Chinese political and intellectual debate. The campaign, to encourage greater freedin of speech, was initiated by Mao Zedong and others in the wake of Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin. Mao argued that self-criticism would benefit China’s development. After some hesitation, denunciation of the Communist Party and its institutions appeared in the press and there was social unrest. The party reacted by attacking its critics and exiling many to distant areas of the country in the Anti-Rightist Campaign.