Politics of The Republic of China - Overview

Overview

The ROC is governed under the Constitution of the Republic of China which was drafted in 1947 before the fall of the Chinese mainland to communism and outlined a government for all of China. Significant amendments were made to the Constitution in 1991, and there have been a number of judicial interpretations made to take into account the fact that the Constitution covers a much smaller area than originally envisioned.

The government in Taipei officially asserts to be the sole legitimate government of all of China, which it defined as including Taiwan, mainland China, and outer Mongolia. In keeping with that claim, when the Kuomintang (KMT) fled to Taipei in 1949, they re-established the full array of central political bodies, which had existed in mainland China in the de jure capital of Nanjing (Nanking). While much of this structure remains in place, the President Lee Teng-hui in 1991 unofficially abandoned the government's claim of sovereignty over mainland China, stating that they do not "dispute the fact that the Communists control mainland China." However, the National Assembly has not officially changed the national borders, as doing so may be seen as a prelude to formal Taiwan independence (the People's Republic of China has threatened to start a war if the government of Taiwan formalizes independence). It should be noted that neither the National Assembly nor the Supreme Court has actually defined what the term "existing national boundaries," as stated in the constitution, actually means. The latter refused to do so claiming that it is a "major political issue".