Central Committee Telegram on Basically Approving the Proclamation of the Gansu-Qinghai Bandit Suppression Command of the Northwest Military Region

(May 8, 1953)

To the Northwest Bureau, the Political Department of the Northwest Military Region, to be forwarded to the Gansu and Qinghai Provincial Party Committees, and for the information of the Southwest Bureau:

We basically agree with the Gansu-Qinghai Bandit Suppression Command Proclamation as revised and supplemented by the Northwest Bureau on May 2. However:

(1) In Article 3, [1] the phrase “return with sudden repentance” should be changed to “return with sincere intent,” which is more colloquial and easier to understand;

(2) In Article 5, [2] the final sentence: “As for those who persist in banditry to the end, resolutely eliminate them” should be deleted, so as not to close the path to self-renewal for bandit chieftains.

Central Committee

May 8

--- Notes

[1] The original text of Article 3 of the proclamation, as revised and supplemented by the Northwest Bureau, read: “All tribal chiefs, clergy, and lay people who were deceived or coerced into banditry, as long as they return with sudden repentance and settle down to peaceful production, shall all be exempted from past offenses, and their lives, property, and previous positions shall be protected.”


[2] The original text of Article 5 of the proclamation, as revised and supplemented by the Northwest Bureau, read: “All bandit chieftains and followers who surrender and seek self-renewal to the People’s Government and the People’s Liberation Army shall be dealt with leniently; those who break away from the bandits and actively assist in suppressing banditry shall be permitted to atone for their crimes by meritorious service; as for those who persist in banditry to the end, they shall be resolutely eliminated.”