Letter to Li Jishen [1] (December 24, 1954)  Mr. Renchao:  I have received and read your kind letter of December 22 [2].

Your views are correct, and I have already informed the relevant comrades to take note [3].  With this reply, I extend my respectful greetings.  Mao Zedong  December 24

Based on the manuscript.  Notes

[1] Li Jishen, with the courtesy name Renchao, was at that time Chairman of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Nationalist Party and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

[2] Refers to Li Jishen’s letter dated December 22, 1954, addressed to Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, and Zhou Enlai. In the letter he wrote: On the 20th, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopted a resolution to issue construction bonds in 1955, which was announced by the Chairman yesterday. From a legal standpoint, this procedure is sound; however, from a procedural point of view, I cannot help feeling somewhat uneasy. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, whenever the government has undertaken any major initiative, it has first convened consultative meetings for discussion and then submitted the matter to the Government Council for approval and promulgation, thereby ensuring a smoother implementation. This time, perhaps owing to time constraints and the fact that the Second National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference was in session, it was deemed inconvenient to bring the matter before that body, hence the hasty action taken. Now that the Military Service Law is about to be introduced, might it not be advisable, as in the past, to first submit it to the CPPCC for consultation, which would likely prove helpful in its future implementation?

[3] On the envelope of Li Jishen’s letter of December 22, 1954, Mao Zedong made the following annotation: “To Liu, Zhou, Zhu, Chen, Deng, Peng, Peng Zhen, and Chen Yi: Please have Zhou consider the matter and respond accordingly; return to Mao.”