Sent to the Premier [2] for his sympathy. I have a good impression of Bai Jian, and a political
conclusion should be drawn for him.
Mao Zedong
May 31, 1972

[1] This comment was written in the "Important Letters Digest" No. 110, published by the
Letters and Visits Office of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee in May 1972.
The digest said that Bai Kegong, the son of Bai Jian, the former Deputy Minister of the First
Ministry of Machine Building, wrote to Chairman Mao, saying that Bai Jian was from Jingbian
County, Shaanxi Province, and joined the revolution in 1926. He was isolated and
investigated during the "Cultural Revolution" in 1968. Bai Jian suffered from hypertension
and coronary artery sclerosis. He died in Beijing Fuxing Hospital on December 11 of that year
due to lack of emergency treatment. Bai Jian has been dead for four years now, but there is
still no official conclusion on his case. His family is under great mental and psychological
burden. They implore the Central Committee to make a political conclusion for him as soon
as possible.
[2] Premier refers to Zhou Enlai.

3 Bai Jian (1911 –1968), joined the Young Communist League in 1926, and the Party in 1928. On August 1, 1930,
he was arrested while participating in a rally organized by the CCP, and had two front teeth knocked out by a
bayonet whilst being tortured in prison. He was released when no charges could be brought against him. In the
spring of 1932, he was appointed as a special commissioner in Baoding by the Hebei Provincial Committee of
the Communist Party of China and led mass struggles. In June 1933, he served as the director of the
Organization Department of the Political Department of the Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Allied Army, and
was wounded in the battle of Xiaotangshan in October 1933. In the summer of 1934, due to a traitor's
information, KMT spies came to search for him, and when he climbed over a wall to escape, a large part of the
scalp on the back of his head was removed by the Kuomintang agents, leaving a scar for the rest of his life. At
the beginning of 1935, he served as secretary-general of the Northwest Military Commission and director of
the Political Department of the 26th Red Army.  In 1938, he was transferred to northwest Shanxi, and in April
1945, he went to Yan'an to attend the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China. During the
Second Kuomintang-Communist Civil War, he had political differences with both Chen Yun and Gao Gang. In the
spring of 1956, he was transferred to Beijing and served as vice minister of the Third Ministry of Machinery
Industry of the People's Republic of China. In May 1956, the Third Machinery Department was abolished and
the Motor Manufacturing Industry Department was established, and Bai was appointed deputy director of the
Motor Department and deputy secretary of the party group. He came under severe criticism during the early
stage of the Cultural Revolution. Following Mao’s recommendation, on June 1, 1972, Zhou Enlai instructed:
"Follow the chairman's instructions and make political conclusions." In August 1978, the Central Committee of
the Communist Party of China rehabilitated him and held a memorial service at the Babaoshan Revolutionary
Cemetery.