1957 Anti-Rightist Campaign

In 1981, the Chinese Communist Party delivered a verdict on the 1957 Anti-Rightist Campaign, known as "The Resolution on Some Historical Questions of the Party since the Establishment of the Country".

While the "resolution" did not go as far as to admit that the campaign was a mistake, it did concur that it had been "broadened" too widely.

A former Xinhua News Agency (新华社) reporter noted: "According to Party documents, only 96 were originally targeted but the campaign was expanded to cover 552,912 people. So this was broadened by a factor of 5,000!"

"This is worse than Chiang Kai-shek (蒋介石) who in 1927 massacred Communist Party members, saying it was better to kill a thousand than to let one go free."