11 March of the First Year of the Republic of China Chapter I: General principles Article 1: The Republic of China is composed of the Chinese people. Article 2: The sovereignty of the Republic of China lies in the whole body of citizens. Article 3: The territory of the Republic of China consists of the 22 provinces, Inner and Outer Mongolia, Tibet and Qinghai. Article 4: The governing power of the Republic of China is exercised by the Assembly, the Provisional Great President, the Ministers and the Courts. Chapter II: The people Article 5: The people of the Republic of China are equal without exception, without distinction of ethnicity, class or religion. Article 6: The people may enjoy the following freedoms. I, The people may not be physically arrested, detained, interrogated or punished without a legal basis. II, The people’s homes may not be entered or searched without a legal basis. III, The people have the freedom to hold property and engage in commerce. IV, The people have the freedom of speech, writing, publishing and assembly. V, The people have the freedom of confidential correspondence. VI, The people have the freedom of residence and migration. VII, The people have the freedom of religious belief. Article 7: The people have the right to present a petition to Parliament. Article 8: The people have the right to state grievances to administrative offices. Article 9: The people have the right to bring legal suits to the Courts. Article 10: The people have the right to sue government officials in the Administrative Courts, for acts unlawfully harming their rights. Article 11: The people have the right to take the official examinations. Article 12: The people have the right to elect and be elected. Article 13: The people have the duty to pay taxes according to the law. Article 14: The people have the duty to perform military service according to the law. Article 15: The people’s rights listed in this Chapter may be limited according to the law, when it is held that this enhances the public welfare, to safeguard public order or when necessary under extraordinary circumstances. Chapter III: The Assembly Article 16: The legislative power of the Republic of China is exercised by the Assembly. Article 17: The Assembly is composed of the Members appointed by the various localities according to the provisions of Article 18. Article 18: All provinces, Inner Mongolia, Outer Mongolia and Tibet each assign five persons; Qinghai appoints one person. The method of their assignment is to be determined by each locality. Each member has the right of one vote in Assembly meetings. Article 19: The powers of the Assembly are as follows: I, Discussing and deciding on all legislative drafts. II, Discussing and deciding on the budget and accounts of the Provisional Government. III, Discussing and deciding on nationwide taxation law, the currency system and the standards for weights and measurements. IV, Discussing and deciding on raising public debt and bonds borne by the Treasury. V, Committing to the matters provided in Article 34, 34 and 40. VI, Responding to inquiries from the Provincial Government. VII, Receiving the petitions of the people. VIII, It may propose opinions concerning laws and other matters to the Government. IX, It may put forward questions and letters to Ministers, and require them to attend and respond. X It may request the Provisional Government to investigate incidents in which officials take bribes or violate the law. XI, When the Assembly believes that the Provisional Grand President plots rebellion, it may, when more then four fifths of the total number of Members are in attendance, vote to impeach him with a majority of three-quarters or more. XII, When the Assembly believes that a Minister neglects his duty, it may, when more than three quarters of the total number of Members are in attendance, vote to impeach him with a majority of two-thirds or more. Article 20: The Assembly may gather, meet and adjourn on its own accord. Article 21 The Assembly’s meeting must be open. But where Ministers request it or more than half of the total number of Members in attendance vote so, it may be closed. Article 22: For matters on which the Assembly discusses and decides, it shall refer them to the Provisional Grand President for promulgation and implementation. Article 23: If the Provisional Grand President rejects matters decided upon by the Assembly, he may state the reasons within ten days of them being referred, and refer them to the Assembly for reconsideration. But if the Assembly, upon reconsideration, still upholds its earlier decision with a majority of attending members of two thirds or more, matters are to be conducted according to Article 24: The Speaker of the Assembly is selected from and by the Members in an open ballot, the person who obtains more than half of the total amount of ballots is elected. Article 25: Assembly Members are not liable outside of the Assembly for speech or votes within the Assembly. Article 26: Except where Assembly members are caught in a criminal act or commit crimes that relate to internal chaos and external calamities, they may not be arrested without permission from the Assembly when it is in session. Article 27: The rules of the Assembly are to be determined by the Assembly itself. Article 28: The Assembly is disbanded on the date when the Parliament is established. Their duties will be exercised by the Parliament. Chapter IV: The Provisional Grand President Article 29: The Provisional Grand President and the Vice President are elected by the Assembly. The person who obtains two thirds or more of the votes of a total of three quarters or more of the total number of Members attending is elected. Article 30: The Provisional Grand President represents the Provisional Government, assumes overall responsibility for government administration and promulgates laws. Article 31: The Provisional Grand President may, in order to implement laws or on the basis of legal provisions, issue decrees or cause them to be issued. Article 32: The Provisional Grand President is the Commander-in-chief of naval and land forces nationwide. Article 33: The Provisional Grand President may formulate civil service institutions and rules, but must submit them to the Assembly for discussion and decision. Article 34: The Provisional Grand President appoints and dismisses civil and military officials, but the Assembly’s approval must be obtained to appoint Ministers and Diplomatic Ambassadors. Article 35: The Provisional Grand President may, with the approval of the Assembly, declare war, make peace and conclude treaties. Article 36: The Provisional Grand President may declare martial law according to the law. Article 37: The Provisional Grand President represents the entire country in receiving foreign Ambassadors and Consuls. Article 38: The Provisional Grand President may put bills to the Assembly. Article 39: The Provisional Grand President may award decorations for merit and other honours. Article 40: The Provisional Grand President may grant general pardons, specific amnesties, sentence commutation and recovery of rights. But a general pardon must be agreed to by the Assembly. Article 41: After a Provisional Grand President is impeached by the Assembly, the Supreme Court is to select nine persons from its judges to form a special court and try him. Article 42: When a Provisional Grand President is removed from office for whatever reason, or cannot assume office, the Provisional Vice-President is to implement his duties in his stead. Chapter V: Ministers Article 43: The Premier and the heads of all Ministries are jointly called Ministers. Article 44: Ministers assist the Provisional Grand President in implementing his duties. Article 45: Ministers must countersign when the Provisional Grand Presidents puts forward bills, promulgates laws and issues decrees. Article 46: Ministers and their Committee Members may attend the Assembly and speak. Article 47: After ministers are impeached by the Assembly, the Provisional Grand President shall remove them from office. But he may submit this to the Assembly for reconsideration once. Chapter VI: The Courts Article 48: The Courts are composed of judges respectively appointed by the Provisional Grand President and the Minister of Justice. The personnel allocation of Courts and the qualifications of judges are to be determined in law. Article 49: The Courts try civil and criminal cases according to the law. But administrative lawsuits and other special forms of litigation are to be determined in a manner other than law. Article 50: Court trials must be open. But where it is believed that this may impair peace, security or order, it may be closed. Article 51: Courts independently try cases and are not to be subject to interference by higher-level government offices. Article 52: Judges’ salaries may not be lowered during their appointment, nor may their job be changed. Those who have not been punished according to the law or have been subject to disciplinary dismissal, may not be dismissed. Exemplary punishment rules are to be determined in law. Chapter VII: Supplementary provisions Article 53: Within 10 months after this Provisional Constitution takes effect, the Provisional Grand President shall convene Parliament. The composition of Parliament and electoral law will be determined by the Assembly. Article 54: The Constitution of the Republic of China is formulated by Parliament. Until the Constitution takes effect, this Provisional Constitution has legal effect equal to a Constitution. Article 55: This Provisional Constitution is to be revised by a majority in the Assembly of two thirds or more, or if the Provisional Grand President moves so, with a three quarters vote of the attending Members, where four fifths or more of the total number of Members attend. Article 56: This Provisional Constitution takes effect on the date of promulgation. The Provisional Government Organization Outline is abolished on the date this Provisional Constitution takes effect.

This Draft Constitution obviously has popular support. From the discussions by more than five hundred people in Peking and by activists from various circles in the provinces and municipalities, that is, from the extensive discussions by over eight thousand people representative of the whole country, we can tell that the preliminary text was quite good and won general approval and support. At today's session many have also spoken in approval. Why organize these extensive discussions? There are several advantages. First, will what has been worked out by the few meet the approval of the many? The discussions indicate that there is general approval of the main provisions and the basic principles of the preliminary text. All that is sound in the preliminary text has been retained. The fact that the ideas of a few leaders have won the approval of several thousand people shows that these ideas are well grounded, suitable and feasible. This gives us confidence. Second, in the discussions over 5,900 suggestions (not including queries) have been collected. They are of three kinds. The first consists of suggestions that are incorrect. The second consists of suggestions that are not so much wrong as unsuitable and that had better not be adopted. If they are not going to be adopted, why collect them? Does it do any good to collect these suggestions? Yes, it does. It enables us to know that such views about the constitution exist among the eight thousand people and to make comparisons. The third consists of those suggestions that have been adopted. These are of course very good and necessary. But for these suggestions, the preliminary text, although basically sound, would have remained imperfect, faulty and not well thought out. The draft in its present form may still have faults and imperfections, and we shall have to ask the people throughout the country for their opinions. As far as we can tell now, this draft is relatively free from imperfections, and that is the result of adopting rational suggestions. Why has the Draft Constitution won popular support? I think one reason is that in drafting it we adopted the method of integrating the ideas of the leading body with those of the masses. This Draft Constitution combines the ideas of a few leaders with those of more than eight thousand people and, after publication, it will be discussed by the entire nation so that the ideas of the Central Committee will be integrated with those of the whole people. This is the way to integrate the leadership with the masses and with the large numbers of activists. We adopted this method in the past, and we shall do so in future. It should be used in all important legislation. By this method we have now produced a Draft Constitution which is fairly good and relatively free from imperfections. Why do all of you here and the vast numbers of activists support the Draft Constitution and find it satisfactory? There are two main reasons: one is that it sums up the experience of the past and the other is that it combines principle with flexibility. First, it sums up the experience of the past, especially that in our revolution and construction over the last five years. It sums up our experience in the people's revolution led by the proletariat against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism as well as our experience in social reform, economic construction, cultural construction and government work over the last few years. Besides, it sums up the experience in constitution-making since the last years of the Ching Dynasty, that is, from the Nineteen Constitutional Articles [1] in the final days of the Ching Dynasty to the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China [2] in 1912, the various constitutions and draft constitutions under the governments of the Northern warlords, [3] the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China in the Period Under Political Tutelage of the reactionary Chiang Kai-shek regime and right up to Chiang Kai-shek's bogus constitution. One of these was positive in nature and the others negative. Thus the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China in 1912 was a fairly good one for its time. Of course it had its imperfections and faults and was bourgeois in nature, but there was something revolutionary and democratic about it. It was concise and is said to have been drafted in haste, taking only a month from the time of its framing to its adoption. As for the other constitutions and draft constitutions, they were altogether reactionary. This Draft Constitution of ours is chiefly a summing-up of our experience in revolution and construction, but at the same time it is a synthesis of domestic and international experience. Our constitution is of a socialist type. It is based mainly on our own experience but has drawn upon what is good in the constitutions of the Soviet Union and the People's Democracies. Speaking of constitutions, the bourgeoisie was the forerunner. The bourgeoisie, whether in Britain, France or the United States, was revolutionary for a period, and it was during this period that the bourgeoisie began making constitutions. We should not write off bourgeois democracy with one stroke of the pen and deny bourgeois constitutions a place in history. All the same, present-day bourgeois constitutions are no good at all, they are bad, particularly the constitutions of the imperialist countries, which are designed to deceive and oppress the majority of the people. Our constitution is of a new, socialist type, different from any of the bourgeois type. It is far more progressive than the constitutions of the bourgeoisie even in its revolutionary period. We are superior to the bourgeoisie. Second, our Draft Constitution combines principle with flexibility. There are two basic principles, the principle of democracy and the principle of socialism. Our democracy is not bourgeois democracy but people's democracy, that is, a people's democratic dictatorship led by the proletariat and based on the worker-peasant alliance. The principle of people's democracy runs through the whole constitution. The other principle is that of socialism. Socialism already exists in our country today. The constitution stipulates that socialist transformation must be accomplished and the socialist industrialization of the country realized. That's our principle. To carry out this principle of socialism, are we to put socialism into practice overnight in every sphere throughout the country? This might seem very revolutionary, but for lack of flexibility it just won't work, it will meet with opposition and end in failure. So, what cannot be done for the moment must be given time to be done gradually. For instance, state capitalism, as stipulated, is to be put into practice gradually. It takes various forms, not just that of joint state-private management. Note the words "gradually" and "various". That is to say, state capitalism in various forms is to be put into practice gradually so as to attain socialist ownership by the whole people. Socialist ownership by the whole people is the principle, but in order to realize this principle we should combine it with flexibility. And flexibility means state capitalism, which takes not one but "various" forms, and which is to be realized not overnight but "gradually". That makes for flexibility. We write into our constitution what is feasible now and exclude what is not. Let us take for instance the material guarantees for civil rights. They will certainly expand when production grows in future, but the wording in the constitution is only "gradually expand". This, too, means flexibility. Take another instance, the united front. This was written into the Common Programme. And now it is again written into the Preamble to the Draft Constitution. It is necessary to have a "broad people's democratic united front composed of all democratic classes, democratic parties and groups, and people's organizations". This will serve to reassure the various social strata, the national bourgeoisie and the democratic parties as well as the peasants and urban petty bourgeoisie. And then there is the question of the minority nationalities, which has both its generality and its particularity. The general provisions in the constitution apply to its generality and the particular provisions to its particularity. The minority nationalities have characteristics of their own politically, economically and culturally. What are the characteristics of their economy? To cite one example. Article 5 of our Draft Constitution states that four forms of ownership of the means of production exist in the People's Republic of China. In fact, there are other forms of ownership in our minority nationality areas. Does primitive communal ownership still exist in our country? I'm afraid it does among some minority nationalities. Similarly, slave ownership and feudal ownership still exist. From a contemporary standpoint the slave system, the feudal system and the capitalist system are all bad, but historically they were more progressive than the primitive communal system. These systems were progressive at first but not later on and were therefore supplanted in their turn. Article 70 of our Draft Constitution stipulates that the minority nationality areas "may, in the light of the political, economic and cultural characteristics of the nationality or nationalities in a given area, make regulations on the exercise of autonomy as well as specific regulations". All these are instances of the integration of principle and flexibility. This Draft Constitution has won general praise and support precisely for these two reasons: it correctly and properly sums up past experience, and it correctly and properly integrates principle and flexibility. Otherwise, I don't think people would praise and support it. It is entirely possible and it is necessary to put this Draft Constitution into force. Of course, it is still a draft today, but a few months from now, after it has been approved by the National People's Congress, it will be the formal constitution. We should be getting ready now to enforce it. Once it is approved, the whole nation, one and all, should observe it. State personnel particularly, and in the first place those present here, should take the lead in observing it. To fail to observe the constitution is to violate it. When promulgated, our Draft Constitution will win the unanimous support of the whole people and enhance their enthusiasm. An organization must have rules, and so must a state. A constitution is a set of general rules, it is the fundamental law. To codify the principles of people's democracy and socialism in the form of a fundamental law, in the form of the constitution, so that there will be a clear course before the people of the whole country and they will feel sure they have a clear, definite and correct path to follow -- this will heighten their enthusiasm. Will this Draft Constitution produce an impact on the world when it is promulgated? Yes, it will, both on the democratic camp and on the capitalist countries. People in the democratic camp will be glad to see that we have charted a clear, definite and correct path. They will be glad because we Chinese are glad. The oppressed and exploited people in the capitalist countries will also be glad when they come to know about it. Of course there are some who will not be pleased, neither the imperialists nor Chiang Kai-shek will. Do you think Chiang Kai-shek will be happy? I say you know without asking him that he won't. We know Chiang Kai-shek only too well, he will definitely be against it. And President Eisenhower will not be happy either, he will say it's no good. They will say that this constitution of ours has charted a clear and definite but very bad path, a wrong path, and that socialism and people's democracy are blunders. Nor will they approve of our flexibility. What they would like best would be for us to conjure up socialism overnight and make a mess of everything. That would make them really happy. Also, they won't like China having a united front, they want us to play "a one-party game". Our constitution has national characteristics but at the same time has an international character; it's a national and also an international phenomenon. Many nations are oppressed by imperialism and feudalism, as we were once, and they are a majority of the world's population. It will be helpful to the people of these countries that we have a revolutionary constitution, a people's democratic constitution, and a clear, definite and correct path. Our general objective is to strive to build a great socialist country. Ours is a big country of 600 million people. How long will it really take to accomplish socialist industrialization and the socialist transformation and mechanization of agriculture and make China a great socialist country? We won't set a rigid time-limit now. It will probably take a period of three five-year plans, or fifteen years, to lay the foundation. Will China then become a great country? Not necessarily. I think for us to build a great socialist country, about fifty years, or ten five-year plans, will probably be enough. By then China will be in good shape and quite different from what it is now. What can we make at present? We can make tables and chairs, teacups and teapots, we can grow grain and grind it into flour, and we can make paper. But we can't make a single motor car, plane, tank or tractor. So we mustn't brag and be cocky. Of course I don't mean we can become cocky when we turn out our first car, more cocky when we make ten cars, and still more cocky when we make more and more cars. That won't do. Even after fifty years, when our country is in good shape, we should remain as modest as we are now. If by then we should become conceited and look down on others, it would be bad. We mustn't be conceited even a hundred years from now. We must never be cocky. This constitution of ours is of a socialist type, but it is not yet a completely socialist constitution. It is a constitution for the transition period. We must now unite the people of the whole country and unite all the forces that can and should be united in the struggle to build a great socialist country. And the constitution has been drawn up specifically for this purpose. Finally, a word by way of explanation. Some say that it is out of exceptional modesty on the part of certain individuals that some articles have been deleted from the Draft Constitution. This is not the way to put it. It is not out of modesty but because inclusion of these articles would be improper, unjustifiable and unscientific. In a people's democratic state like ours such improper articles ought not to be written into the constitution. We have not omitted, out of modesty, what ought to have been included. With science, modesty or immodesty is not the issue. Constitution-making is a matter of science. We must believe in science and nothing else, that is to say, we must not have blind faith in anything. What is right is right and what is wrong is wrong, whether it concerns the Chinese or foreigners, whether it concerns the dead or the living. To believe otherwise is blind faith. We must do away with blind faith. We should believe in what is correct and not in what is incorrect, be it ancient or modern. Not only that, we should criticize what is incorrect. This alone is the scientific approach.