Commentary by the Central Committee on the Pingyuan Provincial Party Committee’s Notification Regarding Corruption and Degeneration Among Cadres (December 15, 1951) To all Central Bureaus, with copy to sub-bureaus and party committees of provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions: This document from the Pingyuan Provincial Party Committee [1] vividly brings to light the serious prevalence of corruption and degeneration among local cadres, a situation that should prompt deep reflection.

It is requested that this document be published in intra-party publications. It is hoped that party committees of all provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions will issue similar documents. Printed on December 15 by the Central Committee, based on Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.

Notes [1] Refers to the notification dated December 10, 1951, from the CPC Pingyuan Provincial Party Committee to municipal party committees throughout the province and to the North China Bureau, concerning the investigation and handling of anti-corruption cases and the future launch of an anti-corruption campaign. The notification points out that, according to statistics compiled by the provincial discipline inspection commission for the first half of the year, among cadres at or above the district level who were disciplined for violations of law and discipline, 65 percent received various party disciplinary sanctions—such as expulsion from the Party, probation within the Party, or removal from office—due to embezzlement, bribery, and moral decay. Furthermore, according to statistics from the procuratorial organs covering fourteen counties, embezzlement and dereliction of duty accounted for 47 percent of all illegal cases from January to August. The problem of corruption is by no means limited to individual persons or specific departments; it has become a widespread and grave issue.