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Politics and Constitution in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2014

M. D. Fletcher
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Extract

ONE APPROACH TO STUDYING THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE People's Republic of China (PRC) has been to conclude that they are really a sham, designed to conceal the absence of citizen rights, and therefore presumably of little benefit as documents for study. Constitutions, however, are forms of political expression, and are perhaps best approached as reflections of changes in policy orientation. Their purposes include the formal institutionalization of past changes, the expression of immediate political priorities and laying the foundations for reorientations in basic policy.

Type
Original Article
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , 01 July 1981 , pp. 317 - 330
Copyright
Copyright © Government and Opposition Ltd 1981

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References

1 E. g., Lindsay, Michael (ed.), The New Constitution of Communist China, Taipei, Institute of International Relations, 1976.Google Scholar

2 English language texts of the three constitutions used for this article appear in: Constitution of the People's Republic of China, Peking, Foreign Languages Press, 1954, 1962; Beijing Review (hereafter BR), No. 4, 24 January 1975; BR, No. 11, 17 March 1978. For the text of the Party constitution and related documents, on which the 1978 constitution of the PRC was based, see BR, Nos. 35 and 36, 1977.

3 See, e. g., Gardner, John, ‘The Chinese Constitution of 1975’, Government and Opposition, Vol. 11, No. 2, Spring 1976 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Gardner makes a singular omission in his article when he states that the number of articles concerning the rights and duties of citizens has been reduced from nineteen in the 1954 constitution to only four in the 1975 version, and leaves the discussion at that; he neglects to mention that most specific rights were amalgamated into fewer articles, and that two of the actual omissions were duties—to protect public property and to pay taxes. Nevertheless he correctly indicates the general tone of the 1975 document.

4 E. g., Bryan Starr, John, ‘From the 10th Party Congress to the Premiership of Hua Kuo‐feng’, The China Quarterly, No. 67, 09 1976.Google Scholar

5 In the spelling of Chinese proper names the forms recommended by the Chinese government in 1979 have been followed in almost every case.

6 On changes in general see, e. g., Jurgen Domes, ‘China in 1977: Reversal of Verdicts’, Asian Survey, January 1978, and Richard Baum (ed.), The Four Modernizations, Boulder, Westview Press, 1980. On industry in particular, see M. D. Fletcher, ‘Industrial Relations in China: The New Line’, Pacific Affairs, Spring 1979. Other changes between the constitutions, not discussed here, include primarily additional attention to national minorities to avoid potential discord.

7 Esp., Chunqiao, Zhang, ‘On Exercising All‐Round Dictatorship Over the Bourgeoisie’, Hongqi, No. 4, 1975 Google Scholar, in BR, No. 14, 14 April 1975.

8 The removal of revolutionary committees from schools, universities, brigades and factories is implied by Article 34, which lists the levels at which they are to operate. It is explicitly discussed by Hua in his ‘Report on the Work of the Government’, to the 54th National People's Congress; text in BR, No. 10, 10 March 1978.

9 Ibid. Here again the removal of the revolutionary committees formalized trends initiated after October 1976.

10 In the 1954 constitution the NPC also had the power to appoint and remove the Premier and Vice‐Premier, Ministers, and the Vice‐Chairman and members of the Council of Defence.

11 According to Hua's political report, in 1975 the ‘gang of four’ had tried to set up their own cabinet, but Premier Chou was made ‘responsible for personnel arrangements in connection with the 4th National People's Congress and the State Council’.

12 According to Hua's political report new revolutionary committees were elected by the people's congresses at the levels of province, municipality and autonomous region prior to the 5th National People's Congress, and elections would be held at other levels during the coming year. These were the first such elections held since the revolutionary committees were set up in 1968–69.

13 E. g., ‘Premier Hua Reports on the Work of the Government’, BR, No. 25, 22 June 1979; Shi Zhengwen, ‘Readjusting the National Economy: Why and How?’, BR, No. 26, 29 June 1979.

14 E. g., ‘Plans Readjusted, Policy Unchanged’ (interview with Gu Ming), BR, No. 30, 27 July 1979.

15 For good general summaries, see e. g., ‘More on Economic Reform’ (interview with Xue Muqiao), BR, No. 36, 8 September 1980; and ‘Protect Socialist Competition’, BR, No. 46, 17 November 1980.

16 On profits see, e. g., ‘Greater Powers for Enterprises’, BR, No. 3, 21 January 1980. Self‐management has been consistently publicized, but see especially Xue Muqiao, ‘On Reforming the Economic Management System (II)’, BR, No. 12, 24 March 1980.

17 ‘More on Economic Reform’, BR, No. 36, 8 September 1980.

18 On the 1978 replacement for revolutionary committees see, e. g., Chin Chichu, ‘Why Factories Now Do Not Set Up Revolutionary Committees’, BR, No. 42, 20 October 1978; on more recent developments see Tian Sansong, ‘Democracy in Factories’, BR, No. 35, 1 September 1980; ‘New Chain of Command in Factories’, BR, No. 46, 17 November 1980.

19 ‘More on Economic Reform’, BR, No. 36, 8 September 1980.

20 Ibid.

21 Ibid.; ‘Protect Socialist Competition’, BR, No. 46, 17 November 1980.

22 ‘Amendments to the Constitution’, BR, No. 28, 13 July 1979.

23 Ibid.

24 ‘Democratic Election of Cadres’, BR, No. 6, 11 February 1980.

25 The new laws relating to local people's congresses and governments, the electoral law, the criminal law, the crimincal procedures law, the organic laws of the people's courts and of the procuratorates, and the law relating to joint ventures including foreign investment are all discussed in Peng Zhen, ‘Explanation on Seven Laws’, BR, No. 28, 13 July 1979.

26 Ibid., p. 11.

27 Ibid., pp. 12–13.

28 ‘Amendments’, BR, No. 28, 13 July 1979.

29 ‘Training Personnel in Political Science and Law’, BR, No. 23, 8 June 1979; ‘Lawyers Association Set Up’, BR, No. 21, 25 May 1979; ‘The Role of Chinese Lawyers’, BR, No. 46, 17 November 1980.

30 The full text is reproduced in BR, No. 29, 20 July 1979. An international law society has also been established: ‘International Law Society Founded’, BR, No. 11, 17 March 1980.

31 Bryan Starr, John, Ideology and Culture, New York, Harper & Row, 1973 Google Scholar, Ch. 6: ‘The Revolutionary Regime: Chinese Political Style’.

32 Mass campaigns were officially discontinued at the Party Central Committee's Third Plenum in December 1978. See, ‘Communiqué of the Third Plenary Session’, BR, No. 52, 29 December 1978. The third session of the NPC resolved to amend Article 45 of the constitution to delete the ‘speaking out freely, airing views fully, great debates and big‐character posters’ provision; see ‘National People's Congress Ends Session’, BR, No. 37, 15 September 1980.