Brief History of Constitution of China
Despite the massive support in men and material, the Kuomintang (KMT) received from America, it could not faces the Communists and by the middle of 1949, the Nationalist Government was defeated on October 11949. The Peoples of Republic of China was formally proclaimed and the country was ruled by Chines People’s Consultative Committee. This committee .adopted a common program and an organic law for itself. These two documents together formed a sort of provisional Constitution.
But the formal Constitution of China was yet to be made. It may be said that from 1949-54, the People Republic of China did have a formal Constitution. A Drafting Committee, with Mao Zedong at its head was appointed by Central People’s Government Council to draft the constitution. The Committee had 33 members and was composed largely of high-ranking Communist leaders but also constrained a few non-Part, men. The first draft of the constitution was completed in March 1945. It was discussed in the public and it is stated that about 8,000 persons discussed it in Peking and other provincial cities. Certain amendments were offered and a revised draft was published in June 1954. It was thrown open to public discussion on a much wider scale. As a result of these discussions, the draft was once again revised and was finally approved by the Central People’s Government Council on September 9, 1954. In September 1954 the All China People’s National Congress was elected. On September 20, 1954 the draft was finally adopted by the first of NPC of PRC. This Constitution lasted till December 1974. The 4th NPC adopted In January 1975 a new Constitution. It declared China a socialist State under the ‘dictatorship of the working class. It was a simple document in comparison to its predecessor.
In March 1978 the 5th NPC approved another new Constitution of 1978. It worked only up to 1982, when a new Constitution was promulgated that is the present Constitution of 1982. It has been prepared after prolonged nationwide discussion spread over a span of 2 years. The draft of this Constitution adheres to four cardinal principles namely, adherence to the socialist road, to the people’s democratic dictatorship, to the leadership by the Communist Party, to the leadership by the Communist Party of China and to Marxism, Leninism and Mao-Zedong Thought.
The Preamble declares that Chinese Constitution confirms the achievements of the struggles of the Chinese people of all nationalities. So Article-1 declares that People Republic of China is a Socialist State under the people’s democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants.
Constitution of China Summary
A resume of the provisions (discussed in the article Salient features of Chinese Constitution) that China is a socialist country (which is) led by the peasants and workers and in which the capitalists have practically no place. The policy of the regime as declared in these general principles, is to establish a socialist economy. Again though the right to maintain lawfully earned property is granted, yet the state can requisition any property or means of production in the public interest. (Again, unlike other countries), the Judiciary in China can afford no help to the citizens when they are deprived of their property. Similarly all other provisions have a bias to centralization and give primary to the interest of the state. In fact many people are deprived of their political rights on the ground that they arc the enemies of the people and therefore, excluded from the privileges or the citizenship. The proclaimed sovereignty of the people is in fact a mask for the supremacy of the Communist. Party. The governmental system of the People Republic of China, centralism is totalitarian. The state however works for the welfare of the people at large and majority, of them are happy about their lot.