Speech at the Conference of Delegates from All Circles of Beiping
(August 13, 1949)
All cities throughout the country should quickly convene similar conferences to strengthen the links between the government and the people, assist the government in carrying out all kinds of construction work, overcome difficulties, and thereby prepare the conditions for convening People’s Congresses based on general elections.
Once conditions are ripe, conferences of delegates from all circles in the present form can assume the functions and powers of the People’s Congress and become the supreme organs of power in the whole city, electing the city government. Judging by the situation in Beiping, this can probably be done in a few months’ time. The benefits of doing so are many, and I hope the delegates will intensify their preparations.
With the sole exception of the remnants of the Kuomintang reactionaries and their hidden special agents, the entire people of Beiping should unite as one and struggle to overcome difficulties and build the people’s capital.

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