President of the Republic of China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The President of the Republic of China (Traditional Chinese: 中華民國總統; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó Zǒngtǒng; Tongyong Pinyin: JhōngHuá MínGuó JǒngTǒng; Wade-Giles: Chung-Hua Min-Kuo Tsung-T'ung) is the head of state of the Republic of China (ROC). The Republic of China government has since 1949 maintained control of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other islands after the rest of China was lost to the Communists as a consequence of the Chinese Civil War. The existing office was created in 1948 under the 1947 Constitution of the Republic of China.
The President of the Republic of China is usually informally referred to as the "President of Taiwan" (traditional Chinese: 臺灣總統). Local media often use the term "president" on its own to refer to either the incumbent or the office.[citation needed] In official contexts, the full title "President of the Republic of China" is used. The current Democratic Progressive Party administration prefers the print form "President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)" (traditional Chinese: 中華民國(台灣)總統), but despite its independence leanings, never uses the term "President of Taiwan". The People's Republic of China, which does not recognize the existence of the Republic of China, commonly refers to the ROC government as the "Taiwanese authorities".
Contents |
[edit] History
When the Republic of China was founded in 1912, Sun Yat-sen was elected as the first "provisional president" (臨時大總統) by the provisional Senate, ending thousands of years of imperial rule in China. Sun Yat-sen soon resigned from the office in favor of Yuan Shikai, who formally assumed the office of "President" (大總統, literally "Great President", in contrast with the omission of 'great' in the current title) in 1913. The 1913 Constitution called for a strong presidential system with notable checks on the president by the National Assembly. However, Yuan soon began to assert presidential power, ignoring the National Assembly and later abolishing it altogether. In 1915, Yuan proclaimed himself Emperor of China in a largely unpopular move and was forced to retract his declaration shortly before his death in 1916. With Yuan Shikai's death, China fragmented into warlordism. Vice President Li Yuanhong succeeded Yuan as president and attempted to reassert the constitutional government, but was soon forced to resign by military strongmen. The presidency, though leading an internationally recognized government, was thereafter to be headed by a series of prominent warlords. This presidency ended in 1928 when the Northern Expedition, led by the Kuomintang (KMT) , succeeded in conquering North China.
Sun Yat-sen established a rival (military, not constitutional) government in Guangzhou in 1917 and took the title of "Generalissimo of the Military Government" (海陸軍大元帥, literally "grand marshal of the navy and army"). He was ousted in 1918 but returned again to Guangzhou in 1921. He summoned the members of the original parliament to elect him as president, but since there lacked a quorum, he took the title of "Extraordinary President" (非常大總統). Sun, again expelled from Guangzhou in 1922, returned in 1923 to take the title of "Generalissimo of the Military Government." Sun died in 1925 with no clear successor and leadership of the government (now named the Nationalist Government) rested in a series of committees. The "Chairman of the Nationalist Government," though not given specific presidential powers, took on the functions of a de facto head of state and its official English translation was President of the National Government of the Republic of China. This form of government under the KMT lasted through the Northern Expedition, which moved the capital to Nanjing and gave the Nationalist Government domestic control and foreign recognition, and the Second Sino-Japanese War, during which the Japanese established puppet Nationalist Governments with almost the identical organizational structure.
Following the Chinese victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Nationalist Government under Chiang Kai-shek was restored in Nanjing and the KMT set out to enact a liberal democratic Constitution in line with the last stage of Sun Yat-sen's three stages of national development. The new Constitution of the Republic of China, promulgated on December 25, 1947, established a five-branch government with the office of president (總統) as head of state. On May 20, 1948, Chiang Kai-shek was formally elected by the National Assembly to be the first term president.
[edit] Powers
The president is currently selected by a plurality voting direct election of the areas administered by the Republic of China for a term of four years. Before 1991, the president was selected by the National Assembly of the Republic of China for a term of six years.
The Constitution names the president as head of state and commander-in-chief of the military of the Republic of China. The president is responsible for conducting foreign relations, such as concluding treaties, declaring war, and making peace. The president must promulgate all laws and has no right to veto. Other powers of the president include granting amnesty, pardon or clemency, declaring martial law, and conferring honors and decorations.
The President can appoint Senior Advisors (資政) and National Policy Advisors (國策顧問), but they do not form a council. [1][2]
The Constitution, which stipulates a semi-presidential system, does not clearly define whether the president is more powerful than the premier, as it names the Executive Yuan (headed by the premier) as the "highest administrative authority" with oversight over domestic matters while giving the president powers as commander-in-chief of the military and authority over foreign affairs. Prior to his election as president in 1948, Chiang Kai-shek had insisted that he be premier under the new Constitution, while allowing the president (to which Chiang nominated Hu Shih) be a mere figurehead.[1] However, the National Assembly overwhelmingly supported Chiang as president and once in this position, Chiang continued to exercise vast prerogatives as leader and the premiership served to execute policy, not make it. Thus, until the 1980s power in the Republic of China was personalized rather than institutionalized which meant that the power of the president depended largely on who occupied the office. For example, during the tenure of Yen Chia-kan, the office was largely ceremonial with real power in the hands of the Premier of the Republic of China, Chiang Ching-Kuo, and power switched back to the presidency when Chiang became president. After President Lee Teng-hui succeeded Chiang as president in 1988, the power struggle within the KMT extended to the constitutional debate over the relationship between the president and the premier. The first three premiers under Lee, Yu Kuo-hwa, Lee Huan, and Hau Pei-tsun were mainlanders who had initially opposed Lee's ascension to power. The appointment of Lee and Hau were compromises by President Lee to placate conservatives in the KMT. The subsequent appointment of the first native Taiwanese premier Lien Chan was taken as a sign of Lee's consolidation of power. Moreover, during this time, the power of the premier to approve the president's appointments and the power of the Legislative Yuan to confirm the president's choice of premier was removed (out of fears that the Democratic Progressive Party would one day gain control of the legislature), establishing the president as the more powerful position of the two.
After the 2000 election of Chen Shui-bian as president, the presidency and the Legislative Yuan were controlled by different parties which brought forth a number of latent constitutional issues such as the role of the legislature in appointing and dismissing a premier, the right of the president to call a special session of the legislature, and who has the power to call a referendum. Most of these issues have been resolved through inter-party negotiations.
[edit] Diplomatic protocol
The diplomatic protocol regarding the President of the ROC is rather complex because of the anomalous political status of Taiwan. In the two dozen or so nations which recognize the ROC as a legitimate government, he is accorded the standard treatment that is given to a head of state. In other nations, he is formally a private citizen, although even in these cases, travel usually meets with strong objections from the People's Republic of China.
The President of ROC has traveled several times to the United States, formally in transit to and from Central America, where a number of countries do recognize the ROC. This system allows the President to visit the United States without the U.S. State Department having to issue a visa. During these trips, the President is not formally treated as a head of state, does not meet officially with U.S. government officials, and does not visit Washington, D.C.
In the case of Southeast Asia, the ROC President was able to arrange visits in the early 1990s which were formally private tourist visits, however these have become increasingly infrequent as a result of PRC pressure.
At the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit, the ROC President is forbidden from attending personally and must send a special envoy to represent him at the event.
[edit] List of Presidents
| Party Color Key |
|---|
| No party |
| Tongmenghui |
| Beiyang clique |
| Progressive Party |
| Kuomintang (KMT) |
| Dem. Progressive Party (DPP) |
- ^ U.S. Department of State, The China White Paper (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1967), 273.
- ^ Restored the monarchy from December 12, 1915 to March 22, 1916.
- ^ Zhang Xun restored Qing Empire from July 1 to July 12 in 1917.
- ^ a b Duan Qirui was the Provisional Chief Executive from November 24, 1924 to April 20, 1926.
- ^ Zhang Zuolin was the Generalissimo of the Military Government from June 18, 1927 to June 2, 1928.
- ^ Died in March 5, 1965.
[edit] Elections
| Candidates and nominating parties | Votes | % | Votes before recount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu | 6,446,900 | 50.11 | 6,471,970 |
| Lien Chan and James C.Y. Soong | 6,423,906 | 49.89 | 6,442,452 |
| Total (turnout 80.28 %) | 12,914,422 | 100.0 | |
| Invalid votes | 337,297 | ||
| Votes cast | 13,251,719 |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Image:Zhongwen.svg | This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. |
fr:Liste des présidents de Taïwan zh-classical:中華民國總統 ko:중화민국 총통 id:Daftar presiden Republik China ja:中華民国総統 simple:President of the Republic of China vi:Tổng thống Trung Hoa Dân Quốc zh:中華民國總統
