On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People (关于正确处理人民内部矛盾的问题) was a 1957 essay by Mao Zedong that made a distinction between “contradictions amongst the people” and “counter-revolutionary contradictions.”
The stated policy was to “isolate the few” who were determined to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party and “win over the many” who were supportive of it .
Mao’s February 1957 speech, associated with the “Hundred Flowers” campaign that encouraged citizens to express their opinions of the Communist Party, seemed to suggest a degree of liberalization. However, government policy soon transitioned into an anti-Rightist campaign that began in July 1957 and lasted until 1959.
Source: Wikipedia
My wife’s parents fled Beijing in 1949 with 6 of her siblings. One of her uncles, who owned a factory, stayed behind because he din’t believe the rumors of mass slaughters. When Mao’s forces showed up at his factory, everyone was brought out front to witness her uncles’s execution