Comments on the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee’s Report Concerning Several Issues That Should Be Noted in the Process of Approving Arrests (July 23, 1955) Comrade Luo Ruiqing [1]: The issues raised in this document [2] are of a general nature, so please pay close attention to them. Please discuss whether it can be forwarded in the name of the Central Committee to the party committees of all provinces and municipalities for their information and reference. Issued by Mao Zedong on July 23, based on the manuscript. Notes [ ] Luo Ruiqing was then Director of the First Office of the State Council and Minister of Public Security, as well as a deputy leader of the Central Ten-Person Group. [2] Refers to the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the CPC’s report dated July 20, 1955, addressed to its subordinate organizations and to the Central Committee, concerning several issues that should be noted in the process of approving arrests. The report states that, judging from recent developments in arrest operations, in many places the evidence supporting the planned arrests in the initial batch is inaccurate. Some individuals should not have been arrested at all; others, while having committed certain offenses, do not fall within the category of those subject to arrest; and still others are suspected persons, but lack sufficient materials and evidence on key points and require further verification. These problems stem from past tendencies toward complacency and superficial work, as well as from unclear policy guidelines regarding who should and should not be arrested. Consequently, as large-scale arrests approached, there arose a fear of failing to meet the original targets, leading to a rush to inflate numbers. In light of this situation, party committees at all levels must pay attention to the following: First, strictly adhere to the policy guidelines on whom to arrest and whom not to arrest, as stipulated in the Central Public Security Conference, and earnestly correct the erroneous tendencies of carelessly padding arrest figures to fulfill quotas and of hesitating about who should be arrested. Second, the joint working bodies already established at various levels should strengthen their work, particularly in reviewing lists of individuals to be arrested. Third, prior to large-scale arrests, in addition to intensifying review efforts, a series of organizational measures must also be taken. Fourth, given that preparations in many areas remain insufficient, the timing of arrest operations in certain regions should be postponed. On August 2, 1955, the Central Committee forwarded this report to party committees across the country.£² ５