(August 3, 1954)
Comrade Shaoqi:
This document[2] should probably be discussed at a Central Committee meeting to make a decision[3].
Mao Zedong
August 3
[1]
This is a comment written by Mao Zedong on a report dated July 28, 1954, from Peng Dehuai, Vice Chairman of the People's Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People's Government, addressed to Liu Shaoqi.
[2]
Refers to Peng Dehuai's report. The report stated: Recently, several urgent problems have emerged within the armed forces: (1) Since the Three-Anti Campaign, certain tendencies toward personal pleasure-seeking, corruption, and moral degeneration have continued to grow among some senior cadres. (2) In the first half of 1954, two extremely serious incidents of security breaches occurred. (3) The rank-and-file soldiers are too old; currently, 80 percent of the troops are veterans who have served for more than three years. (4) The restrictions on marriage for lower-level cadres should no longer be continued.
[3]
At its meeting on August 27, 1954, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided: (1) Regarding the growth of tendencies toward pleasure-seeking, corruption, and moral degeneration among some cadres, as well as the serious security breaches, it is necessary to launch appropriate struggles and strictly enforce discipline. The Military Commission shall convene a Party congress of the entire People's Liberation Army in the winter of 1954 or the spring of 1955 to raise, discuss, and make decisions on these issues. (2) The issues concerning the rank-and-file soldiers and the marriage of lower-level cadres shall be discussed when the Central Committee deliberates on the Military Service Law.