Comments on the Report by Wang Heshou [1] et al. Concerning the “Three-Anti” Campaign in the Northeast Industrial Department (February 10, 1952)

Comrades: The experience in “hunting tigers” reported by Comrade Wang Heshou and others [2] is extremely valuable. Please follow their example and publish it in the Party journal.

Mao Zedong February 10  Printed from the manuscript.

Notes  [1] Wang Heshou was at that time Minister of the Industrial Department of the Northeast People’s Government.

[2] Refers to the experiences summarized in a report dated February 4, 1952, submitted by Wang Heshou, Lü Dong, and An Zhiwen (both of whom served as vice ministers of the Northeast People’s Government’s Industrial Department) to the Northeast Bureau and Gao Gang, with a copy forwarded to Mao Zedong, concerning the “hunting tiger” campaign within the Northeast People’s Government’s Industrial Department. The report stated that the available materials on the “hunting tiger” campaign indicate that tigers are not confined to departments directly handling large sums of funds; even those units and individuals without direct financial authority can harbor major corrupt officials if they possess certain powers and responsibilities, coupled with lax management and loopholes. Analyzing the seventy-seven major embezzlers already uncovered, the report drew the following conclusions: First, almost all major embezzlers maintained close ties with capitalists, colluding with them inside and out. Second, many of these major embezzlers were themselves capitalists who had infiltrated state-owned enterprises, making their destructive impact particularly severe. Third, individuals who had previously been exposed for corrupt practices and who had also handled substantial amounts of state property were, upon further investigation, often found to be major embezzlers. Fourth, the periods when major embezzlement cases were most frequent included: the post-liberation takeover phase in southern Manchuria in late 1948 and early 1949, following the Fourth Field Army’s entry into North China; the factory relocation period after the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea in late 1950; the widespread outsourcing of construction projects in 1949; and the second half of 1951, during the disposal of stagnant materials—cases discovered during this latter period were frequently linked to the handling of cement, timber, steel, hardware, electrical supplies, and scrap materials.