Commentary on the North China Bureau’s New Plan for “Catching Tigers” (February 20, 1952) To the North China Bureau and all Central Bureaus; also to the Major Military Regions and the Chinese People’s Volunteers:

The North China Bureau’s new plan of February 17[1] has been received. It is very good and is hereby circulated for the reference of all comrades. The points it makes regarding the recovery of stolen funds and the need for a five- to seven-day period of rest and reorganization are essential; all comrades are requested to take note. Mao Zedong February 20 Printed from the manuscript.

Notes [ ] Refers to the report dated February 17, 1952, submitted by the CPC Central Committee’s North China Bureau to its sub-bureaus, provincial committees, and municipal committees, with copy to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee, concerning a new “catching tigers” campaign. The report states that the number of “tigers” apprehended throughout the North China region has already exceeded the original target, and that the ongoing momentum of the movement calls for an immediate increase in the task load and the formulation of a new plan. To ensure the smooth implementation of this new plan, the report sets forth the following five provisions: (1) Thoroughly mobilize the masses, conduct careful investigations and studies, organize forces, study tactical methods, and launch the “catching tigers” campaigns in a planned and step-by-step manner. (2) With respect to those “tigers” who have been apprehended, extract every bit of information from them, trace the whereabouts of their ill-gotten gains and funds, and promptly compel them to surrender all, most, or part of these assets. (3) Party committees and governments at all levels should assign a certain number of personnel to oversee other routine work, particularly spring plowing and production in industrial and mining enterprises, so as to minimize any disruption to production. (4) Leading organs at or above the prefectural level should promptly correct instances of coercive interrogation and the arbitrary designation of individuals as “tigers” during the campaign. (5) After conducting two or three rounds of operations in each locality, a pause of five to seven days should be observed for sorting out cases, summarizing experience, and reorganizing the ranks, before resuming the campaign.