Abolition of the presidency in China

The dispute over the abolition of the presidency of the People's Republic of China (formerly called Chairman of the PRC in the 1954 Constitution) was a dispute between Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, and some members of the CCP Politburo during the Cultural Revolution over the abolition of the position of the PRC Chairman in the new constitution. This dispute was later interpreted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as evidence that Lin Biao had usurped the party and seized power.

Starting from March 1970, during the discussion of the draft constitution, Mao repeatedly proposed abolishing the post of president, which was opposed by many central leaders including Lin Biao. CCP Central Committee members took this as an opportunity to "persuade" and show their loyalty, which reached a climax at the Lushan Conference in August 1970  and came to an abrupt end with the fall of Chen Boda. After that, Mao's opinion prevailed, and the Second Plenary Session of the 9th CCP Central Committee formed a "basic agreement" on the Draft Amendment to the Constitution on 6 September 1970. While abolishing the post of chairman, the text stipulated that Mao Zedong "is the head of the proletarian dictatorship in our country and the supreme commander of the whole country and the whole army", and Lin Biao "is Chairman Mao's close comrade-in-arms and successor, and the deputy commander of the whole country and the whole army". After Lin Biao's defection, the preparatory work for the 4th National People's Congress was suspended and the process of constitutional amendment was interrupted. In 1975, the new constitution adopted by the 4th National People's Congress formally abolished this position.

The dispute over whether to keep or abolish the chairmanship was a common debate until Mao Zedong's southern tour in August 1971, when he first promoted the dispute that had occurred a year earlier as evidence that Lin Biao had usurped the party and seized power.  After Mao's death, the CCP continued to use this argument. Although the chairmanship issue was not used as evidence of the Lin Biao group during the public trial in 1980, the CCP's official historical materials still insisted that "Lin Biao wanted to be the chairmanship and was eager to seize power".