Commentary on Luo Ruiqing’s Opinion Regarding the Sentencing in a Homicide Case (October 6, 1952) To Zhou and Deng: Please review this and return it to Comrade Luo Ruiqing. Also, ask Luo to convey to Deputy Procurator-General Lan [3] that I concur with his decision to uphold the original sentence and impose capital punishment on Wang Jianpeng [4], to be carried out immediately. Mao Zedong October 6

Based on the manuscript copy. Notes [1] Luo Ruiqing was then Minister of Public Security of the Central People’s Government. [2] Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai. Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at the time served as Vice Premier of the Administrative Council. [3] Refers to Lan Gongwu, Deputy Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of the Central People’s Government. [4] Wang Jianpeng had formerly been Director of the Municipal Enterprise Administration under the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government. During the Three-Anti Campaign, he was placed under supervision after being exposed for embezzlement. While under supervision, he systematically strangled the guard assigned to him and also killed the person who had reported him. The Guangzhou Municipal People’s Court accordingly sentenced him to death, to be executed immediately. However, the Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau and the People’s Procuratorate objected, advocating instead a death sentence with reprieve. Following a review by the Ministry of Public Security of the Central People’s Government and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, it was decided to uphold the original sentence and carry out the execution without delay.