Government

Republican China

The first national government of the Chinese Republic was established on January 1, 1912, in Nanjing, with Sun Yat-sen as the provisional president. Provincial delegates were sent to confirm the authority of the national government, and they later also formed the first parliament. The power of this national government was both limited and short-lived, with generals controlling both central and northern provinces of China. The limited acts passed by this government included the formal abdication of the Qing dynasty and some economic initiatives. The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan currently administers two historical provinces of China (one completely and a small part of another one) and centrally administers two direct-controlled municipalities: Taiwan Province; consists of the island of Taiwan, except the two municipalities, plus Penghu county (Pescadores Islands) and a number...

Shortly after the rise of Yuan Shikai, the parliament's authority became nominal; violations of the Constitution by Yuan were met with half-hearted motions of censure, and Kuomintang members of the parliament that gave up their membership in the KMT were offered 1,000 pounds. Yuan maintained power locally by sending military generals to be provincial governors or by obtaining the allegiance of those already in power. Foreign powers came to recognize Yuan's power as well: when Japan came to China with 21 demands, it was Yuan who submitted to them, on May 25, 1915. For details of notes and coins, see British coinage and British banknotes. ...

When Yuan died, the parliament of 1913 was reconvened to give legitimacy to a new government. However, the real power of the time passed to military leaders, forming the warlord period. The impotent government still had its use; when World War I began, several Western powers and Japan wanted China to declare war on Germany, in order to liquidate German holdings. Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz...

Present

The Presidential Building in Taipei has housed the Office of the President of the Republic of China since 1950.

The head of state is the President, who is elected by popular vote for a four-year term on the same ticket as the Vice-President. The President has authority over the five administrative branches (Yuan): the Control, Examination, Executive, Judicial, and Legislative Yuans. The President appoints the members of the Executive Yuan as his cabinet, including a Premier, who is officially the President of the Executive Yuan; members are responsible for policy and administration. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 894 KB) Summary Description: Office of the President (總統府), Taipei, Republic of China. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 894 KB) Summary Description: Office of the President (總統府), Taipei, Republic of China. ... Taiwan Governor-Generals Office in 1937 during Japanese rule. ... Queen Elizabeth II, is the Head of State of 16 countries including: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Jamaica, New Zealand and the Bahamas, as well as crown colonies and overseas territories of the United Kingdom. ... The Office of the President of the Republic of China is located in Zhongzheng District, Taipei City. ... The Control Yuan building The Control Yuan main entrance The Control Yuan (監察院; pinyin: Jiānchá Yùan), one of five branches of the Republic of China government in Taipei, is a watchdog agency that monitors (controls) the government. ... The Examination Yuan (考試院) is one of five government branches of the Republic of China and is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants. ... The Judicial Yuan (司法院) is one of five branches of the Republic of China government in Taipei and serves as the highest judicial organ in Taiwan. ... The Legislative Yuan building in Zhongzheng District, Taipei City (the view is partially obscured by the childrens hospital building of the National Taiwan University Hospital). ... A cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... The President of the Executive Yuan (行政院長), colloquially referred to as the Premier (閣揆), is the head of the Executive Yuan, the executive branch of the Republic of China, which currently administers Taiwan. ...

The main legislative body is the unicameral Legislative Yuan with two hundred and twenty-five seats. One hundred and sixty-eight are elected by popular vote; forty-one are elected based on the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties. Eight are elected from overseas Chinese constituencies and eight are for the aboriginal populations based on the same principle. Members serve three-year terms. Originally the unicameral National Assembly, as a standing constitutional convention and electoral college, held some parliamentary functions, but the National Assembly was abolished in 2005 with the power of constitutional amendments handed over to the Legislative Yuan and all eligible voters of the Republic via referenda. A legislature is a type of representative deliberative assembly with the power to adopt laws. ... Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or parliamentary chamber. ... The National Assembly (Traditional Chinese: 國民大會; Simplified Chinese: 国民大会; Pinyin: ) refers to several parliamentary bodies that existed in the history of the Republic of China. ... ... An electoral college is a set of electors who are empowered as a deliberative body to elect a candidate to a particular office. ... States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in red and orange—the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics whose parliaments are effectively supreme over a separate head of state. ...

The Judicial Yuan is Taiwan's highest judiciary. It interprets the constitution and other laws and decrees, judges administrative suits, and disciplines public functionaries. The President and Vice-President of the Judicial Yuan and fifteen Justices form the Council of Grand Justices. They are nominated and appointed by the President of the Republic, with the consent of the Legislative Yuan. The highest court, the Supreme Court, consists of a number of civil and criminal divisions, each of which is formed by a presiding Judge and four Associate Judges, all appointed for life. In 1993, a separate constitutional court was established to resolve constitutional disputes, regulate the activities of political parties and accelerate the democratization process. There is no trial by jury but the right to a fair public trial is protected by law and respected in practice; many cases are presided over by multiple judges. In law, the judiciary or judicature is the system of courts which administer justice in the name of the sovereign or state, and provide a mechanism for the resolution of disputes. ... The Judicial Yuan (司法院) is one of five branches of the Republic of China government in Taipei and serves as the highest judicial organ in Taiwan. ... Supreme Court of the Republic of China is the court of last resort in the Republic of China. ... A Constitutional Court is a high court found in many countries which deals primary with constitutional law. ... Trial by Jury is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in one act (the only single-act Savoy Opera). ...

The ROC's political system does not fit traditional models. The Premier is selected by the President without the need for approval from the Legislature, but the Legislature can pass laws without regard for the President, as neither he nor the Premier wields veto power. Thus, there is little incentive for the President and the Legislature to negotiate on legislation if they are of opposing parties. In fact, since the election of the pan-Green's Chen Shui-bian as President in 2000 and the continued control of the Legislative Yuan by the pan-Blue majority, legislation has repeatedly stalled, as the two sides have been deadlocked. There is another curiosity of the ROC system; because the ROC was previously dominated by strongman single party politics, real power in the system shifted from one position to another, depending on what position was currently occupied by the leader of the state (Chiang Kai-shek and later his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, and now Chen Shuibian). This legacy has resulted in executive powers currently being concentrated in the office of the President rather than the Premier. Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) Chiang Ching-kuo (Chinese: 蔣經國; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chiang Ching-kuo) (April 271, 1910 - January 13, 1988), Kuomintang politician and leader, was the son of Chiang Kai-shek and held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China (from 1949 on Taiwan). ...

The term ruling party was previously applied to the KMT, as it was the authoritarian party that controlled all aspects of government (ruling party may also be applied to the majority party in a parliamentary system). The Soviets, who had trained Chiang and the KMT and the Communists, left a lasting mark on the practices of the KMT, and under a Leninist style one party state, there was little difference between the ROC government, the KMT, and the army. Today, however, the term "ruling party" has a specific, peculiar use in Taiwan and is used to describe the party holding the Presidency. This is not entirely accurate since Taiwan does not have a parliamentary system, where the executive branch is occupied by the same party or coalition that holds a majority in the legislature. This term is currently used because the Premier is appointed by the President, thus executive powers tend to be dominated by the party holding the Presidency. The ruling party in a parliamentary system is the party or coalition of the majority in parliament. ... Bold text:This article applies to political ideologies. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin, and by other theorists who claim to be carrying on Lenins work. ... A single-party state or one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system and form of government where only a single political party dominates the government and no opposition parties are allowed. ...

See also: Constitution of the Republic of China

The Constitution of the Republic of China (traditional Chinese: 中華民國憲法; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó Xiànfǎ; Tongyong Pinyin: JhongHuá MínGuó SiànFǎ) is currently the basic governing document for the areas controlled by the Republic of China, namely all...

Political divisions

Current jurisdiction of the Republic of China.

Main article: Political divisions of the Republic of China

See also: History of the political divisions of China#Republic of China

Maps of the official borders of the Republic of China include mainland China, Mongolia, Tannu Uriankhai, parts of the Central Asian former Soviet republics, and northern Myanmar.

Map comparing political divisions as drawn by the ROC and PRC.

According to the 1947 Constitution, written before the fall of Republican China, the highest level administrative division is the province, which includes special administrative regions, regions, and centrally-administered municipalities. However, in 1998 the only provincial government to remain fully functional under ROC jurisdiction, Taiwan Province, was streamlined, with most responsibility assumed by the central government and the county-level governments (the other existing provincial government, Fuchien, was streamlined much earlier). The ROC currently administers two provinces and two provincial level cities. map of Taiwan Source: 內政部地政司 (Department of Land Administration, Ministry of the Interior) This seems to indicate the image is copyrighted, and fairuse claim would be difficult. ... map of Taiwan Source: 內政部地政司 (Department of Land Administration, Ministry of the Interior) This seems to indicate the image is copyrighted, and fairuse claim would be difficult. ... The Republic of China (ROC) currently administers two historical provinces of China (one completely and one for a small part) and centrally administers two municipalities: Taiwan Province; consists of the island of Taiwan, except the two municipalities, plus Penghu county (Pescadores Islands) and a number of outlying islands Sixteen counties... This article talks about the history of the political divisions of China. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (847x674, 184 KB) Made by Pryaltonian 21:57, 22 September 2006 (UTC), adapted from http://en. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (847x674, 184 KB) Made by Pryaltonian 21:57, 22 September 2006 (UTC), adapted from http://en. ... The highlighted area in the map is what is commonly known as mainland China. Mainland China (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; literally The Chinese Massive Landmass or Continental China) is a geopolitical term which is usually synonymous with the area currently administered by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC... Tuva or Tyva (Russian: Республика Тыва [Тува], Respublika Tyva [Tuva]) (pop. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... In its final decades of its existence, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR), often called simply Soviet republics. ... Image File history File linksMetadata ROC_PRC_comparison_eng. ... Image File history File linksMetadata ROC_PRC_comparison_eng. ... For the Chinese civilization, see China. ... A province, in the context of China, is a translation of sheng (省 shÄ›ng), which is an administrative division of China. ... Special administrative region may be: Peoples Republic of China Special administrative regions, present-day administrative divisions (as of 2006) set up by the Peoples Republic of China to administer Hong Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999) Republic of China Special administrative regions, also translated as special administrative... Direct-controlled municipalities are the highest-level cities in China, with status equal to that of the provinces. ... Taiwan Province can refer to an existing administrative division under the government of the Republic of China or the claimed 23rd province of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

• Taiwan Province: the main island, except for the two municipalities, plus Penghu county (Pescadores Islands)
  • Sixteen counties
  • Five provincially administrated cities
• Fukien Province: several islands off the Chinese mainland
  • Kinmen County: Kinmen, Lesser Kinmen and Wuchiu
  • part of Lienchiang County, namely Matsu, Dongyin, Siyin and Jyuguang
• Two Central Municipalities
  • City of Taipei
  • City of Kaohsiung

The Republic of China also controls the Dongsha Islands (Dong-Sha) and Taiping Island, which are part of the disputed South China Sea Islands. They were placed under Kaohsiung City after the retreat to Taiwan.^[1] Taiwan Province (Traditional Chinese: ) is one of the two provinces under effective control of the Republic of China (ROC), after the relocation of its government to Taipei following the Chinese Civil War. ... The Pescadores Islands (Traditional Chinese: 澎湖群島; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Peng-hu; Taiwanese POJ: Phêⁿ-ô·-kōan, from Portuguese, fishermen, pron. ... The Republic of China (ROC) currently administers two historical provinces of China (one completely and one for a small part) and centrally administers two municipalities: Taiwan Province; consists of the Taiwanese main island, except the two municipalities, plus Penghu county (Pescadores Islands) Sixteen counties Five provincial cities Fukien (Fuchien) Province... Provincial cities (省轄市 or 省管市), sometimes translated provincial municipalities, are cities lesser in rank than direct-controlled municipalities of the Republic of China. ... Fujian Province (Tongyong Pinyin spelling; Fu-chien according to Wades-Giles and Fukien according to Postal System Pinyin; Chinese: 福建省) is a province on the coast of southeastern China. ... This is a list of islands under the Republic of China administration (all claimed by the Peoples Republic of China). ... Kinmen (Traditional Chinese: 金門; Hanyu Pinyin: JÄ«nmén; Tongyong Pinyin: Jinmén; Wade-Giles: Chin-men; POJ: Kim-mnÌ‚g; also romanized Quemoy from Southern Min (in early Spanish romanization); literally Golden Door or Golden Gate), located at 24. ... The Taiwan Strait. ... Lianjiang (連江; 连江; Liánjiāng; Lien²-chiang¹) is a county on the coast of Fujian Province, China. ... The Matsu Islands (馬祖列島 or less frequently, 馬祖群島 Pinyin: MÇŽzÇ”) are a minor archipelago of 19 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait administered as Lienchiang County (連江 Pinyin: Liánjiāng), Fukien Province of the Republic of China (ROC, now based on Taiwan). ... Dongyin (Chinese: 東引) is an island in the Taiwan Strait off the coast of Fujian. ... The Sizang people are mainly the descendants of Pu Suantak and related clans, and their adopted sons and daughters. ... Jyuguang (莒光鄉 Pinyin: Jǔguāng Wade-Giles: Chü³-kuang²) is a township of Lienchiang County, Republic of China (Taiwan). ... Direct-controlled municipalities are the highest-level cities in China, with status equal to that of the provinces. ... Nickname: the City of Azaleas Government Official Website City of Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou Capital District Xinyi Geographical characteristics Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 16 of 25 271. ... Nickname: The Harbor City (港都) Coordinates: Country  Republic of China(Taiwan) Region Southern Taiwan Capital Linya Dist(苓雅區) Mayor [[]](陳菊) (Acting) Area    - City 153. ... The Pratas Islands (or Dongsha Islands) are located in the middle of the South China Sea (see South China Sea Islands). ... Taiping (Traditional Chinese: 太平島), also known as Itu Aba, is the largest of the Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands) in the South China Sea. ... The South China Sea Islands (or Nanhai Islands, simplified: 南海诸岛, traditional: 南海諸島, pinyin: NánhÇŽi ZhÅ«dÇŽo) is an archipelago of over 250 around 1-km² islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars in the South China Sea, most of which have no indigenous people. ...

Taichung is currently under consideration for elevation to central municipality status. Also, Taipei County and Kaohsiung County are considering mergers with their respective cities. Taichung (Chinese: ; pinyin: Táizhōng; Wade-Giles: Tai-chung; POJ: Tâi-tiong) is a city located in west-central Taiwan with a population of just over one million people, making it the third largest city on the island, after Taipei and Kaohsiung. ...

The ROC has not constitutionally renounced sovereignty over Mainland China and Outer Mongolia, but President Lee Teng-hui announced in 1991 that his government does not dispute the fact that the Communist Party rules Mainland China. Nevertheless, the ROC court system does not recognize President Lee's 1991 announcement as having any validity, and continues to regard Mainland China as part of the national territory, while at the same time holding that persons from the PRC are not "foreigners." The DPP government under Chen Shui-bian has removed Outer Mongolia from the ROC's official maps and established a representative office in Mongolia's capital, Ulan Bator. Offices established to create the appearance of domestic governance of those regions, such as the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission^[2], lie dormant.^[3] The highlighted area in the map is what is commonly known as mainland China. Mainland China (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; literally The Chinese Massive Landmass or Continental China) is a geopolitical term which is usually synonymous with the area currently administered by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC... Outer Mongolia makes up Mongolia (presently a sovereign state) and Tannu Uriankhai (the majority of which is the modern-day Tuva Republic, a federal subject of the Russian Federation), while Inner Mongolia (内蒙古; Nèi Měnggǔ) is an autonomous region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The highlighted area in the map is what is commonly known as mainland China. Mainland China (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; literally The Chinese Massive Landmass or Continental China) is a geopolitical term which is usually synonymous with the area currently administered by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC... Because of technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ...

ROC official boundaries continue to show thirty-five provinces, fourteen municipalities, one special administrative region and two regions, instead of the twenty-three provinces, four municipalities, two special administrative regions and five autonomous regions shown on PRC maps. The ruling DPP government has dropped regulations that require ROC map makers to depict the official boundaries.