To all departments of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, to the Party Groups of the Central People’s Government; to all Central Bureaus and Sub-bureaus, with further transmission to the provincial and municipal Party committees; to all Military Regions and the Volunteer Army Party Committee, with further transmission to the provincial military districts and all army Party committees: We hereby forward to you one copy of the summary report dated June 22, 1952, prepared by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection concerning the Party’s disciplinary inspection work〔1〕, which may be published in Party periodicals. The Central Committee deems this report to be correct. The Central Committee June 23rd Printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript. Note 〔1〕 Refers to the summary report submitted by Zhu De, Secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee on June 22, 1952, regarding the Party’s disciplinary inspection work. The report states that the Three-Anti Campaign constituted, for our Party, a well-led, mass-mobilized, comprehensive, and systematic large-scale disciplinary inspection movement that served to educate and test the broad ranks of cadres, demonstrating that the vast majority were sound while those who had committed violations of law and discipline received due punishment. At the same time, it exposed certain rather serious shortcomings in our work related to disciplinary inspection and cadre management, along with lessons that ought to be learned: First, in the past some Party organizations, upon discovering violations of Party discipline among Party members and cadres, failed to address such transgressions promptly and squarely at the principled level through criticism and correction. Moreover, senior cadres guilty of grave errors who were deemed unfit to continue in their previous posts were not resolutely removed from leadership positions, thereby weakening Party discipline and allowing various erroneous tendencies within the Party to gain further momentum. Second, certain Party organizations traditionally maintained very poor knowledge of their cadres, disregarding feedback from the masses and failing to conduct thorough inspections of their work. Taking advantage of these weaknesses, some unscrupulous elements managed to win trust and advance their personal agendas. Third, in some departments the emphasis on technical expertise alone, coupled with neglect of political considerations and a relaxation of Party leadership and ideological struggle within the ranks, led to serious instances of lawlessness and disciplinary breaches among cadres. Consequently, the promotion of intra-Party democracy, the carrying out of criticism and self-criticism, and the combating of liberalism have become extremely urgent tasks at present. Fourth, it is imperative to strengthen disciplinary inspection work, improve internal Party organizational and democratic life, fully bring into play the role of primary Party branches as strongholds, encourage the exposure and reporting of illegal and disciplinary-violating conduct by Party members and cadres, and regularly conduct education on discipline observance among Party members. Fifth, in handling cases of Party member misconduct, we must overcome two opposing tendencies: leniency that condones wrongdoing and simplistic approaches. Sixth, during the constructive phase of the Three-Anti Campaign, organizations at all levels may appropriately conduct a campaign of education on observing laws and regulations, so as to help Party members and cadres gradually develop habits of public-spiritedness and law-abiding conduct.

Commentary on a Letter from Former Kuomintang Officers Requesting Employment Assistance (June 25, 1952)