Critique on the Erroneous Release of the News Item
“The Chief of the East China Military Region Telegraphs Congratulations to the Troops That Liberated Yijiangshan” [I]
(February 6, 1955)

Peng [2] and Comrade Su Yu:
A meeting should be convened with relevant personnel (including the Xinhua News Agency) to specifically formulate measures for implementing the instructions of the Military Commission of January 12 [3], and to offer criticism and directives to the East China Military Region.

Mao Zedong
February 6

[I]
This critique was written on the self-criticism report submitted by Su Yu, Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, on February 1, 1955, to Peng Dehuai, member of the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Premier of the State Council, and Minister of National Defense, with copies to the Military Commission and the Central Committee. The report stated that the news item “The Chief of the East China Military Region Telegraphs Congratulations to the Troops That Liberated Yijiangshan,” published in *Renmin Ribao* on January 20, 1955, was approved and released without authorization by a secretary in the absence of the responsible chief. This constituted a grave act of organizational and disciplinary violation. Furthermore, the release of this congratulatory telegram contravened the Central Military Commission’s directive of January 12, 1955, on the issue of war reports and military news releases, as well as Premier Zhou Enlai’s directive that such congratulatory telegrams and commendation orders should be issued externally in the name of the Ministry of National Defense and internally in the name of the Military Commission, thereby causing adverse effects. Henceforth, the instructions of the Central Military Commission shall be followed to overcome decentralism and bureaucratism, so as to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.

[2]
Peng refers to Peng Dehuai.

[3]
Refers to the directive of the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, dated January 12, 1955, on the issue of war reports and military news releases.