Comments on Jiang Qing’s Speech at the North China Conference
(January 1971)

Carry out as instructed. Whether to play Jiang Qing’s recorded speech should be decided only after the transcript has been submitted to me for review.
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Do not play the recording, nor distribute it; it may be kept as internal material.
Notes
Printed from Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.
[1] This meeting was held in Beijing from December 22, 1970, to January 24, 1971. Attendees included 449 leaders from the Beijing Military Region, the military regions of the provinces in North China, the Beijing Garrison Command, the Tianjin Garrison Command, and relevant units in the North China area. Starting January 9, 1971, 143 participants in the Central Military Commission symposium also joined the meeting. The conference exposed and criticized Chen Boda’s anti-Party crimes, but it also claimed that Li Xuefeng and Zheng Weishan had “participated” in Chen Boda’s anti-Party activities. On December 6, 1979, the CPC Central Committee issued the “Notice on Reversing the Wrongful Accusations Related to the So-Called ‘North China Factionalism’,” thereby rehabilitating Li Xuefeng and Zheng Weishan.

[2] During the North China Conference, Jiang Qing (then a member of the CPC Central Political Bureau and a member of the Central Organization and Propaganda Group) delivered two speeches, arbitrarily naming and criticizing others without prior discussion by the central leadership. On January 7, 1971, in his report to Mao Zedong et al. concerning issues arising from the North China Conference, Zhou Enlai outlined six specific measures to implement Mao Zedong’s policy of holding a successful conference and uniting the entire armed forces, along with related instructions. The sixth measure stipulated that, in order to focus everyone’s attention, seven documents pertaining to the North China Conference would be compiled and distributed: Chairman Mao’s and Vice Chairman Lin’s two directives dated December 16 and 19, along with relevant reports and other central documents. It was also proposed to edit and play recordings of Comrade Jiang Qing’s two speeches for the regional delegates. After reviewing this proposal, Mao Zedong wrote a comment, which is Document One herein. On January 11, when Zhou Enlai submitted the edited transcripts of Jiang Qing’s two speeches to Mao Zedong, he noted: “Received the Chairman’s instruction on the evening of the 7th and informed Comrade Jiang Qing the following day.” He further stated that they had agreed the previous night to send the edited manuscript—with the sections we intend to delete marked—for the Chairman’s review. “It is now being submitted; please decide whether it should be played at the meeting.” Upon reviewing it, Mao Zedong again wrote a comment, which is Document Two herein.