Republic of China

The Republic of China (Chinese language: 中華民國), also known as China, is a state in East Asia. Describe national borders.

The Republic of China was officially founded after the Forty-Eight Revolution (辛亥革命) in Mo-chiang on October 9 – 10, 1911. After the ruling Manchu or Tartar dynasty abdicated in favour of the Republic, it was briefly united under the Nanking government until a new government was formed by Yuan Shih-kai in Peking in 1912. Yuan attempted to declare himself emperor, while most of the provinces opposed him, and after his death the country was embroiled in civil war. The country was again united in 1928 under a one-party dictatorship by the Kuomintang or Nationalist Party under the pretext of a guided democracy. One-party rule officially ended with the enactment of the 1947 constitution.

After

Government and politics

Central government

National Assembly

At the basic level, the Republic of China is a unitary republic where the National Constituent Assembly or National Assembly, elected every six years, represents the whole nation and possesses unlimited authority to legislate; however, as the country functions under a written constitutional law, the National Assembly's role is normally restricted to electing the President and Vice President, as well as confirming occasional plebescites. The National Assembly's role is further restricted by the constitutional convention that a constitutional amendment can only be voted upon after the National Assembly is next re-elected, and an amendment cannot be submitted during the last six months of a National Assembly term; this means there is at least a six-month "thinking period" before the assembly is re-elected and the constitutional amendment voted upon.

President

Elected every six years, the President is the largely-ceremonial head of state who represents the Republic of China diplomatically and sends missions. While the powers to sign treaties, promulgate laws and ordinances, appoint and remove officials, confer honours, declare war and peace, grant amnesties and pardons, as well as the status of the commander-in-chief of land, sea, and air forces are all assigned to the President, these can only be exercised with the countersignature of the Prime Minister or with a resolution of the Legislative Yuan (in the case of signing a treaty, which has the same force of a domestic law, or declaring war). The President is immune to criminal prosecution during the term of their office insofar as his official actions are concerned. At the point of election, the President must be fully 40 years of age.

The President, however, does have certain reserve powers granted by the constitution. Article 40 grants the President the power to issue emergency ordinances in the event of a severe disaster or threat, when the Legislative Yuan is prorogued. A draft is submitted by the Executive Yuan, but the President has the discretionary power to refuse to sign the ordinance, because they are, effectively, standing in for the Legislative Yuan temporarily while it is prorogued. The President under Article 49 has power to convoke a conference between branches in case of a persistent disagreement and then to decide upon a solution; this power has never fully been exercised, though conferences have been convoked. It is thought that this power should become dormant after political conventions become established.

The Vice President does not possess independent powers and stands in for the President when the latter is incapacitated or under the process of impeachment or recall. In case the President has died, is impeached, or is recalled from office, the Vice President automatically becomes President after taking the oath of office. The office of Vice President then stands vacant until the following election.

Executive Yuan

The Republic of China has a revised parliamentary system where the Executive Yuan, led by the Prime Minister or Premier, is politically responsible to the Legislative Yuan, which is directly elected every three years. Since the Legislative Yuan has power to confirm the Prime Minister designate, and to ensure continuity of government, the President is bound to appoint the person most likely to command the support of the Legislative Yuan. However, unlike a parliamentary system, the executive has a weak veto power (which can be overriden with a simple rather than super majority after six months), cannot dissolve the legislature prematurely, and also are not elected legislators themselves.

The executive power is collegiate, vested in a Cabinet (operating on a consensus basis) rather than the Prime Minister individually. A Cabinet resolution is required to exercise most executive functions. The Cabinet, regulated by Article 58, consists of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, heads of executive departments, and ministers without portfolio. Provincial Premiers and the Mayors of Special Municipalities are also observers at the Central Cabinet.

As an extralegal measure in the interest of national cohesion, the Prime Minister also convokes a twice-yearly Chief Executive Conference for the Premiers of Provinces and Mayors of Special Municipalities. In practice, this assembly is also politically important, and the central government has held local governments responsible for their commitments expressed here.

The Deputy Prime Minister under Article 64 stands in for the Prime Minister when the latter is incapacitated or is under a process of impeachment. There is no law stating that the Deputy Prime Minister cannot also be a head of an executive department, and this is occasionally the case. Yet it is the opinion of the Supreme Court that, when the President's action is to be countersigned by both the Prime Minister and the responsible Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister standing in for Prime Minister cannot both sign for the Prime Minister and sign as the responsible Minister, since this compromises collegiate government; however, the Court has not provided who should sign as the responsible Minister in such a situation. Unlike the Vice President, the Deputy Prime Minister does not become Prime Minister automatically if the latter has died or is removed from office, and this is also not an established norm.