(December 7, 1955)
Agreed.
Mao Zedong
December 7th
Chuan
This is Mao Zedong’s endorsement on the report submitted by the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee on December 1, 1955.
[2]


The report of the Central Military Commission stated: In accordance with the Chairman’s instruction in 1953 that the military system should convene an all-army conference of senior cadres once a year to discuss work and conduct criticism and self-criticism, and based on the current state of army building, the Commission plans to hold an enlarged meeting of the Commission in late January or early February 1956. The main agenda items are proposed to focus on discussing operational guidelines and specific plans, summarizing the 1955 military training and anti-counterrevolutionary campaign, making arrangements for the 1956 military training and anti-counterrevolutionary work, considering the awarding of medals, decorations, and ranks to reserve officers, streamlining organizational structures, reducing personnel, and standardizing military terminology, among other matters. The report further noted that over the past few years, the nation’s military construction has generally been carried out and organized in line with the strategic principle of “active defense.” However, since this principle has not yet been thoroughly discussed among senior cadres throughout the armed forces, there remains a lack of uniform understanding and consensus on it, and related operational tasks have not been comprehensively planned.

Therefore, it is highly necessary to hold an in-depth discussion to achieve unified understanding among the most senior cadres across the entire military, so that they can, under the guidance of a unified operational doctrine, comprehensively plan all aspects of their work. At the same time, after more than two years of exploration, the military leadership has gradually gained a better grasp of how to develop the national defense industry and establish new branches and arms of the military. Consequently, conditions are now relatively mature for addressing this important issue.