Forwarded Comment on Luo Ruiqing’s[1] Report on the Situation of Suppressing Counterrevolutionaries in Zhejiang Province (March 9, 1951)

To all Central Bureaus, and forward to sub-bureaus, provincial Party committees, Party committees of large and medium-sized cities, and district Party committees:

(1) Comrade Luo Ruiqing’s report on the situation in Zhejiang[2] is hereby forwarded to you. The various experiences in suppressing counterrevolutionaries described therein, especially the experience regarding the registration of reactionary party and league members and special agents, merit study and adoption by all localities. Regarding this registration work, for those places where it has not yet been carried out or has not been carried out well, please formulate your own decisions and plans and report to the Central Committee.

(2) In the coming months, the focus of guidance from leading comrades at various levels to the lower levels on the issue of suppressing counterrevolutionaries should still be on inspecting and urging those municipal, prefectural, and county Party committees that are indecisive and irresolute, so that they resolutely take action and severely suppress the counterrevolutionaries. Of course, in those places where the policy of thorough suppression has already been realized, it is necessary to pause for a while and refrain from making too many arrests and executions. No matter where, it is essential to have plans, pay attention to tactics, conduct propaganda, and avoid wrongful executions. These are also a matter of course.

Mao Zedong
March 9
Based on the manuscript.

Notes
[1] Luo Ruiqing, then Minister of Public Security of the Central People’s Government.
[2] Refers to Luo Ruiqing’s report of March 4, 1951, to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee on the situation of suppressing counterrevolutionaries in Zhejiang. The report pointed out that Zhejiang had achieved considerable success in the registration of reactionary party and league members and special agents, and that certain experiences therein were noteworthy. They carried out such registration not only in large and medium-sized cities but also in small cities and vast rural areas, thereby greatly exerting revolutionary political might, exposing the enemy, educating the masses, raising the masses’ consciousness and political enthusiasm, and ensuring the smooth progress of the autumn harvest and land reform. For the registration of reactionary party and league members, it is necessary to fully grasp the relevant materials while also seizing the opportune moment and resolutely carrying it through. The registration work must adhere to the Central Committee’s policy, must not arbitrarily expand the scope of registration, yet must also act according to specific circumstances. The registration work must also differentiate between internal and external matters, pay attention to tactics, and adopt different methods for different targets. In the stage of review and handling after registration, the main energy should first be concentrated on suppressing bandit chieftains, habitual bandits, and other political counterrevolutionaries against whom there is evidence, while the handling of ordinary registered reactionary party and league members should be left for later.