(September 1, 1954)
To the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union:


We hereby formally inform you of the recent suicide and death of Comrade Gao Gang, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. As early as March of this year, we had already informed you of the facts concerning Comrade Gao Gang’s anti-Party, anti-Central Committee activities and his conspiratorial efforts to usurp the highest state and Party power.


Over the past six months, materials uncovered by local Party organizations throughout China have further corroborated Comrade Gao Gang’s crimes. However, during the period when he was being subjected to ideological reeducation, he showed no sign of repentance whatsover. On August 17, he attempted a second suicide, thereby fully revealing his steadfastly hostile attitude toward the Party and his self-imposed severance from the Chinese people.


Following Comrade Gao Gang’s death, we conducted a series of investigations to ascertain the exact cause of his demise. Based on the physicians’ clinical diagnosis, urine and stool tests, pathological autopsy findings, the investigative work of public security personnel, and the examination of the scene, it can be confidently concluded that Comrade Gao Gang indeed committed suicide by ingesting a large dose of sleeping pills. Moreover, additional inquiries from various sources have confirmed that, after his plot was exposed, he had deliberately stockpiled sleeping pills and been preparing to take his own life in this manner.


With regard to Comrade Gao Gang’s suicide, the CPC Central Committee has decided not to make an official announcement at this time. At the same time, the CPC Central Committee has resolved to communicate the anti-Party, anti-Central Committee, and conspiratorial acts of Comrade Gao Gang, together with those of another CPC Central Committee member, Rao Shushi—namely, their attempts to seize the highest state and Party power—to all members of the CPC and all members of the All-China Federation of Democratic Youth. Appropriate notification will also be given to the various democratic parties, people’s organizations, and non-Party cadres working in government organs within China.


Furthermore, the CPC Central Committee has decided to inform the central committees of the fraternal parties in other socialist countries and, in writing, to forward this notification to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, as stated above.


Mao Zedong, Chairman of the CPC Central Committee
September 1, 1954