Critique on the Report on the Three-Antis Situation
(January 16, 1952)

To the major military regions, the Chinese People's Volunteers, and to be relayed to military regions at all levels and all armies, and to be notified to all central bureaus:

The report of January 11 from the Party Committee of the Tenth Army of the North China Military Region[1] is the best among all the army reports we have received and is hereby specially issued for reference by the entire army. All armies, divisions, and regiments must uniformly act in the manner of the Tenth Army and thoroughly eliminate corruption, waste, and bureaucracy. When military regions at all levels inspect the Three-Antis situation in the various armies, they shall take this report of the Tenth Army as the standard. Those who act in this manner are good; those who do not act in this manner are bad.

Mao Zedong
January 16

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[1] Refers to the report of January 11, 1952, from the Party Committee of the Tenth Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army on the Three-Antis situation, submitted to the Party Committee of the North China Military Region and notified to the Party committees of all divisions and regiments. The report stated: The confessions and denunciations by the masses in the units directly under the army have moved from a high tide to a deeper level. The confessions and denunciations by the masses are increasing rather than decreasing, with the focus still on army chiefs, department heads, division chiefs, section chiefs, and the wives of these individuals, as well as conspicuous corrupt and wasteful elements. Those making denunciations and criticisms range from ordinary cadres to orderlies, cooks of the small mess, drivers, staff officers, and clerks. Many matters that the chiefs were unwilling to review or reflect upon have been starkly exposed. For serious cases of corruption and waste, those who have already confessed shall have further materials collected to clarify right and wrong; those who have not confessed or have not confessed thoroughly shall be removed from their posts or dismissed for reflection, while simultaneously seeking leads and sending personnel out for investigation. Regarding the undesirable ideological styles of certain leading cadres—such as seeking comfort and pleasure, excessively privileged living, failure to go down to the grassroots, and serious detachment from the masses—the lower-ranking cadres and soldiers are extremely dissatisfied and have many opinions. Preparations are being made to let everyone continue speaking out and finish saying what they have to say. Cadres of all divisions and regiments must go to their own units and mobilize the masses to criticize and expose them. Inspections of key cadres and departments must go through several rounds before they can be thorough, and care must be taken to strictly prevent a cursory once-over. In addition to conducting self-criticisms and reflections at the army Party representative conference, the army leadership is now also conducting reflections in person at servicemen's congresses in the headquarters, political, and logistics departments, listening to the opinions of the masses, with good results.