(August 10, 1959)
Distributed to all comrades. Right opportunist elements exist within the Central Committee, namely those comrades in the military club; they also exist at the provincial level, for example, Zhang Kaifan, Secretary of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee. I suspect these individuals are speculators who have infiltrated the Party. During the transition period from capitalism to socialism, they stand on the bourgeois stand, deliberately scheming to undermine the dictatorship of the proletariat, split the Communist Party, organize factions within the Party, spread their influence, disintegrate the vanguard of the proletariat, and establish their own opportunist party. The main composition of this clique originally consisted of important members of the Gao Gang conspiratorial anti-Party clique, which is one clear piece of evidence. During the bourgeois democratic revolution, these people were willing participants and possessed revolutionary spirit. As for how the revolution was to be carried out, they were often mistaken. They lack the mental preparation for the socialist revolution. Once the period of socialist revolution arrived, they became uncomfortable. They had long participated in the Gao Gang anti-Party clique, and this clique used conspiratorial means to achieve its reactionary aims. The remnants of the Gao Gang clique who slipped through the net are now stirring up trouble again, impatient and eager to launch an attack. Their swift exposure is beneficial both to the Party and to themselves. As long as they are willing to wash their brains, it is still possible to win them over, because they possess the dual nature of being both reactionary and revolutionary. Their current anti-socialist program is to oppose the Great Leap Forward and oppose the People's Communes. Do not be deceived by their flowery words and cunning phrases, such as saying that the General Line is basically correct, or that it would have been fine if the People's Communes had only been established a few years later. To save them, we must carry out thorough exposure among the broad ranks of cadres, so that their market shrinks smaller and smaller. We must resolutely implement the policy of curing the sickness to save the patient, must use the method of presenting facts and reasoning, and must also provide them with an outlet for revolution and work, with strict criticism and lenient handling.

Mao Zedong
August 10

[1] This is a comment written by Mao Zedong on the report from the Anhui Provincial Party Committee of the CPC, dated August 4, 1959, concerning Zhang Kaifan's order to dissolve the canteens in Wuwei County, which was distributed to the Central Committee and reported to Zeng Xisheng, First Secretary of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee. The Anhui Provincial Party Committee's report stated: "Comrade Zhang Kaifan, Secretary of the Secretariat of our Provincial Party Committee, when inspecting work in Wuwei County in early July, ordered the dissolution of the canteens and, with a skeptical attitude, instructed the County Party Committee Office to investigate changes in several conditions before and after communicationization, resulting in confusion in the work of Wuwei County. The Wuwei County Party Committee and the Wuhu Prefectural Party Committee strongly objected to Zhang's approach, considering it a violation of the Central Committee's guidelines and policies. The reports from the Wuwei County Party Committee and the Wuhu Prefectural Party Committee are hereby forwarded for review." The report from the Wuwei County Party Committee to the Prefectural Party Committee and copied to the Provincial Party Committee on August 1 stated: "Zhang Kaifan arrived in Wuwei County on July 4 to inspect work. On the afternoon of the 9th, while inspecting the Xia Brigade, he announced to the brigade cadres and the masses the 'Three Restorations'—restoration of individual cooking, restoration of individual housing, and restoration of small private plots—and demanded that the County Party Committee implement them downwards. By July 15, over 6,000 canteens in the county had been dissolved in one sweep, with only 120 canteens resolutely refusing to dissolve." The report from the Wuhu Prefectural Party Committee to the Provincial Party Committee on August 2 stated: "The Prefectural Party Committee agrees with the report of the Wuwei County Party Committee. We believe that the 'Three Restorations' proposed by Zhang Kaifan, especially the order to dissolve the canteens, contravene the Central Committee's and the Provincial Party Committee's guidelines and policies on running canteens. Zhang Kaifan instructed the County Party Committee Office to investigate three changes before and after communicationization (labor force, farm tools, housing) and five items including the work style of cadres and various disease incidence rates, all demarcated by the period before and after communicationization. We do not know his intention and request the Provincial Party Committee to study this matter."
[2] This refers to comrades Peng Dehuai, Huang Kecheng, Zhang Wentian, Zhou Xiaozhou, and others.
[3] Zhang Kaifan, then serving as Secretary of the Secretariat of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee of the CPC and Vice Governor of Anhui Province. During the Anti-Right Opportunist Movement in 1959, he was wrongly punished by expulsion from the Party and removal from his post as Vice Governor.