Reply upon Accepting the Credentials from Chen Ziping, the Newly Appointed Ambassador of Vietnam to China
...has made significant contributions to peace.

“In recent years, the peoples of China and Vietnam, in the cause of striving for peace and building socialism, have supported each other and cooperated closely, fully embodying the brotherly unity and unbreakable friendship among socialist nations. The Chinese people deeply cherish their friendship with the Vietnamese people and will continue to exert every effort to strengthen and develop the relations of friendship, mutual assistance, and cooperation between our two countries.”

415

Two Comments on the Draft of the Government Work Report
(April 15 and 16, 1959)

Comrade Enlai:

The “Government Report” [1] has been basically revised and has been sent for printing immediately according to your suggestions. It will be printed by the morning, and in the afternoon, please distribute it immediately to the members of the State Council meeting for reading. They can finish reading by the morning of the 16th. Ask them to annotate their suggestions for revision. On the afternoon of the 16th, please convene a State Council meeting to gather opinions in person, and in the evening, hand it over to Tian Jiaying [2] (do not give it to Qiaomu [3], as he has other matters) to work on revisions overnight. After midnight on the night of the 16th, I will check it once with Tian Jiaying. On the morning of the 17th, it will be given to you for final review and printing, and on the afternoon of the 18th, the report can be delivered to the congress. The above is hereby notified.

Mao Zedong
April 15, 8:00 a.m.

416

Two Comments on the Draft of the Government Work Report

Comrade Tian Jiaying:

Pages one, seven, twelve, twenty-five, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, and fifty all have some revisions [1], please take note.

Mao Zedong
April 16, 7:00 a.m.

On April 15, 1959, Mao Zedong presided over an enlarged Supreme State Conference in Beijing. At this meeting, views were exchanged on matters such as the list of candidates for leadership positions in state institutions to be proposed at the First Session of the Second National People’s Congress. The picture shows Mao Zedong and others at the meeting.

417

Central Committee’s Forwarding Comment on Wu Zhipu’s [1] Report on Convening Commune Member Representative Assemblies in Batches by Stages and Other Issues
(April 16, 1959)

This document [2] is to be forwarded immediately to all provincial Party committees, Party committees of directly administered municipalities, and autonomous region Party committees for handling accordingly.

The Central Committee
April 16

418

Central Committee’s Forwarding Comment on Wu Zhipu’s Report on Convening Commune Member Representative Assemblies in Batches by Stages and Other Issues

Liu, Deng [1]: Please read immediately. Shangkun [2], handle this.

Mao

419

--- Notes

[1] Refers to the draft of the “Government Work Report” that Zhou Enlai was to deliver at the First Session of the Second National People’s Congress, held from April 18 to 28, 1959.
[2] Tian Jiaying, then Deputy Director of the Political Research Office of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary to Mao Zedong.
[3] Qiaomu, i.e., Hu Qiaomu, then Alternate Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary to Mao Zedong.


[1] All revisions made by Mao Zedong on these pages are textual modifications.


[1] Wu Zhipu, then First Secretary of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee and Governor of Henan Province.
[2] In this report dated April 15, 1959, which Wu Zhipu requested Wang Renzhong, First Secretary of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee, and others to relay to Mao Zedong, it stated: Regarding Chairman Mao’s opinions on convening commune member representative assemblies and other issues conveyed by Comrade Renzhong, we have communicated, studied, and made arrangements at the provincial Party committee plenum: (1) Agreed to convene, from now on, cadre meetings at all levels of the People’s Communes in batches by stages. Commune member representative assemblies will generally be held after accounts have been basically settled and the county-level five-level cadre meetings have concluded. (2) Cadres of People’s Communes, management districts, and production teams who have committed relatively serious errors or lack the capacity to perform their duties generally account for 5% to 6%, in some places 8% to 10%, or even more. They need to be dismissed or disciplined during the commune rectification. (3) The number of cadres guilty of serious violations of law and discipline warranting criminal punishment is generally 3 to 4 per county, and in relatively more severe counties, around 10. Through serious handling, cadres have been educated and public indignation appeased, yielding excellent results.


[1] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping, then General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council.
[2] Shangkun, i.e., Yang Shangkun, then Alternate Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee.