Chapter 41

The "Three Anti Campaign" and "Five Anti Campaign"

The suppression of reactionaries and the land reform mainly targeted the countryside, while the subsequent "Three Anti Campaign" and "Five Anti Campaign" could be regarded as the corresponding genocide in cities.

The "Three Anti Campaign" began in December 1951 and targeted corruption, waste and bureaucracy among the CCP cadres. Some corrupt CCP officials were executed. Soon afterwards, the CCP attributed the corruption of its government officials to the temptation by capitalists. Accordingly, the "Five Anti Campaign" against bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, jerry-building, and espionage of state economic information was launched in January 1952.

The "Five Anti Campaign" was essentially stealing capitalists' property or rather murdering the capitalists for their money. Chen Yi, the mayor of Shanghai at that time, was debriefed on the sofa with a cup of tea in hand every night. He would ask leisurely, "How many paratroopers are there today?" meaning, "How many businessmen jumped out of high buildings to commit suicide?" None of the capitalists could escape the "Five Anti Campaign." They were required to pay taxes "evaded" as early as the Guangxu Period (1875-1908) in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) when the Shanghai commercial market was initially established. The capitalists could not possibly afford to pay such "taxes" even with all their fortunes. They had no other choice but to end their lives, but they didn't dare to jump into the Huangpu River. If their bodies could not be found, the CCP would accuse them of fleeing to Hong Kong, and their family members would still be held responsible for the taxes. The capitalists instead jumped from tall buildings, leaving a corpse so that the CCP could see proof of their death. It was said that people didn't dare to walk next to tall buildings in Shanghai at that time in fear of being crushed by people jumping from above.

According to Facts of the Political Campaigns after the Founding of the People's Republic of China co-edited by four government units including the CCP History Research Center in 1996, during the "Three Anti Campaign" and "Five Anti Campaign," more than 323,100 people were arrested and over 280 committed suicide or disappeared. In the "Anti-Hu Fang campaign" in 1955, over 5000 were incriminated, over 500 were arrested, over 60 committed suicide, and 12 died from unnatural causes. In the subsequent suppression of the reactionaries, over 21,300 people were executed, and over 4,300 committed suicide or disappeared [11].