Comment on the Circular on Guarding Against Broadening the Scope of Attack
(May 23, 1951)
To the Central Bureaus of Central-South, South China, Southwest, Northwest, North China, and Northeast:
The opinion of the Shanghai Municipal Committee on strictly guarding against broadening the scope of attack at accusation meetings [I] is correct. Please pay attention to it.

Mao Zedong
May 23

[I]
The several opinions stipulated in the circular of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee dated May 19, 1951, on strictly guarding against broadening the scope of attack at accusation meetings are:
(1) The targets of accusation at accusation meetings shall uniformly be designated as arrested criminals (with those guilty of heinous crimes as the main targets).
(2) Accusation meetings must not be turned into struggle meetings, and the scope of attack must not be broadened to include backward elements or matters concerning lifestyle, work style, or ideological viewpoints.
(3) Accusation meetings must not be held continuously in a single grassroots unit. Generally, it is sufficient to hold one meeting after proper preparation. If there are no specific targets for accusation, such meetings need not be held; instead, methods such as holding discussions on already uncovered counter-revolutionary cases may be used to raise the masses’ political awareness.