Commentary by the Central Committee on the Report of the Party Committee of State Organs on Launching a Campaign to Root Out Concealed Counterrevolutionaries (July 10, 1955)

To the CPC Committees of All Provinces and Municipalities Directly Under the Central Government, and to the Party Committees of All Autonomous Regions:

We are now transmitting herewith one copy of the special report dated July 6, 1955, from the Party Committee of State Organs in Beijing concerning the campaign to purge concealed counterrevolutionaries [1]. Please study it carefully and act accordingly. With regard to conditions in your respective provinces and municipalities, we request that you submit brief summaries following this same format.

Issued by the Central Committee on July 10, 1955, based on Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.

To Liu and Deng [2]: Please review. To Yang Shangkun [3]: Send by telegram and distribute to all members of the CPC Central Committee residing in Beijing… as well as to the various departments of the Central Military Commission. Printed on July 10 by Mao Zedong from his handwritten manuscript.

Notes

[1] The report of the Party Committee of State Organs states that on June 27, 1955, the committee convened a meeting of heads of five-person groups from its fifty-three subordinate units; then, on July 2, it held a general assembly of party members at or above the bureau-level. Following these two meetings, the mass movement within state organs to purge concealed counterrevolutionaries was significantly intensified. At present, the groups engaged in ideological struggle can broadly be divided into two categories: first, those systematically conducting ideological struggle against certain key individuals; and second, those combating rightist tendencies, liberalism, individualism, and other erroneous ideas within the revolutionary ranks—primarily by examining and criticizing rightist complacency, with the aim of gradually deepening and expanding the struggle. As for the few units that have not yet initiated such ideological struggle, they are being urged to quickly mobilize the masses and set the movement in motion.

[2] “Liu” refers to Liu Shaoqi. “Deng” refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at that time served as Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council.

[3] “Yang Shangkun” is Yang Shangkun, who at that time held the posts of Deputy Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Central Office.