Comments on the Press Release Announcing the Expulsion of Anti-Party and Anti-People Elements from the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (March 28, 1954) To Comrade Liu Shaoqi: This document [1] may be published in the People’s Daily, accompanied by an editorial [2] commending the German party’s correct measures. We should all remain highly vigilant. Mao Zedong March 28

Based on the manuscript. Notes [1] Refers to the press release submitted to the People’s Daily for review concerning the decision of the Seventeenth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany to expel anti-party and anti-people elements from the party. The press release stated: On January 25, 1954, the newspaper Neues Deutschland published the communiqué of the Seventeenth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, announcing the expulsion from the party of Heinestadt (former alternate member of the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and editor-in-chief of Neues Deutschland) and Zeissler (former member of the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and Minister of Public Security of the German Democratic Republic), who had been engaged in splittist activities. In addition, three other alternate members of the Politburo—Ackermann, Jandrecki, and Schmidt—who had made principled errors in the struggle against the Heinestadt–Zeissler anti-party clique were given severe warnings and warnings as disciplinary sanctions. This press release appeared in the April 9, 1954 issue of the People’s Daily. [2] The editorial in the April 9, 1954 issue of the People’s Daily was entitled “The Achievements of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in Defending Party Unity and Solidarity.”