The Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法) is the fundamental law of the Republic of China (ROC), which currently controls the island of Taiwan and minor outlying islands. It was Adopted by the National Constituent Assembly on 25 December 1946, and went into effect on 25 December 1947. This made China (with approx. 450 million people) the most populous democracy in the world. The latest revision to the constitution was in April 2000.
Drafted by the Kuomintang (KMT) as part of its third stage of national development (i.e., representative democracy), it established a centralized Republic with five branches of government. Though the Constitution was intended for the whole of China, it was neither extensively nor effectively implemented as the KMT was already fully embroiled in a civil war with the Communist Party of China by the time of its promulgation.
Following the KMT's retreat to Taiwan in 1949, the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion("Temporary Provisions" for short) gave the KMT government extra-constitutional powers. Despite the Constitution, Taiwan was an authoritarian one-party state. Democratization began in the 1980s. Martial law was lifted in 1987; and the Temporary Provisions were repealed and the Constitution was amended in 1991 to reflect the government's loss of mainland China, and the Constitution finally formed the basis of a multi-party democracy.
During the 1990s and early 2000s (decade), the Constitution's origins in mainland China led to supporters of Taiwan independence to push for a new Taiwanese Constitution. However, attempts by the Democratic Progressive Party administration to create a new Constitution during the second term of DPP President Chen Shui-bian failed, because the then opposition Kuomintang controlled the Legislative Yuan. It was only agreed to reform the Constitution of the Republic of China, not to create a new one. It was lastly amended in 2005, with the consent of both the KMT and the DPP.
Read more about Constitution Of The Republic Of China: History, Content, Referendums and Constitutional Reform
Famous quotes containing the words constitution of the, constitution of, constitution, republic and/or china:
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
—Constitution of the World Health Organization.
“I never did ask more, nor ever was willing to accept less, than for all the States, and the people thereof, to take and hold their places, and their rights, in the Union, under the Constitution of the United States. For this alone have I felt authorized to struggle; and I seek neither more nor less now.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“If you complain of neglect of education in sons, what shall I say with regard to daughters, who every day experience the want of it? With regard to the education of my own children, I find myself soon out of my depth, destitute and deficient in every part of education. I most sincerely wish ... that our new Constitution may be distinguished for encouraging learning and virtue. If we mean to have heroes, statesmen, and philosophers, we should have learned women.”
—Abigail Adams (1744–1818)
“The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight.”
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)
“Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve, I’ve dreamed of havin’ my own things about me. My spinet over there and a table here. My own chairs to rest upon and a dresser over there in that corner, and my own china and pewter shinin’ about me.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)