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POLITICAL
SYSTEM AND STATE STRUCTURE
Constitution:
China has drafted four constitutions since the
founding of the People's Republic, respectively in
1954, 1975, 1978 and 1982.
The
present constitution, drawn up after discussion
attended by representatives of all of China's people,
came into effect following approval by the Fifth
Session of the Fifth NPC on December 4, 1982.
This constitution continues the basic principles
underlying the first constitution of 1954, while
effectively distilling the experiences gained in
China's socialist development and adopting the
relevant experiences of other nations, all with
careful consideration of the then realities and the
prospects for further development. As a result,
it is a constitution with Chinese characteristics,
well suited for the betterment of the nation
politically, economically and culturally during the
new era of socialist modernization.
FOREIGN
POLICY
China
pursues an independent and peaceful foreign policy
directed toward peace. The basic objectives of
this policy are to safeguard the independence and
sovereignty of the country, strive to create a
long-standing and favorable international environment
for China's reform, opening to the outside world and
modernization drive, safeguard world peace and promote
common development.
China's
independent and peaceful foreign policy has the
following major components: Adhering to
independence. China decides on its
approaches and policies regarding international issues
independently. In international affairs, China
shall decide its own stand according to the rights and
wrongs of an affair, shall never yield to pressure
from any big countries, and shall not form alliances
with any major power or group of nations. Safeguarding
world peace.
China
shall neither take part in any arms race, nor engage
in military expansion. China shall adhere to
opposing hegemonism, power politics and aggressive
expansion in any form; and adhere to opposing the
infringement by any country on other countries'
sovereignty and territorial integrity or interfering
in other countries' internal affairs on the excuse of
ethnic, religious or human rights issues.
Establishing
friendly and cooperative relations. China is
willing to establish and develop friendly and
cooperative relations with all countries on the basis
of the following five principles: 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. China shall not decide its
relations with other countries according to social or
ideological systems. Developing
good-neighborly relations.
China
actively develops friendly relations with its
surrounding countries, safeguards the peace and
stability of the region and promotes economic
cooperation at the regional level. China
maintains that the disputes concerning borders,
territory and territorial water left over by history
be solved through dialogues and talks so as to seek
fair and reasonable solutions. If a dispute
cannot be solved right away, it may be put aside for
the time being, and common ground be sought while
reserving differences.
An
unsolved dispute should not affect normal relations
between the relevant countries. Strengthening
unity and cooperation with developing countries.
China has always taken it as the basis of its foreign
policy to strengthen unit and cooperation with
developing countries. China has consistently
attached great importance to developing all-round
friendly and cooperative relations with the Third
World countries, actively seeking mutually
complementary economic, trade, scientific and
technological cooperative channels, strengthening
consultation and cooperation with them on
international issues, and jointly safeguarding the
rights and interests of developing countries.
Opening
to the outside world. China opens to
developed countries as well as to developing
countries. On the basis of equality and mutual
benefit, China actively conducts extensive
international cooperation to promote common
development. As the largest developing country
in the world and a permanent member of the UN Security
Council, China is willing to make unremitting efforts
for world peace and development, and the establishment
of a new peaceful, stable, fair and reasonable
international political and economic order.
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PRINCIPLES
GOVERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
WITH OTHER COUNTRIES
With
the inauguration of the PRC on October 1, 1949, the
Chinese government declared solemnly: "This
government is the sole legal government representing
the people of the People's Republic of China. It
is ready to establish diplomatic relations with all
foreign governments which are willing to observe the
principles of equality, mutual benefit and respect for
each other's territorial integrity and
sovereignty."
There
is only one China in the world. Taiwan Province
is an integral part of the territory of the PRC.
Any country seeking to establish diplomatic relations
with China must show its readiness to sever all
diplomatic relations with the Taiwan authorities and
recognize the government of the PRC as the sole legal
government of China. The Chinese government will
never tolerate any country scheming to create
"two Chinas" or "one China, one
Taiwan"; nor will it tolerate any moves on the
part of countries having formal diplomatic relations
with China to establish any form of official relations
with the Taiwan authorities.
DEVELOPMENT
OF FOREIGN RELATIONS
Acting
in accordance with the above mentioned principles,
China established diplomatic relations with 19
countries in the 19 months between October 1949 and
May 1951. Between the second half of the 1950s
and the late 1960s, a large number of newly
independent nations established diplomatic relations
with China.
By
the end of 1969, the countries having diplomatic
relations with China had increased to 50. In the
1970s, the door was opened, allowing normal relations
between China and the United States, and China's
legitimate seat in the United Nations and the Security
Council was restored. These developments allowed
China's foreign relations to enter a new stage.
Japan,
the United States and other Western countries joined a
great number of Third World countries in establishing
diplomatic relations with China, raising the total
number of countries having diplomatic relations with
China to 121 by the end of 1979. In the 1980s,
even more countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and
Oceania established diplomatic relations with China.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, China has
established diplomatic relations with still more
countries, such as Israel, the Republic of Korea and
South Africa, as well as with the newly independent
republics that emerged from the former Soviet Union.
By the end of 1998, 160 countries had diplomatic
relations with China.
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