893.00/14886
The Ambassador in China (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 6.]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose for the Department’s information a translation of an article from the Central Daily News and Sao Tang Pao of August 23, 1942, and a China Information Committee Bulletin (Ministry of Information release) entitled “Democratic Features in Local Assemblies”33 concerning the regulations governing the organization of and the election of delegates to the Provincial People’s Assembly.
The Legislative Yuan on August 20 passed two sets of regulations, one governing the organization of the Provincial People’s Assembly and the other the election of its delegates, to be presented to the National Government for promulgation at an unnamed future date.
These Assemblies envisaged in these regulations will have the power to enact provincial ordinances and to deliberate on the distribution of provincial expenditures, while the existing provisional people’s assemblies have power only to make proposals to, listen to reports from and to interpellate the provincial governments. If any resolutions passed by the new Assemblies are contrary to the Three People’s Principles or National policy, the President of the Executive Yuan, with the approval of the Yuan meeting, can petition the National Government to dissolve the provincial assembly concerned.
The People’s Assembly in each province will be composed of one delegate from each county and municipality within that province. Delegates will be elected and can also be recalled by the county or municipal representative assemblies. To be eligible for election to the Assembly, a person must be a citizen of the Republic of China, over twenty-five years of age, must have maintained residence in the province in question for more than a year, must have been or be a [Page 235] member of a county representative assembly and must have worked in a government organization or have devoted himself or herself to the promotion of public welfare in that province for more than a year. Persons holding positions in government organizations, in the Chinese army or police forces or still pursuing studies in school are not eligible for election.
While the proposed Provincial People’s Assemblies do represent a further step toward representative government when compared with the existing provisional people’s assemblies, sufficient safeguards have been retained on the power of these new assemblies in that no legislation contrary to national policy may be passed, the definition thereof apparently being left to the President of the Executive Yuan, and in that the Assemblies can only deliberate on the distribution of provincial expenditures and cannot control such action. However, as a means of education in the principles of representative government these assemblies and the county assemblies should serve to spread the elements of democratic practices among increasing numbers of Chinese people.
Respectfully yours,
- Neither printed.↩