Chapter 115 The Chinese have since stood up[1]

(September 21, 1949) Gentlemen and deputies, the Political Consultative Conference, which the people of the whole country long for, is now open. Our meeting included more than 600 delegates, representing all the democratic parties, people's organizations, the People's Liberation Army, all regions, all ethnic groups and overseas Chinese in China.This shows that our meeting is a meeting of the great unity of the people of the whole country. This great national unity of the people was able to succeed because we defeated the reactionary Kuomintang government backed by U.S. imperialism.In a little more than three years, the heroic Chinese People's Liberation Army, which is rare in the world, defeated the attack of millions of troops of the reactionary Kuomintang government aided by the United States and turned itself into a counter-offensive and offensive.Now, millions of People's Liberation Army field troops have fought in areas close to Taiwan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan and Xinjiang, and the majority of the Chinese people have been liberated.In a period of more than three years, the people of the whole country united to aid the People's Liberation Army, opposed their enemies, and won basic victories.On this basis, today's People's Political Consultative Conference was held.

Our meeting is called the Political Consultative Conference because we held a Political Consultative Conference with Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang three years ago[2].The outcome of that meeting was ruined by Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang and its accomplices, but it has left an indelible impression on the people.That conference proved that it is impossible to solve any task in the interest of the people together with Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang, the running dog of imperialism, and its accomplices.It is useless even if the resolutions are reluctantly made. When the time is right, they will tear up all resolutions and wage a cruel war against the people.The only gain from that meeting was that it gave the people a profound education, enabling them to understand that there is absolutely no room for compromise with the lackeys of imperialism, the Chiang Kai-shek Kuomintang and its accomplices, either to overthrow these enemies, or to be massacred and killed by them. Oppression must be one of the two, and there is no other way.Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people have quickly awakened and organized themselves in more than three years to form a nationwide representative against imperialism, feudalism, bureaucratic capitalism and its concentration The united front of the Kuomintang reactionary government, aiding the People's Liberation War, basically overthrew the Kuomintang reactionary government, overthrew the imperialist rule in China, and restored the Political Consultative Conference.

The current Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is held on a completely new basis. It has the nature of representing the people of the whole country, and it has won the trust and support of the people of the whole country.Therefore, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference declares itself to carry out the functions and powers of the National People's Congress.In its agenda, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference will formulate the Organic Law of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, formulate the Organic Law of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, formulate the common program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and elect the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Committee to elect the Central People's Government Committee of the People's Republic of China, formulate the national flag and national emblem of the People's Republic of China, determine the location of the capital of the People's Republic of China and adopt the same year name as most countries in the world.

Dear gentlemen, we have a common feeling that our work will be written in the history of mankind, and it will show that the Chinese, who account for a quarter of the total number of mankind, have stood up since then.The Chinese have always been a great, brave and industrious nation, but they have fallen behind in modern times.This backwardness is entirely the result of being oppressed and exploited by foreign imperialism and the reactionary government of the country.For more than a hundred years, our ancestors have never stopped fighting against internal and external oppressors with indomitable struggle, including the 1911 Revolution led by the great Chinese revolutionary forerunner Sun Yat-sen.Our ancestors instruct us to fulfill their legacy.This is what we do now.We have united to overthrow the oppressors at home and abroad with the People's War of Liberation and the Great People's Revolution, and declare the founding of the People's Republic of China.From now on, our nation will be included in the big family of peace-loving and freedom-loving nations in the world. We will work bravely and diligently to create our own civilization and happiness, and at the same time promote world peace and freedom.Our nation will no longer be a nation insulted, we have stood up.Our revolution has won the sympathy and applause of the people all over the world, and our friends are all over the world.

Our revolutionary work is not yet complete, the People's War of Liberation and the People's Revolutionary Movement are still advancing, and we must continue to work hard.The imperialists and domestic reactionaries are by no means reconciled to their defeat, and they will make a final struggle.After the whole country is pacified, they will still engage in sabotage and trouble in various ways, and they will try to restore China every day and every hour.This is inevitable, there is no doubt, we must not relax our vigilance. Our state system of the people's democratic dictatorship is a powerful weapon to guarantee the victorious results of the people's revolution and to oppose the restoration plots of internal and external enemies. We must firmly grasp this weapon.Internationally, we must unite with all peace-loving and freedom-loving countries and peoples, first of all with the Soviet Union and other new democracies, so that our struggle to safeguard the victorious achievements of the people's revolution and oppose the restoration plots of internal and external enemies will not be at a disadvantage. isolated position.As long as we uphold the people's democratic dictatorship and unite with international friends, we will always be victorious.

The people's democratic dictatorship and unity with international friends will enable us to achieve rapid success in our construction work.A national-scale economic construction effort is ahead of us.Our excellent conditions are that we have a population of 475 million and a land of 9.6 million square kilometers.There are difficulties in front of us, and there are many, but we are sure that all difficulties will be overcome by the heroic struggle of the people of the whole country.The Chinese people already have extremely rich experience in overcoming difficulties.If our ancestors and ourselves were able to survive the long and extremely difficult years and defeat the powerful domestic and foreign reactionaries, why can't we build a prosperous and prosperous country after victory? As long as we maintain the style of hard work and struggle, as long as we unite We are unanimous, as long as we uphold the people's democratic dictatorship and unite with our international friends, we will be able to win swiftly on the economic front.

With the arrival of the climax of economic construction, there will inevitably be a climax of cultural construction.The era when the Chinese were considered uncivilized has passed, and we will appear in the world as a highly cultured nation. Our national defense will be strengthened and no imperialists will be allowed to invade our land again.On the basis of the heroic and tested People's Liberation Army, our people's armed forces must be preserved and developed.We shall not only have a strong army, but also a strong air force and a strong navy. Let the domestic and foreign reactionaries tremble before us, and let them say that we can't do this or that. The Chinese people's unyielding efforts will surely achieve their goals steadily.

The people's heroes who died in the People's War of Liberation and the People's Revolution are immortal! Congratulations on the victory of the People's War of Liberation and the People's Revolution! Congratulations on the founding of the People's Republic of China! Congratulations to the success of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference! According to the "People's Daily" published on September 22, 1949. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] This is Mao Zedong's opening speech at the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

[2] Refers to the Political Consultative Conference held in Chongqing from January 10 to 31, 1946, attended by representatives of the Kuomintang, the Communist Party, other parties and people without party affiliation.The meeting passed five agreements on the organization of the government, the program for peaceful nation-building, the National Assembly, the draft constitution, and the military.These agreements were soon torn up one by one by the Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek.