Extensive engagement with the masses
is essential, as regular and periodic representative conferences can be held to facilitate communication between the government and the people through representatives from all sectors. While symposiums involving various sectors and industries were indeed an effective means of disseminating the Party and government’s policies and laws immediately after a city’s liberation, and of soliciting opinions from all sides, they were merely temporary in nature, lacked a stable organizational structure, and could not establish sustained links with the populace. By contrast, sectoral representative conferences, coupled with the activities of their delegates both inside and outside the meetings, can consolidate the views of people from different social strata, enabling the People’s Government to gain a clearer understanding of all facets of social life and the pressing issues at hand, thereby formulating more precise policy guidelines and key measures. At the same time, these conferences allow the government to communicate its policies and administrative decisions to all segments of society, securing popular support and transforming them into a program of action embraced by the people themselves, thus mobilizing broad public participation in urban development efforts.


Moreover, through the deliberations and work of the sectoral representatives, differing positions, demands, and opinions arising from the respective interests of various social groups can be fully articulated and discussed. This is particularly true for major issues that profoundly affect people’s daily lives yet are prone to conflict—such as relations between the public and private sectors, labor-management relations, and landlord-tenant disputes—where consensus can be reached. In this way, people from all walks of life can unite more closely under the leadership of the People’s Government, while the latter will be better positioned to comprehensively and appropriately address the interests of every social group in its future governance. Consequently, wherever sectoral people’s representative conferences have been convened successfully, the efficiency of the People’s Government has markedly improved, and the bond between the government and the people has grown stronger.


Beijing serves as an excellent example. Following the sectoral representative conference, some participants remarked: “I had previously been skeptical about the Communist Party’s commitment to democracy, as my understanding of democracy was abstract and confined to formal logic. Only after attending the conference did I truly grasp the meaning of a democratic system—the manner in which democracy and dictatorship are combined—and came to appreciate why people’s democratic dictatorship is necessary.”


However, even today, certain party and government leadership bodies in some cities still lack a sufficient understanding of the nature, significance, and role of sectoral representative conferences. Some argue that holding such conferences during the period of military control would impede the authority of the Military Control Commission and hinder the swift establishment of social order. They fail to recognize that, despite being under military rule, sectoral representative conferences should indeed be convened. During this phase, many of our cadres are transferred from other regions and have yet to establish close ties with the local population; consequently, their grasp of local conditions and ability to accurately reflect the situation may lag behind reality. Sectoral representative conferences, by bringing together representatives from all sectors of the local community, can serve as a vital link between the Military Control Commission, the People’s Government, and the residents. Far from obstructing the Commission’s authority, convening these conferences actually enhances the effectiveness of the government’s work.


The primary objectives of military control are to smoothly take over government organs and enterprises, establish revolutionary order, mobilize and organize the people, eliminate remaining enemy forces, suppress counterrevolutionary activities, and restore production. Sectoral representative conferences, precisely because they unite the people and assist the People’s Government, play a crucial role in advancing these goals. The authority of these conferences is vested by the Military Control Commission and the People’s Government; they function as institutions through which the people participate in state-building during the transitional period and, once conditions are ripe, may assume the functions of a People’s Congress, paving the way for a fully empowered People’s Congress elected through universal suffrage.


Therefore, with sound leadership, no conflict with the military control regime need arise.


So, how can we ensure the successful convening of sectoral representative conferences? Drawing on experiences from various localities, at least three key points should be observed. First, thorough preparation is indispensable prior to the meeting. The number of participants should be determined based on the size of the city and the specific tasks at hand, but each delegate must genuinely possess broad representativeness. In assembling the membership, it is important to maintain both integrity and rigor, barring any reactionary elements to safeguard the conference’s credibility. At the same time, diversity and flexibility must be emphasized, ensuring representation from factories, schools, government agencies, garrison units, mass organizations, democratic parties, and various democratic factions, so that the diverse populations within the city can establish close connections with the People’s Government through their respective representatives. Where feasible, delegates from factories, schools, government offices, and military units should be elected by mass meetings to further enhance their representativeness. Prior to the conference, the Military Control Commission and the People’s Government must prepare factual and realistic work reports for the delegates to review and discuss, while also engaging in preliminary consultations with the representatives to solicit public input and identify one or several pressing issues central to the lives of the city’s residents—such as resolving shortages of food and coal, promoting austerity and efficiency, relocating surplus urban populations, mediating labor disputes, facilitating trade between urban and rural areas, cracking down on speculative profiteering, and restoring and developing both public and private economic enterprises as well as cultural and educational undertakings—to be placed before the conference for deliberation and concrete resolution, resulting in written decisions that can be implemented. Second, the meeting should not be unduly prolonged, yet it must fully embody democratic principles, encouraging broad participation from all sectors in all aspects of the proceedings so that everyone can contribute. Delegates should be afforded ample opportunity to debate the government’s work report and key proposals, fostering an atmosphere in which all voices are heard without reservation, ensuring that the aspirations and demands of the people are reflected and that the government gains insight into their perspectives. The People’s Government ought to listen humbly to the representatives’ views, understand the people’s living conditions and needs, and demonstrate openness to all constructive and well-founded suggestions. However, the adoption of any resolution must be approached with great care and deliberation. During discussions, attention should be directed toward the specific realities of the city, clarifying the priorities of governance and distinguishing between urgent, less urgent, and non-essential matters, so that appropriate and practicable responses can be formulated for each proposal: what is necessary and achievable should be acted upon immediately; what is necessary but currently beyond reach may be deferred; and what is neither necessary nor feasible should be rejected altogether. Third, achieving tangible results from the sectoral representative conference hinges on effectively carrying forward its spirit and resolutions after the meeting concludes. Upon adjournment, the delegates should be mobilized to make full use of newspapers, radio stations, and public gatherings to convey and report back to factories, schools, organizations, and government agencies—the very entities and communities they represent—while simultaneously encouraging the general public to discuss the government’s work report and the conference’s key resolutions. In this way, the conference’s decisions can truly be understood and accepted by the people, becoming their own collective action. In essence, the activities of the sectoral representatives must extend from the conference hall into the wider community, transforming a single representative meeting into countless smaller assemblies and forums, turning the conference’s resolutions into the shared convictions of the masses. Only then can the sectoral representatives fulfill their duty as true representatives, and only in this manner can the conference effectively serve as a bridge between the government and the people, strengthening the bonds between the People’s Government, the sectoral representatives, and the broader populace.


Sectoral people’s representative conferences should be convened without exception in all cities with populations exceeding 30,000, and county-level sectoral people’s representative conferences likewise ought to be held uniformly in newly liberated counties to serve as mechanisms for establishing close ties between the People’s Government and the various sectors of the local population—such conferences are of equal importance to those held in urban areas. Districts and townships should convene peasant representative conferences, though these should also include revolutionary intellectuals. In areas that have long been liberated and where conditions permit, a fully empowered People’s Congress elected through universal suffrage should be convened; in regions where such conditions have not yet been met, sectoral people’s representative conferences may be held as a transitional measure. In short, whether transitional sectoral people’s representative conferences or a fully empowered People’s Congress elected by universal suffrage, such gatherings must be convened. Convening them is correct; failing to do so is impermissible.


In 1949, Mao Zedong engaged in cordial conversation with leaders of the democratic parties. From left to right: Peng Zemin, Cai Tingxiao, Li Jishen, Tan Pingshan.


The Collapse of Idealist Historiography
(September 16, 1949)
The Chinese people should be grateful to Acheson, the spokesperson for American big business, not only because he explicitly acknowledged the fact that the United States provided funding and weaponry, while Chiang Kai-shek supplied troops to fight on America’s behalf and kill Chinese citizens, thereby furnishing progressive elements with irrefutable evidence to persuade their more conservative counterparts. After all, Acheson himself confessed that the recent bloody war, which claimed the lives of millions of Chinese, was deliberately orchestrated by U.S. imperialism. Moreover, Acheson openly declared his intention to recruit so-called “democratic individualists” in China, forming a fifth column to overthrow the People’s Government led by the Communist Party, thereby alerting the Chinese public—particularly those with liberal leanings—to beware of American deception and remain vigilant against covert schemes hatched by U.S. imperialists. Furthermore, Acheson fabricated a sweeping narrative of modern Chinese history, a perspective that mirrored the idealist historiography prevalent among certain segments of the Chinese intellectual class—a bourgeois worldview. Refuting Acheson’s fallacies thus offers valuable enlightenment to a broad swath of the Chinese population, and may prove especially beneficial for those who previously shared his views or similar ones.
What, then, was Acheson’s fabricated account of modern Chinese history? He began by attempting to explain the outbreak of the Chinese Revolution in terms of the country’s economic and ideological conditions, weaving a tapestry of myths in the process.