The regime was quick to move against its critics when it became apparent that the critique was much more harsh and far-ranging than expected. The spring of 1957 thus turned out to be brief, and by early June the so-called anti-rightist movement was under way. The official backlash against the rightists began with the publishing of an editorial in the People’s Daily on June 8 , 1957, followed by the publication of Mao’s revised February speech, “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People.” During the anti-rightist movement some 500,000 people were labeled rightists, expelled from their work units, and in many cases also sent to labor camps; for some, eventual rehabilitation took more than twenty years. The rightists were accused of various crimes, including having wanted to overthrow the socialist system and replace it with capitalism. Their views on democracy and rule of law were also criticized and vilified as bourgeois and reactionary. As this article reveals, beliefs in individualism, humanitarianism, and human rights were among the ideas singled out for criticism. The article incidentally also gives a good overview of the official position of the time on rights and human rights.
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