Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress: The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposes to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress that, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, a special amnesty be granted to a group of war criminals, counter-revolutionary offenders, and common criminal offenders who have genuinely reformed and turned over a new leaf.


Our socialist revolution and socialist construction have already achieved great victories.
Our motherland is thriving; production and construction are flourishing, and the people’s living standards are steadily improving.
The people’s democratic dictatorship has been consolidated and strengthened as never before.
The political awareness and organizational level of the people throughout the country have reached an unprecedented height.
The political and economic situation of the state is extremely favorable.


The policy adopted by the Party and the People’s Government—combining punishment with leniency and combining labor reform with ideological education—toward counter-revolutionaries and other criminals has yielded remarkable results.
The majority of prisoners of all categories have undergone varying degrees of rehabilitation, and many have indeed reformed and turned over a new leaf.
In light of this situation, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China deems it appropriate, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, to announce a special amnesty for a group of war criminals, counter-revolutionary offenders, and common criminal offenders who have genuinely reformed and turned over a new leaf.


The implementation of this measure will further help transform negative factors into positive ones and will play a significant educational role in the continued rehabilitation of these prisoners as well as other inmates.
It will enable them to realize that under our great socialist system, so long as they reform and turn over a new leaf, they too can have a future.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China requests the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress[1] to consider the above proposal and to adopt a corresponding resolution.


Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, September 14, 1959. Printed from the People’s Daily, September 18, 1959.


Note [1]: The Ninth Meeting of the Second Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopted the “Decision on Granting a Special Amnesty to Criminals Who Have Truly Reformed and Turned Over a New Leaf” on September 17, 1959.
On the same day, Liu Shaoqi issued the “Amnesty Order of the President of the People’s Republic of China.”