Comment on the Report
(September 1, 1952)

I have carefully read the report dated August 28, 1952 [1]. Extensive rectification measures have been taken and have yielded results; therefore, no disciplinary action will be imposed.

Mao Zedong
September 1, 1952

[1] Refers to a report submitted by the Military Academy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to Mao Zedong on August 28, 1952, concerning the loss of documents that led to the leakage of state secrets, the course of handling the matter, and the corrective measures undertaken. The report states that a comprehensive document review conducted in May of this year revealed serious breaches of confidentiality. In addition to instructing the Confidentiality Office to continue investigating the incident, the academy’s leadership launched a campus-wide campaign to enhance awareness of secrecy protection, while at the same time holding all parties involved in the breach accountable according to the severity of their respective roles, imposing both administrative and criminal sanctions as appropriate. Regarding organizational responsibilities, the academy’s Party Committee decided to continue administrative reforms to strengthen confidentiality procedures, and to establish security and confidentiality committees at every level—from the academy’s Party Committee down to the primary-level branches—to oversee all matters related to secrecy protection. Concurrently, in accordance with an order from the Central Military Commission, documents were classified into different levels of secrecy, with distinct regulations governing their distribution, access, and storage, and the academy’s confidentiality rules and procedures for the receipt and dispatch of documents were revised. The report concludes by acknowledging that, over the past year or so, the academy’s leadership had failed to rigorously inspect the confidentiality system and inadequately corrected existing shortcomings, thereby contributing to the security breach. It requests that, in addition to ensuring strict compliance with the confidentiality regime going forward, the president of the academy be subjected to appropriate disciplinary action.