and inner layers.
To sweep clean the "outer layer" refers to uncovering counter-revolutionaries
lying low in society at large; to sweep clean the "middle layer" refers to
uncovering counter-revolutionaries low in our army units and government
organizations; and to sweep clean the "inner layer" refers to uncovering
counter-revolutionaries lying low in our Party.

3. During the 1951 Party consolidation, Party members were
classified into four categories: first, those who were qualified members;
second, those who were not fully qualified or had fairly serious shortcomings
and who had to be remoulded and to raise their political consciousness; third,
inactive and backward elements who did not measure up to the standards for
Party membership; and fourth alien class elements, renegades, political
speculators and degenerates who had hidden in the Party.

4. "Removing rocks" was advocated by Liu Shao-chi in 1948
during the agrarian reform and Party consolidation in the liberated areas.
He maligned large numbers of rural cadres as "rocks" weighing down on the
peasants and wanted to have them removed from their posts and expelled from
the Party.