On September 29, 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference unanimously adopted 13 proposals by deputies. Among them, the first and second proposals are classified into the first category, namely the first proposal submitted by 44 people including Guo Moruo and Li Jishen, and the second proposal submitted by 16 people including Huang Qixiang and Zhang Nanxian. The two proposals are similar in content and clearly propose that the Kuomintang reactionaries should call the United Nations to deny their representation in the United Nations bodies, and the People's China should send official representatives to the United Nations General Assembly. The General Assembly decided that the two cases should be "implemented by the Central People's Government".
At the symposium of "Li Jishen and the CPPCC" held in Wuzhou, Guangxi, from October 29 to 31, relevant scholars had in-depth discussions on the first proposal of the CPPCC, and our newspaper published representative abstracts of articles to provide readers with relevant background information.
The First Proposal of the CPPCC and the World Conference for Peace
After the end of World War II, opposing war, supporting peace and defending national independence and sovereignty integrity became the world trend. In February 1949, the International Liaison Committee of the World Intellectual Conference for the Defence of Peace, the International Women's Democratic Federation and some international celebrities proposed to hold the World Conference for Peace in Paris from April 20 to 25. Cai Chang, who attended the International Women's Democratic Federation, brought the news home.
In late March, according to the opinions of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, the democratic parties, together with the Chinese Association of Academic Workers, the Chinese Association of Scientific Workers and other organizations, formed a 40 member Chinese delegation, headed by Guo Moruo, and led by Liu Ningyi and Ma Yinchu. However, the French government of Guy was so unruly that 17 countries, including the Chinese delegation, were unable to obtain entry visas, so the World Conference for Peace decided to hold it in Paris and Prague at the same time. This international conference, attended by representatives of 72 countries and 10 international groups, has greatly encouraged peace loving people in all countries. The speeches made by Guo Moruo and other Chinese representatives won warm applause in Paris and Prague, especially when the news of the Chinese People's Liberation Army's occupation of Nanjing came, the whole audience was boiling and cheered for the victory of the Chinese revolution.
This conference is a successful appearance of People's China on the international stage and has spread the voice of the Chinese people to the world. When Guo Moruo and other representatives returned to Harbin, Chairman Mao Zedong replied:
It is a great pleasure for Mr. Liu and others to return home with honor for their commitment to the cause of international peace and democracy. Please wait in Shenyang, wait until Ma Yinlao arrives, and then return to Peiping with the car, so that the people of Beiping can make a grand welcome to strengthen the world peace lineup and comfort the virtuous.
Li Jishen, Shen Junru and other leaders of the democratic parties not only attended the sending and welcoming of the delegation, but also attended the welcoming conference held in Tiananmen Square with Zhou Enlai, Lin Boqu, Dong Biwu and other leaders of the Communist Party of China.
While celebrating the success of the World Conference for Peace, Guo Moruo and others also realized that the new People's Republic must continue to face the provocations of Western countries through the French government's difficulties to the Chinese delegation, and it is urgent to ensure the legitimate status of People's China in the international community and the United Nations agencies, which greatly contributed to the formation of the first proposal of the CPPCC.
Two highlights of the list of sponsors
The full text of the first proposal of the CPPCC is 131 characters in total, which is clear and concise. The two characteristics of its 44 sponsors are more striking.
First, among the sponsors, there are no less than 10 chief representatives of all parties and groups. In addition to Guo Moruo, who leads the sponsors, there are Li Jishen, Shen Junru, Huang Yanpei, Ma Xulun, Tan Pingshan, Cai Tingkai, Chen Shutong, and the chief representatives of the Federation of Trade Unions, the Youth League, and the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Li Lisan, Feng Wenbin, and Shen Yanbing. They are respected, influential and appealing, and have known Guo Moruo for a long time.
For example, Li Jishen and Guo Moruo met him during the Northern Expedition. In the autumn of 1943, Guo Moruo responded to Li Jishen and others' notice of soliciting articles and wrote seven character poems in preparation for the construction of the memorial tower for the martyrs of 1911. In April 1948, Guo Moruo, together with Li Jishen, Shen Junru, Ma Xulun and others, called the United Nations Human Rights Protection Committee to urge the United States government to prevent arms shipments from fuelling China's civil war. After the "May Day slogan" of the CPC Central Committee was released, Guo Moruo had more frequent exchanges with the heads of democratic parties. For a year and a half, they secretly went north in response to the call of the Communist Party of China for the establishment of a coalition government; Gather at Xiyuan Airport to welcome Chairman Mao and Commander Zhu to Peiping; Then we discussed with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai in Xiangshan and Zhongnanhai. This series of major events has made the connection between the Central Republican Democratic Party and the understanding and cooperation between the leaders of all parties better than ever before.
Secondly, the 44 proponents came from 18 units, covering five sectors: party representatives, regional representatives, military representatives, group representatives, and specially invited representatives.
There is only four days from the opening of the CPPCC session to the submission of the proposal to the secretariat of the conference. How did such a large and cross-border list come into being?
As the leading sponsor, Guo Moruo was the chief representative of non party democrats at that time, and participated in the whole process of the collection and review of the national flag, national emblem and national anthem scheme of the sixth group of the New CPPCC Preparatory Committee. Therefore, among the 44 sponsors, non party democrats and members of the Sixth Group are very concentrated. Zhang Xiruo, Li Da, Fu Dingyi and other 10 non party democrats who attended the CPPCC session signed their names. Tian Han, Qian Sanqiang and other five members of the National Flag, National Emblem and National Anthem Review Committee, as well as Ma Sicong, Liang Sicheng and other four group consultants, are also named above. It can be imagined that the first proposal of the CPPCC was formed during the interval between the discussion and revision of the main documents of the conference, and the proposal leader obtained the consent of representatives from all walks of life, reflecting the tense, orderly and harmonious atmosphere of the first plenary session of the CPPCC.
The first and second proposals, with a total of 60 sponsors, can be said to have a lot of people with the same mind, adding a vivid silhouette for multi-party cooperation and working together to maintain the international status of New China.
Implementation of the first proposal
On the second day after the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China, the Guangdong Campaign was officially launched, and Guangzhou was liberated two weeks later. The "National Government", which existed in name only, moved westward in a panic from Guangzhou. While sitting in Chongqing, Chiang Kai shek claimed to defend the Southwest, and ordered the Sichuan Provincial Bank to transport 800000 silver dollars of working capital to Taiwan. In November, the Chinese People's Liberation Army began to pursue and wipe out the Kuomintang troops in southwest China on a large scale, and the complete destruction of the Kuomintang reactionary forces has become a foregone conclusion. Under such circumstances, Zhou Enlai, who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, sent a message to Lai, Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, and Romulo, President of the United Nations General Assembly on November 15, solemnly stating that:
Only the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing all the people of the People's Republic of China.
On behalf of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, I would like to formally request the United Nations, in accordance with the principles and spirit of the Charter of the United Nations, to immediately revoke all the rights of the "delegation of the Chinese national government" to continue to represent the Chinese people in the United Nations, so as to meet the aspirations of the Chinese people.
The editorial of the People's Daily pointed out that the statement of Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai means that the Chinese people, who account for one fourth of the world's population, will truly participate in international affairs according to their own will and aspirations; The cause of lasting peace and people's democracy pursued by the people of the world will receive more active and direct support from the 475 million Chinese people.
People's organizations of all democratic parties have expressed their support for Zhou Enlai's statement. Guo Moruo delivered a written statement, writing that: the remnants of the Kuomintang reactionary government have become a dead end. If the United Nations General Assembly really represents international justice and respects the authority of the United Nations itself, it should have automatically revoked its legal status. It is hoped that the United Nations will be alert immediately. Otherwise, it will make major mistakes, become the imperial organ of imperialism, and wipe out the authority of the United Nations General Assembly.
However, the situation that China's seat in the United Nations is occupied by the Taiwan authorities has lasted for many years due to the repeated interference of the Western forces led by the United States Government. Jiang Tingfu, the so-called representative of the Taiwan authorities to the United Nations, once wrote a book and asked: "There is only one question for the Chinese nation in the past hundred years, that is: can the Chinese people modernize? Can they catch up with the Westerners? Can they use science and machinery?" This remark became a little famous "Jiang Tingfu's Question". Unfortunately, the historian tried his best to obstruct the establishment of the legitimate seat of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations.
After 22 years of unremitting efforts and with the support of friendly countries in the third world, the five-star red flag finally rose in the United Nations on November 1, 1971. The People's Republic of China, as the only legitimate government of the Chinese people, has finally become the legitimate representative of the United Nations, which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary. At this moment, looking back at the process of the first proposal of the People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from its proposal and implementation to its final realization will naturally help to form a clearer understanding of the direction of the world trend. Today, the so-called "Jiang Tingfu's question" has not become a problem. The Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, are creating great achievements that impress the world. All the Chinese people work together in the same boat, work together, unite as one, regardless of the region, and pool all the wisdom and strength of the Chinese nation. Our country and people will certainly be able to play a more active role in creating a fair, healthy and developing international order on the international stage.
(Author Guo Pingying Guo Moruo's daughter, former deputy director of the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, former director of the Guo Moruo Memorial)
