China is a country with one of the longest histories in the
world. The Chinese people of all nationalities have jointly created
a culture of grandeur and have a glorious revolutionary tradition.
After 1840, feudal China was gradually turned into a
semi-colonial and semi-feudal country. The Chinese people waged many
successive heroic struggles for national independence and liberation
and for democracy and freedom.
Great and earthshaking historical changes have taken place in
China in the 20th century. The Revolution of 1911, led by Dr.Sun
Yat-sen, abolished the feudal monarchy and gave birth to the
Republic of China. But the historic mission of the Chinese people to
overthrow imperialism and feudalism remained unaccomplished.
After waging protracted and arduous struggles, armed and
otherwise, along a zigzag course, the Chinese people of all
nationalities led by the Communist Party of China with Chairman
Mao Zedong as its leader ultimately, in 1949, overthrew the rule of
imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism, won a great
victory in the New-Democratic Revolution and founded the People's
Republic of China. Since then the Chinese people have taken control
of state power and become masters of the country.
After the founding of the People's Republic, China gradually
achieved its transition from a New-Democratic to a socialist society.
The socialist transformation of the private ownership of the means
of production has been completed, the system of exploitation of man
by man abolished and the socialist system established. The people's
democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the
alliance of workers and peasants, which is in essence the dictatorship
of the proletariat, has been consolidated and developed. The Chinese
people and the Chinese People's Liberation Army have defeated
imperialist and hegemonist aggression, sabotage and armed
provocations and have thereby safeguarded China's national
independence and security and strengthened its national defence.
Major successes have been achieved in economic development. An
independent and relatively comprehensive socialist system of
industry has basically been established. There has been a marked
increase in agricultural production. Significant advances have been
made in educational, scientific and cultural undertakings, while
education in socialist ideology has produced noteworthy results.
The life of the people has improved considerably.
Both the victory in China's New-Democratic Revolution and
the successes in its socialist cause have been achieved by the Chinese
people of all nationalities, under the leadership of the Communist
party of China and the guidance of Marxism-Leninisim and Mao Zedong
Thought, by upholding truth, correcting errors and surmounting
numerous difficulties and hardships. The basic task of the nation in
the years to come is to concentrate its effort on socialist
modernization. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China
and the guidance of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, the
Chinese people of all nationalities will continue to adhere to the
people's democratic dictatorship and the socialist road, steadily
improve socialist institutions, develop socialist democracy, improve
the socialist legal system, and work hard and self-reliantly to
modernize the country's industry, agriculture, national defence and
science and technology step by step to turn China into a socialist
Country with a high level of culture and democracy.
The exploiting classes as such have been abolished in our
country. However, class struggle will continue to exist within certain
bounds 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.
Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the People's
Republic of China. It is the inviolable duty of all Chinese people,
including our compatriots in Taiwan, to accomplish the great task
of reunifying the motherland.
In building socialism it is essential to rely on workers,
peasants and intellectuals and to unite all forces that can be united.
In the long years of revolution and construction, there has been
formed under the leadership of the Communist Party of China a broad
patriotic united front which is composed of the democratic parties
and people's organizations and which embraces all socialist working
people, all patriots who support socialism and all patriots who
stand for the reunification of the motherland. This united front
will continue to be consolidated and developed. The Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference, a broadly based representative
organization of the united front which has played a significant
historical role, will play a still more important role in the
country's political and social life, in promoting friendship with
other countries and in the struggle for socialist modernization and
for the reunification and unity of the country.
The People's Republic of China is a unitary multi-national
state created jointly by the people of all its nationalities.
Socialist relations of equality, unity and mutual assistance have
been established among the nationalities and will continue to be
strengthened. In the struggle to safeguard the unity of the
nationalities, it is necessary to combat big-nation chauvinism,
mainly Han chauvinism, and to combat local national chauvinism. The
state will do its utmost to promote the common prosperity of all
] the nationalities.
China's achievements in revolution and construction are
inseparable from the support of the people of the world. The future
of China is closely linked to the future of the world. China
consistently carries out an independent foreign policy and adheres
to the five principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and
territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in
each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and
peaceful coexistence in developing diplomatic relations and economic
and cultural exchanges with other countries. China consistently
opposes imperialism, hegemonism and colonialism, works to strengthen
unity with the people of other countries, supports the oppressed
nations and the developing countries in their just struggle to win
and preserve national independence and develop their national
economies, and strives to safeguard world peace and promote the
cause of human progress.
This Constitution, in legal form, affirms the achievements
of the struggles of the Chinese people of all nationalities and
defines the basic system and basic tasks of the state; it is the
fundamental law of the state and has supreme legal authority. The
people of all nationalities, all state organs, the armed forces, all
political parties and public organizations and all enterprises and
institutions in the country must take the Constitution as the basic
standard of conduct, and they have the duty to uphold the dignity of
the Constitution and ensure its implementation.
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