Democratic Dictatorship

After a quarter-century of conspiracy and struggle, the great day came at last for China's Red conquerors. In Peiping's crumbling Imperial Palace, under the golden tiles of bygone Mings and Chings, the Communists last week proclaimed their new dynasty. Cried Party Chairman Mao Tse-tung:

"We have a feeling in common that our work will be written down in the history of mankind. It will say: the Chinese, forming one-quarter of humanity, have risen . . . We announce the establishment of the People's Republic of China . . . We must unite with all countries and peoples loving peace and freedom, first of all the Soviet Union . . . Let the reactionaries at home & abroad tremble."

In the pillared hall, 636 delegates of the "Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference" cheered deliriously. A 49-piece brass band blared Red songs.

China's new people's republic would be strictly Soviet style. According to the principle of "democratic centralism," party rule would be exerted downward through a tightly knit administration. The "people's" conference was not elected by anyone, but appointed by the Communist bosses. Neither Mao Tse-tung nor any of his comrades had a "mandate" from the people. Mao described the new regime as a "people's democratic dictatorship."

Commented the New York Times: ". . . A familiar brand of double talk . . . Mao and his comrades have not bothered to enlighten the Chinese, or us, on what is democratic about a dictatorship or how those two antithetical words happened to get into one propaganda phrase . . ."

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