Comment on Comrade Chen Yi’s[1] Draft Speech for the National Conference of the Party
(23 March 1955)

Return to Comrade Chen Yi:

I have read your draft speech once and find it very good. It can and should be said that way; it is not excessive. On page 21, I have added a few words.[2] I feel that Rao Shushi’s[3] crimes may be no less than those of Gao Gang.[4]

Mao Zedong
23 March

[1] Chen Yi was then a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Vice Premier of the State Council.
[2] On page 21 of Chen Yi’s draft speech, it stated: “The anti-Party element Gao Gang was the leading figure of the Gao Gang–Rao Shushi anti-Party alliance, and his anti-Party crimes are more serious than those of Rao Shushi.” Mao Zedong revised this sentence to read: “The anti-Party element Gao Gang was the leading figure of the Gao Gang–Rao Shushi anti-Party alliance, and his anti-Party crimes, from a certain point of view, may perhaps be said to be more serious than those of Rao Shushi.”
[3] Rao Shushi formerly served as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, First Secretary of the East China Bureau, member of the Central People’s Government, Chairman of the East China Administrative Committee, and head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. In 1953 he conspired to split the Party and usurp the supreme power of the Party and the state. He was exposed in 1954. In March 1955 the National Conference of the Communist Party of China adopted a resolution expelling him from the Party.
[4] Gao Gang formerly served as a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Secretary of the Northeast Bureau, Vice Chairman of the Central People’s Government, Chairman of the Northeast Administrative Committee, and Chairman of the State Planning Commission. In 1953 he conspired to split the Party and usurp the supreme power of the Party and the state. He was exposed in 1954. In March 1955 the National Conference of the Communist Party of China adopted a resolution expelling him from the Party.