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in practice the Party becomes the state. Furthermore, Article 56 states: "Citizens must support the leadership of the Communist Party of China.
Therefore any criticism of the Party or its role in the society could easily be interpreted as counter-revolutionary whatever the rest of the Constitution or other laws might say.17
The new Constitution returns to the 1954 model in that, except for the Preamble, the Communist Party is not even mentioned by name, no longer is the PRC a "socialist state of the dictatorship of the proletariat," but a "socialist state of the people's democratic dictatorship." The significance of this statement is that it is at least a theoretical recognition of the rights of other classes besides the proletariat and thus a weakening of the dictatorial power of the Communist Party. Moreover, Article 5 explicitly states that all parties must abide by the Constitution and the law. Another change which may prove to be of some significance is the more moderate tone taken toward class struggle. According to the Preamble: "The exploiting classes as such have been eliminated in our country. However, class struggle will continue to exist within certain limits for a long time to come. The Chinese people must fight against those forces and elements, both at home and abroad, that are hostile to China's socialist system and try to undermine it."18 According to Peng Zhen, who gave the major report on the draft of the new Constitution to the members of the NPC, this means that "class struggle is no longer the principle contradiction in Chinese society. This basic characteristic requires a substantial change in the focus of work of the state and its guiding principles.”19 One can only hope this means that at least the repression of the Anti-Rightist movement and factional violence of the Cultural Revolution are things of the past.
NOTES
1 Under the empire the concept of individual rights was non-existent. From 1908 to 1947, China had some 12 constitutions either proposed or adopted, and even though all but one contained some formal listing of the rights of citizens, in each case these rights were carefully restricted by lists of duties and obligations or by the statement that such rights were to be enjoyed only in accordance with law. See Meredith P. Gilpatrick, "The Status of Law and Lawmaking Procedure under the Kuomintang, 1925-46," The Far Eastern Quarterly, X.1 (Nov. 1950), 50.
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in practice the Party becomes the state. Furthermore, Article 56 states: "Citizens must support the leadership of the Com- munist Party of China.
Therefore any criticism of the Party or its role in the society could easily be interpreted as counter-revolutionary whatever the rest of the Constitution or other laws might say.17
The new Constitution returns to the 1954 model in that, except for the Preamble, the Communist Party is not even mentioned by name, no longer is the PRC a "socialist state of the dictatorship of the proletariat," but a "socialist state of the people's democratic dictatorship." The significance of this state- ment is that it is at least a theoretical recognition of the rights of other classes besides the proletariat and thus a weakening of the dictatorial power of the Communist Party. Moreover, Article 5 explicitly states that all parties must abide by the Constitution and the law. Another change which may prove to be of some signi- ficance is the more moderate tone taken toward class struggle. According to the Preamble: "The exploiting classes as such have been eliminated in our country. However, class struggle will continue to exist within certain limits for a long time to come. The Chinese people must fight against those forces and elements, both at home and abroad, that are hostile to China's socialist system and try to undermine it."18 According to Peng Zhen, who gave the major report on the draft of the new Constitution to the members of the NPC, this means that "class struggle is no longer the principle contradiction in Chinese society. This basic characteristic requires a substantial change in the focus of work of the state and its guiding principles.”19 One can only hope this means that at least the repression of the Anti-Rightist movement and factional violence of the Cultural Revolution are things of the past.
NOTES
1 Under the empire the concept of individual rights was non-existent. From 1908 to 1947, China had some 12 constitutions either proposed or adopted, and even though all but one contained some formal listing of the rights of citizens, in each case these rights were carefully restricted by lists of duties and obligations or by the statement that such rights were to be enjoyed only in accordance with law. See Meredith P. Gilpatrick, "The Status of Law and Lawmaking Procedure under the Kuomintang, 1925-46," The Far Eastern Quarterly, X.1 (Nov. 1950), 50.
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