Comments on a Report Concerning the Implementation of Overseas Chinese Affairs Policy in Zhejiang Province  (December 8, 1956)

Comrade Luo Ruiqing [1]:  The item on page 1 concerning Zhejiang Province [2] is worth reading.

Mao Zedong  December 8  Printed from the manuscript.

Notes  [1] Luo Ruiqing was then Minister of Public Security.

[2] Refers to the article “Many Areas in Zhejiang Province Have Numerous Serious Deficiencies in Implementing Overseas Chinese Affairs Policy,” published in Issue 2071 of Xinhua News Agency’s Internal Reference on December 6, 1956.  The article states that delegates attending Zhejiang Province’s recently convened conference of relatives of overseas Chinese and returned overseas Chinese reported that there were many problems throughout the province—particularly in rural areas—in dealing with relatives of overseas Chinese and returnees. Many young people were barred from joining the Youth League, and even from becoming union members, simply because they had relatives abroad; letters from overseas were opened and circulated among officials; interference occurred in the use of remittances, with forced loans, donations, and purchases of government bonds being imposed; and certain public security organs placed numerous restrictions and created obstacles for overseas Chinese returning to China for sightseeing or visiting relatives. The delegates believed that the government’s policy was sound, but that publicity efforts had been inadequate and implementation at the local level had been poor. They called for intensified promotion of the overseas Chinese affairs policy and for greater attention to its proper implementation.