Telegram Circulating the Northeast Bureau’s Experiences in Seeking Clues About Corruption (January 31, 1952) To all departments of the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, to all Party groups under the Central People’s Government; to all Central Bureaus, military regions, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army, with further transmission to sub-bureaus and provincial/municipal/autonomous regional party committees, and to all military districts and individual armies: According to Comrade Gao Gang [1], the following points should be noted regarding personnel-related clues in the Northeast’s “smashing tigers” campaign: “(1) Individuals who previously engaged in commerce or ran factories but are now working in state organs or enterprises (special attention should be paid to those who continue to operate private businesses alongside their official duties); (2) Individuals whose families are engaged in commerce and industry, while they themselves are employed in state organs or enterprise departments—some of whom are veteran cadres (particularly those whose family businesses have experienced rapid growth since they began working in the public sector); (3) Individuals with close ties to private merchants, leading dissolute lives and widely discussed by the public; (4) Individuals responsible for minor administrative tasks who lead dissolute, extravagant lifestyles; (5) Procurement personnel who frequently purchase goods from the same merchant or group of merchants (this can be discovered through auditing accounts and invoices); (6) Instances where the same materials are purchased or sold at vastly different prices during the same period (comparative analysis of procurement and sales invoices from different departments may reveal discrepancies); (7) Clues obtained from internal whistleblowing and confessions made by external merchants; (8) Studying the fifty-six major corrupt officials already brought to justice to draw lessons for future ‘tiger hunts.’” These suggestions are quite sound. Please add £± ５

comments to make them more useful for the “smashing tigers” campaign. Mao Zedong January 31 Printed from the manuscript. Note [1] Gao Gang was at the time Secretary of the CPC Northeast Bureau and Chairman of the Northeast People’s Government.