Forwarding Xinhua News Agency’s Commentary on Nanjing City’s Experience in Conducting Concentrated Training for Senior Personnel in the Commercial and Industrial Sectors during the Five-Anti Campaign (March 5, 1952)

The following is an internal dispatch [1] sent by Xinhua’s Nanjing correspondent, which recounts the experience of winning over senior shop employees. It is very good and is hereby forwarded for imitation throughout the country.  Mao Zedong March 5 Based on the manuscript copy.

This internal dispatch, written by Xinhua’s Nanjing correspondent on February 25, 1952, concerning Nanjing City’s experience in conducting concentrated training for senior personnel in the commercial and industrial sectors during the Five-Anti Campaign, was published in Issue No. 44 of “Internal Reference” for 1952.  The dispatch states that recently, Nanjing City brought together senior staff—bookkeepers, site supervisors, engineers, and others—from the grain and oil, construction, hardware, and water and electricity industries for a short-term study session, with excellent results. Many of these senior employees, after completing the concentrated training, dispelled their ideological misgivings and became active participants in the campaign, reporting several major cases of embezzlement and fraud involving state property.

The main lessons learned from their organizational approach to study are as follows: leadership must adhere to a policy of unity and education as the primary principle, focusing on alleviating the fear of disciplinary action that these individuals harbored because they had previously been drawn into wrongdoing by unscrupulous merchants. A policy of exerting pressure or employing rough and heavy-handed methods should be avoided. One-third of the participants should consist of senior personnel who have performed well in the Five-Anti Campaign and enjoy high prestige among the masses, along with a contingent of ordinary workers. These individuals should receive thorough political education so that they may play a leading role.