Report on the Collection of Evidence

Report on the Collection of Evidence

As instructed, the work team of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Public Security arrived in Xinjiang on 24 May to collect evidence of the Soviet consulates’ illegal activities. The work team reported to the heads of the regional Party Committee on the second day after their arrival. As instructed by Comrades Wang Enmao and Lü Jianren, and under the leadership of the regional Party Committee, a special case office was established. The office mobilized the resources of public security and foreign affairs agencies [in Xinjiang], who collaborated with the work team to collect material and evidence. It also made specific instructions and arrangements regarding the priority, methodology, and work procedures for the collection of material and evidence. Afterwards, with the specific study and deployment by the special case office, some members of the work team were dispatched to Yining [Gulja] to provide assistance. Work soon began and ran for five weeks. In general, the work was carried out in three steps. The first two weeks were primarily spent by looking into the situation, sorting out clues, cataloguing materials, and determining subjects. The subsequent two weeks were devoted to a systematic search, the verification of materials item by item, and sorting and studying materials. The final week was spent in reviewing the cases individually, obtaining supplementary information, and completing formalities. Evidence and material has been collected and verified in the five following areas:

1. Illegal issuance of Soviet passports to Chinese nationals by the Soviet consulates in Wulumuqi [Urumqi] and Yining;

2. The illegal registration activities conducted by the Soviet consulate in Yining among China’s ethnic minorities;

3. Arrogance and rudeness towards our local responsible cadres;

4. Instigation of border residents to flee abroad;

5. Illegal activities conducted by the Soviet Nationals Association.

A total of fifty specific pieces of evidence and material have been collected on the above five items. They have largely been verified and studied by Comrade Liu Yirong. For details, please refer to the special reports on the above five items.

After completing the above work, the special case office and the work team briefed the regional Party Committee on 25 June. Lü Jianren and Lin Bo of the Region Party Committee are of the opinion that every means has been tried to collect evidence during this period of time and that the task has largely been completed. The material gathered is ready for review and use by the Central Government, but it is only related to what has been exposed on the surface. The more covert activities need to be further dug into. As such, the Party Committee has decided to retain the special case office, which was established to collect evidence, for the time being, and that the material investigation and verification will continue according to the Central Government’s instructions. The focus [of the special case office] will subsequently be placed on the collection of evidence which has not been gathered, such as evidence on the Soviet consulates’ activities in driving a wedge in ethnic relations and spreading rhetoric against our Party and our government. Existing clues will be grasped to collect material and conduct further checks and verification.

This work has been fairly successful without many detours because:

First, from start to finish, we were under the close supervision of the local Party Committee, had vigorous backing from the local public security and foreign affairs agencies, and worked closely with local comrades to get the job done. For this task, the public security and foreign affairs agencies mobilized a large amount of resources and expended a great deal of energy on guidance. These were the decisive conditions for the completion of the task.

Second, material collection was strictly focused on the four topics cited by the Central Government, and was extended to other areas only when it was within our capability. For specific cases, they were verified and processed in ascending order of difficulty, with more valuable and easier-to-crack cases coming first. This practice allowed us to stay focused on our target and obtain a fairly large amount of materials on major issues within a relatively short period of time.

Third, [our] study was tightly supervised. The special case office promptly studied all problems with progress and methodology and problems encountered during the work. All comrades working on the task had specific jobs, and requirements were relatively uniform, giving the comrades something to follow.

Fourth, the Central Government provided concrete instructions. Close supervision by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, and the regional Party Committee played a significant role in our work.