Mao Zedong’s Comment and Reply Telegram on Deng Xiaoping’s[1] Report Concerning the Investigation and Handling of the Problem of Impurity in the Southwest Military and Government Organs
(March 20, 1951)

To all Central Bureaus, all Great Military Regions, and to be forwarded to Sub-Bureaus, Provincial Party Committees, Large and Medium Municipal Party Committees, District Party Committees, Provincial Military Districts, Army Corps and Armies, with copies to the Party Committee of the Volunteer Army and the leading comrades of all departments of the Central Military Commission:

Comrade Deng Xiaoping’s report of March 13[2] is hereby forwarded to you. This report is completely correct; please study it. The first problem raised in this report—the problem of the extremely complex composition of military and government organs—exists in all military and government organs directly under the Central Committee, in all Great Regional military and government organs, and in all provincial and municipal military and government organs, with only slight differences in degree. It is imperative to immediately begin studying methods for investigation and handling, and to arrange the investigation and handling work in a planned manner. The experience gained in cleaning out reactionary elements from among the more than 9,000 personnel in the financial and economic organs directly under the Southwest Military and Administrative Committee was already circulated to you by me a few days ago. Please, on the basis of this experience, proceed to arrange the cleaning out of the military organs, financial and economic organs, political and legal organs, and cultural and educational organs under your own jurisdiction. First make arrangements at key points, gain experience, and then extend the work, so that within this year an initial, general cleaning out is carried out once. Regarding the second problem raised in Comrade Deng Xiaoping’s report, all Party organizations in newly liberated areas must pay attention to it and must not overlook it.

Comrade Xiaoping:

Mao Zedong
March 20

Your report of March 13 has been received. Your views are correct and have been forwarded to the entire Party for emulation.

Mao Zedong
March 20

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[1] Deng Xiaoping, then serving as First Secretary of the Southwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Chairman of the Southwest Military and Administrative Committee, and Political Commissar of the Southwest Military Region of the People’s Liberation Army.
[2] Deng Xiaoping’s report to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee on March 13, 1951, raised two problems: the first was the problem of the complex composition of the Southwest military and government organs; the second was the problem of impurity in the Yunnan Party organization.