TNAG-1239-FCO40-1552-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 64

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CONFIDENTIAL

provisions directly affected the structure of State.

First,

the office of President, last held by the chief victim of the

Cultural Revolution Liu Shaoqi, was restored. Secondly, a new

body, the State Central Military Commission, was created.

Previously there had only been a Party Central Military

Commission. The Presidency was restored both as a show of

dissociation from the Cultural Revolution and as a sign of

China's unity. The State Central Military Commission, whose

leadership is identical with that of the Party Central

Military Commission, appears to have been set up for the sake

of regularising the perceived anomaly of the military having

hitherto had no supreme State controlling body.

4. The composition of this NPC was more representative than

that of 1978. Of the 2,978 delegates, 500 fewer than to the

Fifth NPC, three quarters were new.

members dropped from 72% to 62%.

The percentage of Party

Intellectuals were better

represented, accounting for 23.5%. Among those elected were

poets and chefs, athletes and private business owners, bishops

and TV reporters. The number of delegates from Hong Kong

increased. This composition did not reflect a move towards

more effective democracy.

stamp nature of the NPC.

Rather it underlined the rubber

Election as a delegate, at least

at the lower levels, could be compared with inclusion in the

Birthday Honours, a recognition of services rendered in the

/public

Which makes 235 million intellectuals in China.

CONFIDENTIAL