Central Committee’s Comment on the East China Bureau’s Report on the Five-Anti Campaign (March 22, 1952) To the East China Bureau and all Central Bureaus, with copy to sub-bureaus and provincial, municipal, and district Party committees: The East China Bureau’s report of March 9 on the Five-Anti Campaign [1] is very good. This report synthesizes a comprehensive strategic perspective and an organizational plan for the Five-Anti Campaign. It is hoped that major and medium-sized cities will study and follow its example. Printed by the Central Committee on March 22, based on Mao Zedong’s manuscript. Notes [ ] Refers to the first comprehensive report on the Five-Anti Campaign submitted by the East China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to Mao Zedong on March 9, 1952. The report summarizes ten lessons learned from the preparatory and confession stages of the Five-Anti Campaign: (1) Before the campaign commences, it must be clearly defined what the Five-Anti aims to combat and what it does not. (2) The most opportune time to launch the Five-Anti is after the basic conclusion of the “tiger-hunting” campaign within government organs. (3) The first preparatory step for the Five-Anti is to mount a vigorous propaganda offensive and mobilize public opinion. In terms of propaganda strategy, priority should be given to concentrating fire on speculative merchants and large-scale fraudsters who are in complete violation of the law, as well as on major bribe-givers; it is inadvisable to open hostilities simultaneously against all capitalists. (4) The second preparatory measure is to gather intelligence, scout out the enemy situation, classify and rank targets, and identify key priorities. (5) The third

preparatory measure is to establish a strong command headquarters and train core cadres, taking the city as the leading center and the district as the operational unit, thereby setting up a robust Five-Anti command structure. (6) It is essential to rely firmly on the working class, making ordinary workers and shop assistants the backbone, closely uniting small and medium-sized clerical staff, winning over senior employees, and launching a struggle against illegal capitalists. This is the key to securing complete victory in the campaign. (7) A citywide conference on confession and denunciation in the Five-Anti Campaign should be convened to demonstrate its strength and embody the Party’s policy. (8) Taking advantage of the favorable momentum following such a conference, one should strike while the iron is hot and hold separate or joint conferences by industry or among several industries, encouraging more industrial and commercial operators to confess and workers and shop assistants to make denunciations. (9) A face-to-face struggle should be waged to ignite a wave of confession and denunciation, ensuring that every capitalist, without exception, undergoes scrutiny before the working class. (10) Based on the materials obtained through confession and denunciation, conclusions should be drawn in a timely and phased manner regarding law-abiding enterprises, those largely complying with the law, and those only partially compliant; this will help unite and win over the majority, rapidly forging a united front for the Five-Anti Campaign.