Central Directive Forwarding Luo Ruiqing’s Report〔1〕 on Correcting Rightist Tendencies in the South China Military Region’s Final Judgments in the Three-Anti Campaign (May 9, 1952) To the Party Committees of All Major Military Regions and the Chinese People’s Volunteers, to All Central Bureaus and Sub-bureaus, with copy to the Party Committees of Provinces, Municipalities, and Autonomous Regions: Comrade Luo Ruiqing’s report of April 25 concerning the South China Military Region’s efforts to rectify the rightist tendencies exhibited by many cadres during the final adjudication phase of the Three-Anti Campaign〔2〕 is highly worthy of attention. Wherever similar deviations exist, they must be corrected without delay. It is imperative that all genuine embezzlers, suspected embezzlers, and those wrongly implicated be rigorously and truthfully judged and thoroughly investigated in accordance with the Central Committee’s successive directives and government statutes; not a single wrongdoer should go unpunished, nor should any innocent person be unjustly condemned. With regard to stolen funds, every effort must be made to recover whatever can be retrieved, yet no innocent family members are to be harassed or held accountable. No personnel are to be dispatched to rural areas to pursue recovery except in isolated cases where substantial illicit gains are known to be concealed and public opinion deems such action warranted; nor are authorities to press for sums that are demonstrably unobtainable. All of these matters should be closely monitored and effectively managed by party committees at all levels—both military and local—in order to ensure that the Three-Anti Campaign is brought to a complete and victorious conclusion, free from the influence of half-hearted, tail-end weakening tendencies rooted in rightist thinking. The two disciplinary measures outlined in Comrade Luo Ruiqing’s report〔3〕 must be uniformly implemented throughout the Party to guarantee the success of the Three-Anti Campaign. Printed on May 9 by the Central Committee, based on Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.

Notes: 〔1〕 Luo Ruiqing was then Minister of Public Security of the Central People’s Government and a member of the Savings Inspection Commission. He had been assigned by the Central Committee to assist with the Three-Anti and Five-Anti campaigns in the Central-South region. 〔2〕 In his report of April 25, 1952, addressed to Mao Zedong, the Central Committee, and the Central Military Commission, Luo Ruiqing stated that, according to a report received on April 21 from the Party Committee of the South China Military Region, the military had shown insufficient understanding of and inadequate vigilance in pursuing the recovery of stolen funds and rendering final judgments, resulting in a large number of “tigers” retracting their confessions. Rightist tendencies were spreading widely, placing the achievements of the Three-Anti Campaign in grave danger. In practical adjudication work, leaders lacked clear direction, simply accepting self-confessions from embezzlers or even adopting a wholly passive stance toward the process. Taking advantage of this situation, corrupt officials recanted their admissions and refused to return the ill-gotten gains. The root cause of these rightist leanings lay in an inadequate appreciation of the crucial link between recovering stolen property and achieving overall victory in the Three-Anti Campaign, coupled with a one-sided, overly lenient interpretation of the spirit of Central Committee documents, which bred a sentiment of indulgence and pity toward embezzlers. The principal manifestations of this rightist thinking currently included seeking quick settlements, encouraging recantations, failing to conduct thorough甄别, drawing hasty conclusions, and lacking confidence or initiative in pursuing the recovery of stolen funds. The South China Military Region was already taking appropriate corrective measures to address these problems. 〔3〕 According to Luo Ruiqing’s report, the two disciplinary measures are as follows: first, “Anyone who acts contrary to principle and ‘releases the tiger back into the mountains’ shall, upon discovery, be regarded as shielding and condoning embezzlers and shall be subject to disciplinary sanctions”; second, “Leaders who are remiss and handle the third stage of the campaign carelessly and sloppily, thereby causing losses, shall likewise be held accountable.”