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The Constitution of the Republic of China () is the fundamental law of the Republic of China (ROC), which since 1949 only controls the free area of the Republic of China, which is the island of Taiwan and minor outlying islands, the territories not lost to the Chinese Communists. It was adopted by the National Constituent Assembly on 25 December 1946, and went into effect on 25 December 1947, at a time when the ROC still had nominal control of Mainland China and to which this constitution applied. This made China (with approx. 450 million people at that time) the most populous "paper democracy" in the world. The latest revision to the constitution was in 2004. 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 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 Martial law was lifted in 1987, and in 1991 the Temporary Provisions were repealed and the Constitution amended to reflect the government's loss of mainland China, and the Constitution finally formed the basis of a multi-party democracy.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. == History == The Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China was drawn up in March 1912 and formed the basic government document of the Republic of China until 1928. It provided a Western-style parliamentary system headed by a weak president. However, the system was quickly usurped when Song Jiaoren, who as leader of the KMT was to become prime minister following the party's victory in the 1913 elections, was assassinated by the orders of President Yuan Shikai. Yuan regularly flouted the elected assembly and assumed dictorial powers. Upon his death in 1916, China disintegrated into warlordism and the Beiyang Government operating under the Constitution remained in the hands of various military leaders. The Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek established control over much of China by 1928. The Nationalist Government promulgated the Provisional Constitution of the Political Tutelage Period on May 5, 1931, which was called the "Five Five Constitution." Under this document, the government operated under a one-party system with supreme power held by the National Congress of the Kuomintang and effective power held by the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang. In Leninist fashion, it permitted a system of dual party-state committees to form the basis of government. The KMT intended this Constitution to remain in effect until the country had been pacified and the people sufficiently "educated" to participate in democratic government. The current Constitution traces its origins to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The impending outbreak of the Chinese Civil War pressured Chiang Kai-shek into enacting a democratic Constitution that would end KMT one-party rule. The Communists sought a coalition of one-third Nationalists, one-third Communists, and one-third other parties, to form a government that would draft the new Constitution. However, while rejecting this idea, the KMT and the CCP jointly held a convention at which both parties presented views. Amidst heated debate, many of the demands from the Communist Party were met, including the popular election of the Legislative Yuan. Together, these drafts are called the Constitutional Draft of the Political Convention (政協憲草). The Constitution, with minor revisions from the latest draft, was adopted by the National Assembly on December 25, 1946, promulgated by the National Government on January 1, 1947, and went into effect on December 25, 1947. The Constitution was seen as the third and final stage of Kuomintang reconstruction of China. The Communists, though they attended the convention, and participated in drafting the constitution, boycotted the National Assembly and declared after the ratification that not only would they not recognize the ROC constitution, but all bills passed by the Nationalist administration would be disregarded as well. However, due to their showing in the election (approx. 800 out of 3045 seats,) their boycott did not prevent the Assembly from reaching quorum and thus electing Chiang Chung-cheng (蔣中正) and Lee Tsung-ren (李宗仁) as President and Vice President respectively. Chou Enlai challenged the legitimacy of the National Assembly in 1947 by asserting that the KMT hand-picked its members 10 years earlier, and thus the Assembly could not be the legal representatives of the Chinese people. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Constitution of the Republic of China」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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