The decision to revise the Constitution rekindles the topic of how to maintain the consistency of the fundamental law of the country while at the same time adapting it to changing situations.

A communique approved at the third plenum of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which was held October 11-14, made proposals to revise some parts of the existing Constitution, which was promulgated and enacted in 1982.

Accepting the proposal, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the highest legislative body, is to enact the legal procedure for Constitution revision. The draft will be subject to deliberation at the NPC's session next spring.

It is a consensus among law experts that as the basic law that serves as the general statute in ruling the country and managing State affairs, the Constitution should not be subject to frequent changes, otherwise its authority will be diminished and the stability of the country will be affected.

By setting a tone of only making minor changes, the CPC Central Committee proved to have sought a good balance in adapting the constitution to the changing times.

Under such a principle, only the parts in critical need of revision are subject to changes.

The 1982 Constitution, consisting of 138 articles in four chapters, is on the whole still in line with the current development of China, said Xu Xianming, president of China University of Political Science and Law. In terms of economic, political and cultural systems, no essential differences have arisen since 1982.

The State system of the people's democratic directorship and the political system of the National People's Congress remain unchanged.

Though great changes have taken place as a result of the reform and opening up policies, the basic economic system under which the public ownership at the core co-exists with multiple ownerships remains the same.

Nor has the social system or social structure changed, Xu pointed out.

These demonstrate that the framework and basic contents of the Constitution should not be altered.

According to the issued communique, important theoretical opinions and policies set forth at the 16th National Congress of the CPC held in November last year are expected to be written into the Constitution.

According to law experts, the "three represents" theory, the human right concept, and stronger protection to private properties may be added into the Constitution.

Proven a mature and viable theory, the "three represents" -- namely, the Party must always represent the development trend of China's advanced productive forces; the orientation of China's advanced culture; and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people -- is sure to give important and long-term guidance to the work of the Party and the government after being entrenched in the Constitution.

If approved, it will be the first time the concept of human rights appears in China's Constitution, though the current Constitution has already devoted a chapter to the protection of citizens' basic rights, including their political and economic rights.

It caters to the international situation to respect and protect human rights in a clearer definition, said Xu Chongde, a professor with the Renmin University of China.

To define protection of private properties in stronger and clearer terms is also a demand of the new situation.

These revisions, deemed badly needed, are likely to have profound and far-reaching influences on the country's future development.

The forthcoming revision will be the fourth to the current Constitution, which was previously revised in 1988, 1993 and 1999.

The unusual pace and scale of the reform measures resulted in the frequent revisions, experts pointed out.

The past two decades have witnessed sweeping reforms in the economic, political and cultural systems. If such extensive and in-depth changes could not be included in the Constitution, or when the Constitution could no longer represent changed situations, its authority would suffer more, said Li Buyun, a researcher with the Institute of Law under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Radical reform measures account for the previous three and the scheduled fourth revision.

The 1988 revision allowed the State to permit private economy to exist and grow within the limits prescribed by law, and stipulated that the private economy is a complement to the socialist public economy.

The 1993 revision added to the Constitution the theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, adhering to reform, opening up and multi-party co-operation under the leadership of the CPC and the political consultation system.

The 1999 revision enshrined the guiding role of the Deng Xiaoping Theory, under which the rule of law is stipulated as a national policy and the role of the private economic sector is further highlighted as important in the national economic system.

All these amendments proved to be necessary in upgrading the Constitution, but they also exposed a weak point: The tool of Constitution explanation failed to be used efficiently, according to Li Buyun.

The NPC's Standing Committee is empowered by the Constitution to make explanations about it. So if the situations covered by certain articles changed, the Committee can make explanations to them without having to revise the Constitution.

In this regard, Li said, China has much to learn from the experiences of the United States. The US Constitution, with seven articles, has remained unchanged for more than a century, but there are more than 20 amendments.

The Supreme Court of the United States has the right to make explanations to the Constitution. Via frequent explanations and amendments, the Constitution became closely related with changing reality.

The 1982 Constitution is, in fact, the fourth Constitution made since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. China made its first Constitution in 1954, followed by those in 1975, 1978 and 1982.

Such dramatic changes of the Constitution are attributed to the special historical background of the country.

During 1966-76, China experienced the disastrous "cultural revolution." The 1975 Constitution is a legacy of the decade-long chaos.

Reeling from the catastrophe and eager to retreat from the wrong road of the "cultural revolution," China worked out its third Constitution in 1978, which, understandably, turned out to be ultra-leftist.

Abandoning both of the two constitutions, China made the existing Constitution in 1982, using the 1954 model as a framework.

(China Daily October 30, 2003)