[1]

November 1951--March 1952

[Important directives drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist
Party.]


1

The struggle against corruption and waste is a major issue which concerns
the whole Party, and we have told you to give it your serious attention.
We need to have a good clean-up in the whole Party, which will thoroughly
uncover all cases of corruption, whether major, medium or minor, and aim
the main blows at the most corrupt, while following the policy of educating
and remoulding the medium and minor embezzlers so that they will not relapse.
Only thus can we check the grave danger of many Party members being corroded
by the bourgeoisie, put an end to a situation already foreseen at the Second
Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee and carry out the principle
of combating corrosion then laid down. Be sure to give all this your attention.

(November 30, 1951)
2
Particular attention must be paid to the fact that the corrosion of cadres
by the bourgeoisie results in serious cases of corruption. Be sure to detect,
expose and punish those involved and to take this as a major struggle.

(November 30, 1951)
3
The struggle against corruption, waste and bureaucracy should be stressed
as much as the struggle to suppress counter-revolutionaries. As in the latter,
the broad masses, including the democratic parties and also people in all
walks of life, should be mobilized, the present struggle should be given
wide publicity, the leading cadres should take personal charge and pitch
in, and people should be called on to make a clean breast of their own wrongdoing
and to report on the guilt of others. In minor cases the guilty should be
criticized and educated; in major ones the guilty should be dismissed from
office, punished, or sentenced to prison terms (to be reformed through labour),
and the worst among them should be shot. The problem can only be solved in
these ways.

(December 8, 1951)
4
In all cities, and first of all in the big and medium-sized cities, we should
rely on the working class and unite with the law-abiding capitalists and
other sections of the urban population to wage a large scale, resolute and
thoroughgoing struggle against those capitalists who are violating the law
by bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, cheating on government
contracts and stealing economic information; we should co-ordinate this struggle
with that against corruption, waste and bureaucracy, which is being waged
inside the Party, government, army and mass organizations. This is both
imperative and very timely. In the struggle, Party organizations in all cities
must carefully dispose the forces of the classes and masses and adopt the
tactics of utilizing contradictions, effecting splits, uniting with the many
and isolating the few so that in the process a united front against the "five
evils" will speedily take shape. In a big city, as the struggle against the
"five evils" gets into full swing, such a united front may well come into
being within about three weeks. Once this united front is formed, those
reactionary capitalists guilty of the worst crimes will be isolated, and
the state will be in a strong position to mete out due punishment, such as
fines, confiscation, arrest, imprisonment or execution, without much opposition.
All our big cities (including provincial capitals) should start the struggle
against the "five evils" in the first ten days of February. Please make prompt
arrangements.

(January 26, 1952)
5
(1) In the movement against the "five evils" the basic principles in dealing
with industrial and commercial units are: leniency for past offenses and
severity for new ones (for instance, payment of taxes that have been evaded
is generally retroactive only to 1951); leniency towards the many and severity
towards the few; leniency towards those owning up to their crimes and severity
towards those refusing to do so; leniency for industry and severity for commerce;
and leniency for commerce in general and severity for commercial speculation.
The Party committees at all levels are asked to adhere to these principles
in the movement against the "five evils".

(2) For the purpose of the movement against the "five evils" private industrial
and commercial units should be classified into five categories: the law-abiding,
the basically law-abiding, those that partly abide by the law and partly
break it, those that break the law on a serious scale, and those that completely
violate the law. As far as the big cities are concerned, the first three
categories make up about 95 per cent and the last two about 5 per cent. The
percentages for different big cities are roughly the same, with only small
variations. As for medium-sized cities, the percentages differ considerably
from these figures.

(3) These five categories apply to the capitalists and the non-capitalist
independent handicraftsmen and family traders, but not to the street vendors.
In big cities the street vendors may be left alone for the time being, but
the independent handicraftsmen and family traders had better be dealt with.
In medium-sized cities it would be better to deal with both the independent
handicraftsmen and traders and the street vendors in this movement. In our
big and medium-sized cities there are large numbers of independent handicraftsmen
and traders who do not employ workers or shop assistants (though some have
apprentices). Many of them are law-abiding, many others basically abide by
the law but partly break it (i.e., they have minor offenses to account
for, such as small-scale evasion of taxes), and a small number partly abide
by the law and partly break it and have evaded taxes on a larger scale. In
the current movement against the "five evils" we must deal with a considerable
number of small capitalists and pass judgment on them, and as far as possible
do likewise with the independent handicraftsmen and traders, who roughly
equal the small capitalists in number. This will be to the advantage of the
current movement and to economic construction in the days ahead. The small
capitalists as well as the independent handicraftsmen and traders are generally
innocent of serious offences, and it is not difficult to pass judgment on
them. In so acting, we shall win support from the masses. However, if a few
cities think it convenient to pass judgment first on industrial and commercial
units other than the independent handicraftsmen and traders and defer judgment
on the latter, that is in order, too.

(4) In view of the actual situation in the cities we have decided to reclassify
industrial and commercial units into five categories instead of four as in
the past, i.e., those in the law-abiding category are to be reclassified
into law-abiding and basically law-abiding, while the other three categories
remain unchanged. Out of the fifty thousand industrial and commercial units
in Peking (including the independent handicraftsmen and traders, but not
the street vendors), the law abiding ones make up about 10 per cent, the
basically law-abiding ones about 60 per cent, those that partly abide by
the law and partly break it about 25 per cent, those that break the law on
a serious scale about 4 per cent and those that completely violate the law
about 1 per cent. To distinguish between the strictly law-abiding ones and
the basically law-abiding ones with minor offences and, furthermore, to treat
the basically law-abiding units guilty of small-scale tax evasion differently
from those guilty on a larger scale may prove to have important educational
value.

(5) In some big and medium-sized cities, the city Party committees launched
the movement against the "five evils" in a hurry, when they were not at all
acquainted with the situation with respect to the different categories of
industrial and commercial units and were not clear about the tactics of
differential treatment, and when the work teams (or investigation groups)
sent by the trade unions and the government had been organized and trained
in a very slipshod way. As a result some confusion has arisen. It is hoped
that the city Party committees concerned will pay attention to this situation
and see to its correction without delay. Moreover, the investigation of
industrial and commercial units which break the law must be made under the
strict control of the city Party committee and the city government. No other
organization is allowed to send out people to investigate on its own, much
less to haul capitalists into its office for interrogation. Whether in the
movement against the "three evils" or in that against the "five evils", the
use of torture to extort confessions is forbidden and strict precautions
must be taken to prevent suicides. Where suicides have occurred, measures
for preventing their further occurrence should be worked out immediately
to ensure that both movements will develop soundly and on the right track
and that complete victory will be won.

(6) The movements against the "three evils" and against the "five
evils" are not to be launched at present in counties, districts and townships.
Further notice will be given by the Central Committee as to when and how
to carry them out. In the few instances where the movement against the "five
evils" has been launched at county seats and that against the "three evils"
in districts, in both cases experimentally, strict control must be exercised
and spring farming and other economic activities must not be hampered. The
movement against the "five evils" should not begin in all the medium-sized
cities at the same time but should be staggered and strictly controlled.

(March 5, 1952)
6
During and also after the struggle against the "five evils", we must achieve
the following aims:

(1) Get thoroughly clear about the situation in private industry and commerce
so as the better to unite with and control the bourgeoisie and develop the
country's planned economy. Planned economy is impossible unless we are clear
about the situation.

(2) Draw a clear line of distinction between the working class and the
bourgeoisie, and in trade unions eliminate corruption and bureaucracy which
alienates the masses and weed out the capitalists' hirelings. Such hirelings
and the middle elements vacillating between labour and capital are to be
found in trade unions everywhere, and in the struggle we must educate and
win over the middle elements, whereas those hirelings guilty of serious crimes
should be expelled.

(3) Reorganize the trade councils and associations of industry and commerce,
remove from their leading bodies persons guilty of all the "five evils" and
those who have been totally discredited, and in their stead draw in those
who have acquitted themselves fairly well in the struggle against these evils.
With the exception of those who have completely violated the law, there should
be representation of all categories of industrialists and traders.

(4) Help leaders of the China Democratic National Construction Association
to conduct a shake-up, to expel those guilty of all the "five evils" and
those who have disgraced themselves in the public eye and to recruit a number
of better individuals, so that it can become a political organization capable
of representing the legitimate interests of the bourgeoisie, mainly the
industrial bourgeoisie, and of educating them in the spirit of the Common
Programme and in the principles governing the struggle against the "five
evils". Take measures to disband the secret organizations of different groups
of capitalists, such as the "Thursday Dinner
Club".[2]

(5) Eradicate the "five evils" and eliminate commercial speculation so that
the entire bourgeoisie will obey the laws and decrees of the state and engage
in industrial and commercial activities beneficial to the nation's economy
and the people's livelihood. Develop private industry within the limits set
by the state (provided the capitalists so wish and its operations conform
with the Common Programme), and reduce private commerce step by step. Expand
the state's plan to monopolize the sales and contracts of private industry
year by year and at the same time extend the coverage of our plan over private
industry and commerce. Set new percentages of profit for private capital
so that it will be able to make some profits but not exorbitant ones.

(6) Do away with hidden accounts, make the accounts public and gradually
establish a system under which the workers and shop assistants supervise
production and management.

(7) Recover the greater part of the economic losses to the state and the
people through the payment of evaded taxes, restitution, fines and confiscation.

(8) Set up Party branches among workers and shop assistants in all large
and medium-sized private enterprises and strengthen Party work.

(March 23, 1952)

NOTES


1. The movement against the "three evils" was the struggle
against corruption, waste and bureaucracy launched at the end of 1951 among
the personnel of government departments and state enterprises. The movement
against the "five evils" was the struggle against bribery, tax evasion, theft
of state property, cheating on government contracts and stealing of economic
information started at the beginning of 1952 among owners of private industrial
and commercial enterprises.

2. The "Thursday Dinner Club" was a secret organization
of some capitalists in Chungking, which engaged in surreptitious activities
in grave violation of the law. It was exposed and banned in the movement
against the "five evils".

Transcription by the Maoist Documentation Project.