Meeting Discussion and Adoption of the Draft Constitution Record
(June 11, 1954)

Mao Zedong: The Constitution Drafting Committee has already held six meetings, and today is the seventh meeting, which can also be said to be the last meeting before the Central People's Government Committee convenes. The Constitution Drafting Committee should report its work to the Central People's Government Committee and approve and promulgate this revised draft of the Constitution as a draft for discussion among the people of the whole country to collect opinions. At that time, the Drafting Committee will still have work to do. After the draft constitution is promulgated, it is estimated that there will not be many opinions, but even if there are not many opinions, there will still be some. Before reporting to the National People's Congress, the Constitution Drafting Committee will also hold a meeting and prepare a report to the National People's Congress. Because the Constitution was drafted by the Drafting Committee, and after collecting opinions, it must be revised; after the final draft is revised, a report must be made to the National People's Congress. The National People's Congress will then discuss it based on this report, which is within its purview.

The Central People's Government Committee will convene soon. The draft constitution will probably be promulgated before the 15th, and it will be discussed among the people of the whole country for two and a half to three months. After the draft constitution is promulgated, extensive explanations and organized discussions will be carried out nationwide. Today's meeting is to conduct a final review of all the articles of the draft constitution. Although everyone is familiar with the articles, we will still read it once for the sake of prudence before voting on it today.

(Qi Yanming reads the full text of the Draft Constitution of the People's Republic of China)

Li Weihan:
Article 53, paragraph 3 of Section 4 of Chapter 2, Article 54, paragraph 2, and Articles 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, and 72 of Section 5, and Article 100 of Chapter 3 have been revised, and one article has been deleted. The current total number of articles is 106.

Mao Zedong: Explain why it was changed like this?

Li Weihan:
The changes in Section 5 are because the preceding sections were not taken into account, and the articles were a bit messy, so a paragraph was added to Article 53.

Mao Zedong: What is meant by "national autonomous areas" needs to be clearly explained. Adding a paragraph to Article 53 will provide an explanation. National autonomous areas do not include ethnic townships.

Li Weihan:
Article 54 talks about the establishment of autonomous organs in autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures, and autonomous counties. In addition, "in accordance with the provisions of Article 67 of the Constitution" has been changed to "stipulated by Section 5 of Chapter 2 of the Constitution."

Mao Zedong: It is clearer to change it like this. There are many articles in Section 5 of Chapter 2, not just Article 67. It is all about the organization and work of national autonomous organs. Have you discussed it?

Li Weihan: The enlarged meeting of the Nationalities Affairs Commission has already discussed it.

Mao Zedong: The opinion in Article 67 of Section 5 has already been moved to the front, so can we delete it here?

The revisions in Section 5 are all textual. "The autonomous organs of all national autonomous areas" have all been changed to "the autonomous organs of autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures, and autonomous counties." Because Article 53 in Section 4 has already clearly explained national autonomous areas, Section 5 should no longer generally mention "the autonomous organs of all national autonomous areas."

The three words "of the organization" have been added to Article 67. Because this article is about the organization, it would not be so good without these three words.

Article 68 is just a textual revision.

In Article 69, "Article 58...Article 60" has been deleted and changed to "Section 4 of Chapter 2." Because this article is about powers, and all autonomous organs also exercise the powers of local state organs stipulated in Section 4. Is this the meaning of the change in this article?

Li Weihan: Yes. Article 67 is about organization, and Article 69 is about powers. According to the current revision, it is unified with Article 67 in form.

Mao Zedong: In order to save words, the powers of local state organs stipulated in Section 4 do not need to be listed. If they are listed, the advantage is that people can see it very clearly at a glance, but the disadvantage is that if it is written like this, Article 67 must also be listed. According to the current way of writing, people have to look it up themselves. I wonder if they can find it?

Chen Shutong: It is not difficult to find.

Li Weihan: It can be stipulated in a separate law in the future. Article 67 is written according to the basic principles stipulated in Section 4 of Chapter 2, so it is not good to list them specifically.

Deng Xiaoping:
It is not good to list specific articles in Article 67.

Li Weihan: The situations of various ethnic groups are also different, so it is not good to list them.

Mao Zedong: Since Article 67 does not list them, then Article 69 will not list them either.

Articles 70, 71, and 72 are all textual revisions.

Does everyone have any other opinions on the revisions to Sections 4 and 5? There will still be revisions after the draft is promulgated.

Liu Bocheng:
Article 21 and item 14 of Article 49 both write "armed forces," and Article 42 should also be changed to "command the national armed forces."

Mao Zedong:
For example, do military warehouses, defense works, warships, airplanes, automobiles, artillery, shells, etc. all count as armed forces? Can the Chairman of the People's Republic of China command them? According to the original wording, the Chairman can only command the troops, and the artillery cannot be commanded.

Deng Xiaoping:
The armed forces include the people's armed forces. If the people's armed forces are also under the command of the Chairman, it can be changed to "armed forces."

Mao Zedong:
Are the militia under the command of the Chairman? That should be a matter for the government. Are military hospitals and sanatoriums for soldiers called troops? It is okay to say "command the armed forces." For example, isn't "use force" an abbreviation for "use armed forces"?

Chen Shutong: It is better to follow the original wording.

Mao Zedong: The original draft originally wrote "armed forces." How was it changed to "armed troops" later?

Qian Duansheng:
The two terms "armed forces" and "armed troops" are translated into the same word in Russian. The reason why "armed forces" was changed to "armed troops" at the beginning was because it was thought that troops could be commanded, but forces were not easy to command. Our legal team's opinion is that we can consider changing it to "armed forces."

Nie Rongzhen: Article 21 is talking about armed forces.

Mao Zedong: The armed forces are divided into two parts: one part is the troops, and the other part is the armed forces outside the troops. If it is written according to the original wording, it seems that the armed forces outside the troops are not under the command of the Chairman. I am afraid that the opinions of the generals are correct. Language consultant comrades, which opinion do you think is better?

Ye Shengtao: It is better to change it to "armed forces." Can armed forces be commanded? If we look at Article 4, this question will be resolved. Article 4 writes "...relying on...social forces." Since social forces can be relied on, why can't armed forces be commanded?

Mao Zedong: Is it good to change it to "armed forces"?

Huang Yanpei: Armed forces include people and things. The opinion of the language experts can be adopted. But the "armed troops" in Article 22 probably cannot be changed to "armed forces."

Deng Xiaoping: It can be changed to "army."

Liu Shaoqi:
It is good to change it to "army."

Li Lisan: Does the army include the police?

Mao Zedong: How do the police conduct elections?

Liu Bocheng: The police elections are conducted together with the government.

Zhang Moruo:
Should the word "by" in paragraph 2 of Article 54 be changed to "in accordance with"? Because the word "by" has a somewhat uncertain meaning. Since the organization and work of the autonomous organs have been clearly stipulated in Section 5 of Chapter 2 of the Constitution, it is better to use "in accordance with."

Zhou Lisheng: The word "by" contains a future meaning, and it is not very good to use "in accordance with." It would be better to simply use the word "in."

Mao Zedong: The word "in" is not so appropriate, is it?

Huang Yanpei: It is good to use "in accordance with."

Li Lisan: It is better to use the word "by." "In accordance with" seems like the following words have not been finished.

Li Weihan:
The word "by" was used at the beginning to avoid having too many instances of "in accordance with." Section 4 "in accordance with" the provisions of Section 5, and Section 5 "in accordance with" the provisions of Section 4, which is not very good. The meaning is that the organization and work of the autonomous organs are not stipulated here, but are stipulated there.

Mao Zedong:
The word "by" is better than the word "in," and it is also better than "in accordance with." The word "by" does not necessarily mean something that does not exist now but will exist in the future. For example, "I can't handle this matter, let him handle it." Mr. Zhang, what do you think? Comparing the three words, I am afraid that "by" is still the best.

Zhang Moruo: I have no opinion.

Zhang Zhizhong:
The "ethnic" in the title of Section 5, "Autonomous Organs of National Autonomous Areas," refers to minority ethnic groups. Both the original Article 67 and the current Article 72 have marked the word "minority," and Article 23 also has the word "minority." Should the title of Section 5 also indicate the word "minority," or should the word "minority" be added to the last paragraph newly added to Article 53? Of course, there will be no misunderstanding if it is not added, but it will be clearer if it is added. Article 3 of the General Principles also has the word "minority."

Mao Zedong: Paragraph 4 of Article 3 of the General Principles also uses the phrase "national autonomous areas," which actually refers to "autonomous areas of various minority ethnic groups," and the word "minority" is omitted.

Li Weihan: "National autonomous area" is a special term. Don't break it up and talk about it. If it is written here as "minority ethnic autonomous area," it will be considered "minority ethnic autonomous area."

Mao Zedong: This is "abbreviated writing." The word "minority" could have been added to "national autonomous area" in Article 3, but it was omitted. People can see it clearly when it is written like this.

Zhang Zhizhong:
Section 5 is about the autonomous section of minority ethnic groups. Should the word "minority" be added to make it clearer?

Mao Zedong: If it is to be added, then "ethnic township" should be changed to "minority ethnic township" to be completely correct; "autonomous region," "autonomous prefecture," and "autonomous county" should also be changed to "minority ethnic autonomous region," "minority ethnic autonomous prefecture," and "minority ethnic autonomous county."

Zhang Zhizhong: The articles can be abbreviated, but the title should not be abbreviated.

Li Weihan:
In recent years, "Outline for the Implementation of Autonomy in National Autonomous Areas" has been used, and there is no word "minority." Everyone understands that it refers to minority ethnic groups.

Saifudin: In my opinion, "national autonomous area" represents "minority ethnic autonomous area," because it has already been stipulated in Article 2: "Regional autonomy is practiced in areas where various minority ethnic groups live in concentrated communities." The word "minority" does not need to be written here.

Ulanhu:
Article 2 has already made it clear. The word "minority" does not need to be written in Section 5.

Liu Shaoqi: This is abbreviated writing. For example, "municipality directly under the central government." What place is it directly under? It is talking about "municipality directly under the central government," and the word "central" is omitted. Because there are no other municipalities directly under the central government besides municipalities directly under the central government, there will be no misunderstanding. "National autonomous area" is also like this, because only minority ethnic groups are autonomous, and there will be no misunderstanding as something else.

Mao Zedong: In fact, every ethnic group is autonomous. For example, the Han ethnic group, is it not "autonomous," but governed by others? It's just that the word "autonomy" is omitted. I think that in a few hundred or a few thousand years, we probably won't need to talk about "national autonomy" anymore. Speaking of "ethnic township," every township is an ethnic township. Isn't your (referring to Comrade Deng Zihui) Baitou Township in Longyan County an ethnic township, but a race? A tribe? Is your township not autonomous but governed? The reason why we specifically mark minority ethnic autonomy now is because minority ethnic groups were governed by Han rulers in the past. Now they are practicing autonomy, so we need to mark it. Han areas do not need to be marked with "autonomy," because the Han people have always been autonomous. There is only the difference between good people governing and bad people governing. Mr. Zhang Zhizhong, after this explanation, is it clear?

Zhang Zhizhong: I withdraw this opinion.

Mao Zedong: Article 100, change "abide by the rules of public life" to "abide by public order and respect social morality." Because someone has studied it and said that the main content of the so-called "rules of public life" in the Soviet Union is about social morality.

Huang Yanpei: It is a good change.

Mao Zedong: Is there anything else that needs to be changed? Can you remember it? If you can't remember it, it's probably about right.

The drafting of the Constitution took almost seven months. The first draft was initially written by Comrade Chen Boda alone in November and December of last year. The second draft was written by a group in West Lake, which took two months. The third draft was in Beijing, which was the initial draft of the Constitution proposed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Many revisions have been made to it since then. Each draft itself has had many revisions. The West Lake draft had seven or eight drafts. All in all, there have probably been a dozen or twenty drafts. Everyone has put in a lot of effort. More than 8,000 people across the country discussed it and put forward more than 5,000 opinions, of which a hundred or so were adopted. Finally, today, we still rely on everyone present to discuss and revise it. In short, we have repeatedly studied it and are not tired of the details. After it is promulgated in the future, we will also solicit the opinions of the people of the whole country. The Constitution was drafted by adopting the method of soliciting the opinions of the broad masses of the people. This draft constitution is generally suitable for the situation in our country. After the whole country discusses it in the future, good opinions will be put forward and there will be some revisions, but there will be no major changes in the overall aspects.

Huang Yanpei:
Regarding the national anthem issue. Some people feel that the current national anthem is a song from the Anti-Japanese War period and is outdated. One person even composed a national anthem and sent it to me (I just received it yesterday), asking me to send it to the Central Committee. My personal opinion is that the current national anthem is very good. No one has proposed to change the national anthem in this discussion of the draft constitution.

Mao Zedong: The national anthem does not need to be stipulated in the Constitution. People who don't like the current national anthem mainly don't like the sentence "The Chinese nation has reached its most dangerous moment," but it is not good to say "Our country is now a time of peace and tranquility." The Soviet Union adopted "The Internationale" as its national anthem, and there is also a sentence "Arise, ye prisoners of starvation!" The Soviet people sang "prisoners of starvation" from the October Revolution until 1941, for 24 years. Our national anthem has a sentence "most dangerous moment." Some people feel uncomfortable, but the imperialists are still heavily surrounding us. There is nothing wrong with singing a sentence "most dangerous moment," is there?

The national anthem is not written. What else is not written? The ministries have not been determined. Also, the territory has not been specifically written.

Huang Yanpei: Also, what the Chairman of the People's Republic of China is, is not written.

Mao Zedong: That's right, the Chairman is not the head of state. I think it is better not to use the term head of state.

He Xiangning: To strengthen the power of the central government, it is better to retain the name "Central People's Government." Because the powers of the State Council do not mention military aspects.

Mao Zedong: Yes, they do. One of the powers of the State Council is "to lead the construction of the armed forces" (item 14 of Article 49).

He Xiangning:
The central government must concentrate power in order to handle national affairs quickly and in a timely manner. To strengthen the power of the central government, the "Central People's Government" is still necessary, and it has an effect on external propaganda.

Mao Zedong: Your opinion is very good. The power of the central government is sufficiently stipulated in the Constitution. The National People's Congress, the Standing Committee, the State Council, the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Procuratorate are all state organs, and they are fully stipulated. We are different from imperialist countries. We place the main leaders of power in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and the government is its executive organ. The power of the government is also very great, not small. We are a centralized government, not a decentralized government. All laws must be formulated by the central government, and local governments cannot formulate laws. The central government can change the decisions of local governments; lower levels must obey higher levels, and local governments must obey the central government.

He Xiangning: If we encounter an emergency, such as an imperialist invasion, the central government must be able to take measures in a timely manner.

Mao Zedong: Your opinion is very correct. I agree with your opinion. We must concentrate power and be able to use it flexibly. If we encounter an emergency and others invade, the Standing Committee can decide the issue (item 15 of Article 31) without waiting for the National People's Congress to convene. We rely on item 15 of Article 31 to eat. This is talking about "declaring" a state of war. If the enemy attacks, our army will of course fight immediately. If the enemy attacks Shanghai, our Shanghai army will of course fight immediately. "When soldiers come, block them; when water comes, dam it." We don't wait until a state of war is declared before firing, but we fight first and then declare. The Standing Committee can also convene a meeting immediately. If we receive news during the day, we can convene a meeting that night; if we receive news at night, we can convene a meeting the next morning. The Premier of the State Council can also immediately issue orders to take action. The Chairman of the People's Republic of China can immediately command the army and immediately issue orders: fight. According to Article 20 of the draft constitution, the task of our army is "to defend the security of the country and the integrity of its territorial sovereignty." Whoever attacks us, we will fight him, and we don't even need to discuss it. As for declaring a state of war, that is a matter for the Standing Committee.

He Xiangning:
If imperialists invade us, we should fight unconditionally.

Mao Zedong: That's right. If a foreign country attacks us, we will fight immediately.

He Xiangning: The name "Central People's Government" is still better.

Mao Zedong: The name "Central People's Government" is no longer needed. It's too long. This was discussed at the last meeting. It was also repeated several times: the initial draft was "State Council," and then it was changed to "Central People's Government." There is one government, but we have many governments now. Provinces, counties, and townships are all called governments. Now the draft constitution stipulates that local areas will all be renamed "People's Committee."

He Xiangning: Our word "chief" is also very common: provincial chief, county chief, township chief. There are too many. I don't insist on my opinion.

Mao Zedong: We have all studied it and feel that this is okay. There is only one government in the whole country, namely the State Council. Everyone has feelings for the name "Central People's Government." They like it very much and are unwilling to change it, but I think it is okay to change it. The Soviet Union calls it the Council of Ministers, and we call it the State Council, which is also the Council of Ministers. Local areas are called local people's congresses and people's committees at all levels. There were no local governments in ancient China. They were called "Provincial Administration Commissions." It is only in recent years that local areas have been called governments. Other countries do not call local areas governments. It is only our country that is strange, with so many governments. In fact, we also only had one government in ancient times. Do you think it is okay to change it like this?

He Xiangning: Yes, yes. I have no opinion. I just thought of this and said it casually.

Mao Zedong: We are the same as you. We also like the name "Central People's Government." We like the name "People's Government." So in the initial draft of the Constitution, local areas were still called local people's governments, and the State Council was also explained as "that is, the Central People's Government." We were also reluctant to part with this name, just like you. Later, after everyone discussed it and studied it repeatedly, we were able to part with it and changed it.

He Xiangning: I don't insist on this opinion.

Mao Zedong: That's good. If everyone has no objection, we will vote on it. Those who approve of the full text of this draft constitution and today's revisions, please raise your hands. (Passed unanimously)

Mao Zedong: There is also a report. Please Comrade Qi Yanming read the report.

Chen Shutong: "One hundred and seven articles" in the report should be changed to "one hundred and six articles."

(Qi Yanming reads the report of the Constitution Drafting Committee of the People's Republic of China on the process of drafting the Constitution)

Mao Zedong:
"One hundred and seven articles" is changed to "one hundred and six articles." The report is prepared for publication. Those who approve, please raise your hands. (Passed unanimously)