Page 162 - Communist Chinas Policy of Oppression in East Turkestan

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and we must do all we can do to kill two thirds of those who are prede-
termined to be killed by the end of July. 28

When planning his massacres, Mao saw no need to prove that the
person to be killed actually committed a crime. He regarded killing as
necessary simply because of the fear it would instill in society, and saw
that number of executions as a "matter of quotas." Another example of
this way of thinking is found in Stalin's famous statement: "the death of
29
one person is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic." As a result of
the communist Stalin's "statistical" murders, an estimated 40 million in-
nocent people lost their lives.

Mao had no hesitation about personally signing the death war-
rants of those to be killed. In a document dated January 17, 1951, he
gave the following order to his comrades, which included Deng
Xiaoping:
In 21 counties in western Hunan, over 4,600 bandit chieftains, local
tyrants, and Kuomingtang agents were killed. Another batch are
planned to be killed this year by local authorities. I believe this dis-
posal is very necessary… in places, we must kill big
batches…dealing heavy blows means killing all reactionaries that
should be killed with a firm hand. 30
In the early days when Mao was still alive, executions were carried
out with great speed, sometimes in public and at other times in secret.

In 1953, for instance, a woman called Yang Pei only learned that her
husband had been executed when she applied for a divorce.
Executions continued in the Deng period. At the same time, an un-
believable "savings" measure was started, under which the cost of the
bullet fired into the skull of the person executed was paid by his family.
The state also found another means of turning a profit out of execu-
tions: The internal organs of the executed were sold, and all the profits

went into the state coffers.

Communist China’s Policy
of Oppression in East Turkestan