Letter to Huang Yanpei [1] (December 29, 1951) Mr. Huang: We have carefully read your kind letter of December 28 [2]. It gives us great pleasure to learn that the Ministry of Light Industry has launched a campaign against corruption, waste, and bureaucracy, and that this effort has already begun to yield positive results. Your speech manuscript [3] is very good; it only needs the four sets of bracketed numbers on the first page removed before it can be published. With best regards, Mao Zedong December 29, 1951 Printed from the original manuscript. Notes [1] Huang Yanpei was a leading figure in the China Association for Promoting Democracy. At the time, he served as a member of the Central People’s Government and Vice Premier of the State Council. [2] This refers to Huang Yanpei’s letter of December 28, 1951, addressed to Mao Zedong. In the letter, he discussed certain specific aspects of the “Three Antis” campaign within the Ministry of Light Industry, noting that investigations conducted in shops had revealed numerous instances of tax evasion, bribery, and the giving and receiving of kickbacks. He further mentioned that the central committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, together with its Beijing branch, were currently carrying out a movement to transform the thinking of industrial and commercial circles, with plans to put forward the slogan “Eliminate Bribery, Eliminate Kickbacks.” He emphasized that kickbacks constituted a form of corruption deeply entrenched in Beijing society, and that unless this practice were eradicated, it would be impossible to restore proper discipline and order within government organs.

[3] This refers to Huang Yanpei’s report delivered on December 8, 1951, at a general meeting of all staff members of the Ministry of Light Industry, entitled “We Must Fight Thoroughly Against Corruption, Waste, and Bureaucracy.” The report was later published in the People’s Daily on December 30, 1951.