To the Central China Bureau, for transmittal to the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Divisions, Shandong Subbureau, and the Fifth Division:
We must uphold the policy of arresting only a few and killing only a few or even no one in the anti-spy struggle. Only in so doing can we guarantee the thorough eradication of spies and still leave ourselves some leeway for redress if there are people who are wronged and framed (there is a possibility that most people are wronged and that some are framed). “Arresting only a few” means that, except for those military spies and currently active traitors who do direct harm to the anti-Japanese cause, the spy suspects arrested in order to track down clues should not exceed 5 percent of all suspects. You should notify the lower levels to pay attention to this so as to avoid the potential problem of arresting too many to handle. “Killing only a few or even killing no one” means that, except for those military spies who do direct harm to the anti-Japanese cause and who can be executed upon the approval of the xian or higher-level organs, and those currently active traitors who resist arrest with arms and who can be killed on the spot, no spy, even if convicted by solid evidence, should be killed. Instead, we should strive to win them over for our own use. This is the policy of not killing one person and not arresting the majority. You should notify the lower levels that no spy convicted with solid evidence should be killed during 1944. In Yan’an, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, and northwestern Shanxi, large numbers of spies were ferreted out during this year’s anti-spy campaign, but no one was killed. Therefore, though there were many who were wronged or framed—for instance, some who only made mistakes within the Party and were mistaken for spies and some others who only had problems with factions but never did anything wrong and were taken as spies—they all have been rehabilitated during the process of reexamination. This sort of experience deserves attention. Regarding the treatment of military spies who do direct harm to the anti-Japanese cause and currently existing traitors, there is an order from the Taihang Military Area Command to send to you for reference.
Mao Zedong Kang Sheng
Our source for this document is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 86–87, where it is reproduced from the manuscript.
1. See also the related August 15, 1943 Central Committee decision on the investigation of cadres, in Saich, ed., Rise to Power, pp. 1152–57.