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The Republic of China (ROC) was formally established by Sun Yat-sen in 1912, under the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China. Throughout its history, several governments fought for control over the state. However, by 1928, the Nationalist Government prevailed following the completion of the Northern Expedition, becoming the recognized government of China and functioned as a one-party state with a capital city of Nanjing. The government retained this form until the promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1947, when a new constitutional government was established. This was the same government that was transplanted to Taipei in 1949 following the Chinese Civil War and the formal establishment of the People's Republic of China on Mainland China.

A single-party state for much of its history, the Republic of China evolved into a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Today, the government is led by an elected President, whom serves as head of state. The Premier is the head of government, while the legislature is known as the Legislative Yuan.

Names

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During its period on the mainland, the Republic of China was commonly referred to as China within the international community. When the Kuomintang lost control of mainland China and relocated the ROC government to Taiwan, the international community revised the terminology of the state to terms such as Nationalist China or Free China to differentiate it from the communist-controlled mainland, which was then referred to as "Communist China" or "Red China".

After losing its seat in the United Nations, the international community has since been increasingly using the name Taiwan when referring to the ROC. Diplomatic disputes with the PRC have since resulted in different political terms for the state, such as the name Chinese Taipei, which the ROC uses in order to participate in various international organizations and sporting events such as the Olympics.

On the other hand, the names Taiwan, China and Taiwan, Province of China are commonly used by the People's Republic of China to refer to the Republic of China, implying that the PRC exercises sovereignty over the territory the ROC currently administers.

History

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Main article: History of the Republic of China

The Republic of China was formally established on 1 January 1912 on mainland China following the Xinhai Revolution which itself began with the Wuchang Uprising on 10 October 1911, and replaced the Qing Dynasty and ended over two thousand years of imperial rule in China. It is the oldest surviving republic in East Asia. The Republic of China on mainland China went through periods of warlordism, Japanese invasion, and civil war between the Kuomintang-led Central Government and the Communists. From its founding until 1949 it was based in mainland China. Central authority waxed and waned in response to warlordism (1915–28), Japanese invasion (1937–45), and the Chinese Civil War (1927–49), with central authority strongest during the Nanjing Decade (1927–37) when most of China came under the control of the Kuomintang (KMT). At the end of World War II in 1945, the Empire of Japan surrendered control of Taiwan and its island groups to the Allied Forces, and Taiwan was placed under Republic of China's administrative control. The legitimacy of this transfer is disputed and is another aspect of the disputed political status of Taiwan.

The communist takeover of mainland China in the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and later Hainan, Tachen and other outlying islands in the early 1950s left the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) with control over only Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands. With the 1949 loss of mainland China in the civil war, the ROC government fled to Taiwan and the KMT declared Taipei the provisional capital.[1] The Communist Party of China took over all of mainland China[2][3] and founded the People's Republic of China in Beijing, leading to two rival governments claiming to be the sole legitimate government of "China". However, until the 1970s the ROC was still recognized by many countries and the United Nations as the sole legitimate government of "China", which included both mainland China and Taiwan. The ROC had been a founding member of the United Nations[4] and one of the five permanent members of the Security Council until 1971, when China's representation was replaced by the PRC via UN General Assembly Resolution 2758. Since then, ROC has struggled with limited formal diplomatic relations and is unable to use its official name widely, and is forced to be identified as "Taiwan" or "Chinese Taipei" in most international contexts.

Starting in 1928, the Republic of China was ruled by the Kuomintang as an authoritarian single-party state.[5] In the 1950s and 1960s, the KMT went through wide restructuring and decreased corruption and implemented land reform. There followed a period of great economic growth, the Republic of China became one of the Four Asian Tigers, despite the constant threat of war and civil unrest. In the 1980s and 1990s the government peacefully transitioned to a democratic system, with the first direct presidential election in 1996 and the 2000 election of Chen Shui-bian, the first non-KMT to become President of the Republic of China. The KMT regained the presidency and increased its majority in the legislature in the 2008 presidential and legislative elections.[6]

Founding

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Map of the Republic of China printed by Rand McNally & Co. in 1914. The Republic of China encompassed mainland China while Taiwan was part of the Empire of Japan.
Territory of the Republic of China in 1914
A drawing depicting two lions looking up in front of two flags. The flag on the left is red and blue with a white sun; while the one on the right is made of five vertical stripes (black, white, blue, yellow and red). Two circular pictures of two Chinese men stand in front of each flag.
Yuan Shikai (left) and Sun Yat-sen (right) with flags representing the early republic

In 1911, after over two thousand years of imperial rule, a republic was established in China and the monarchy overthrown by a group of revolutionaries. The Qing Dynasty, having just experienced a century of instability, suffered from both internal rebellion and foreign imperialism.[7] The Neo-Confucian principles that had, to that time, sustained the dynastic system were now called into question.[8] Its support of the Boxers in a failed uprising against the world's major powers was its final mistake. The Qing forces were defeated and China was forced to give a huge indemnity to the foreign powers; an equivalent to £67 million to be paid over 39 years. Disconnected from the population and unable to face the challenges of modern China, the Qing government was in its final throes. Only the lack of an alternative regime in sight was prolonging its existence until 1912.[9][10]

The establishment of Republican China developed out of the Wuchang Uprising against the Qing on 10 October 1911. That date is now celebrated annually as the ROC's national day, also known as the "Double Ten Day". On 29 December 1911, Sun Yat-Sen was elected president by the Nanjing assembly representing seventeen provinces. On 1 January 1912, he was officially inaugurated and pledged "to overthrow the despotic Manchu government, consolidate the Republic of China and plan for the welfare of the people".

Sun however lacked the military support to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. Realizing this, he handed over the presidency to Yuan Shikai, the imperial general, who then forced the last emperor Puyi to abdicate. Yuan Shikai was officially elected president in 1913.[7][11] Yuan ruled by military power and ignored the republican institutions established by his predecessor, threatening to execute Senate members that would disagree with his decisions. He soon dissolved the ruling Kuomintang party and banned "secret organizations" (which implicitly included the KMT), and ignored the provisional constitution. An attempt at a democratic election in 1911 ended up with the assassination of the elected candidate by a man recruited by Yuan. Ultimately, Yuan Shikai declared himself Emperor of China in 1915.[12] The new ruler of China tried to increase centralization by abolishing the provincial system; however this move angered the gentry along with the province governors, usually military men. Many provinces declared independence and became warlord states. Increasingly unpopular and deserted by his supporters, Yuan Shikai gave up on becoming Emperor in 1916 and died of natural causes shortly after.[13][14]

Thus devoid of a strong, unified government, China thrust into another period of warlordism. Sun Yat-sen, forced into exile, returned to Guangdong province in the south with the help of warlords in 1917 and 1922, and set up successive rival governments; he re-established the KMT in October 1919. Sun's dream was to unify China by launching an expedition to the north. He however lacked military support and funding to make it a reality.[15]

The Beiyang government in Beijing struggled to hold on to power. An open and wide-ranging debate evolved regarding how China should confront the West. In 1919, a student protest against the weak response of China to the Treaty of Versailles, considered unfair by Chinese intellectuals, led to the May Fourth movement. These demonstrations were aimed at spreading Western influence to replace Chinese culture. It is also in this intellectual climate that the influence of Marxism spread and became more popular. It eventually led to the founding of the Communist Party of China in 1921.[16]

Chinese Civil War and World War II

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Further information: Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese civil war
A Chinese man in military uniform, smiling and looking towards the left. He holds a sword in his left hand and has a medal in shape of a sun on his chest.
Chiang Kai-shek, who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925

After Sun's death in March 1925, Chiang Kai-shek became the leader of the KMT. In 1926, Chiang led the Northern Expedition through China with the intention of defeating the warlords and unifying China. Chiang received the help of the Soviet Union; however he soon dismissed his Soviet advisors. He was convinced, not without reason, that they wanted to get rid of the Nationalists and take over control.[17] Chiang decided to strike first and purged the Communists, killing thousands of them[citation needed]. At the same time, other violent conflicts were taking place in China; in the South, where the Communists were in superior numbers, Nationalist supporters were being massacred[citation needed]. These events eventually led to the Chinese Civil War. Chiang Kai-shek pushed the Communists into the interior as he sought to destroy them, and established a government with Nanjing as its capital in 1927.[18] By 1928, Chiang's army overturned the Beiyang government and unified the entire nation, at least nominally.

According to Sun Yat-sen's theory, the KMT was to rebuild China in three phases: a phase of military rule through which the KMT would take over power and reunite China by force; a phase of political tutelage; and finally a constitutional democratic phase.[19] In 1930, the Nationalists, having taken over the power, started the second phase, and promulgated a provisional constitution for the political tutelage period and began the period of so-called "tutelage".[20] They were criticized as instituting totalitarianism but claimed they were attempting to establish a modern democratic society. Among others, they created at that time the Academia Sinica, the Central Bank of China and other agencies. In 1932, China sent a team for the first time to the Olympic Games. Historians, such as Edmund Fung, argue that establishing a democracy in China at that time was not possible. The nation was at war and divided between Communists and Nationalists. Corruption within the government and lack of direction also prevented any significant reform from taking place. Chiang realized the lack of real work being done within his administration and told the State Council: "Our organization becomes worse and worse... many staff members just sit at their desks and gaze into space, others read newspapers and still others sleep."[21] The Nationalist Government wrote a draft of the constitution in 5 May 1936.[22]

The Nationalists faced a new challenge with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, with hostilities continuing through the Second Sino-Japanese War, part of World War II, from 1937 to 1945. The Nationalist Government retreated to Chongqing after Nanjing fell to the Japanese. In 1945, after the war of eight years, Japan surrendered and the Republic of China, under the name "China", became one of the founding members of the United Nations. The government returned to Nanjing in 1946.

After World War II

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Further information: Taiwan after World War II and Taiwan Strait Crisis

After the defeat of Japan during World War II, Taiwan was surrendered to the Allies, with ROC troops accepting the surrender of the Japanese garrison. The government of the ROC proclaimed the "retrocession" of Taiwan to the Republic of China and established the provincial government at Taiwan. The military administration of the ROC extended over Taiwan, which led to widespread unrest and increasing tensions between Taiwanese and mainlanders.[23] The shooting of a civilian on 28 February 1947 triggered island-wide unrest, which was suppressed with military force in what is now called the 228 Incident. Mainstream estimates of casualties range from 18,000 to 30,000, mainly Taiwanese elites.[24][25] The 228 incident has had far-reaching effects on subsequent Taiwan history.

From 1945 to 1947, under United States mediation, especially through the Marshall Mission, the Nationalists and Communists agreed to start a series of peace talks aiming at establishing a coalition government. They however failed to reach an agreement and the civil war resumed.[26] In the context of political and military animosity, the National Assembly was summoned by the Nationalists without the participation of the Communists and promulgated the Constitution of the Republic of China. The constitution was criticized by the Communists,[27] and led to the final break between the two sides.[28] The full scale civil war resumed from early 1947.[29]

In 1948, the ROC administration imposed perpetual martial law.[1] Meanwhile, the civil war was escalating from regional areas to the entire nation. Eventually, the Communist troops, supported by the Soviet Union, defeated the ROC army, supported by the United States. Subsequently in October 1949, the Communists declared the founding the People's Republic of China.[30]

Chiang evacuated the government to Taiwan in December 1949 and made Taipei the temporary capital of the ROC (also called the "wartime capital" by Chiang Kai-shek).[2][31] In his retreat, he also transferred China's gold reserves to Taiwan. Between one and two million refugees from mainland China followed him, adding to the earlier population of approximately six million.[1][32][33]

Government on Taiwan

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See also: History of Taiwan
With President Chiang Kai-shek, the U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower waved hands to Taiwanese people during his visit to Taipei, Taiwan in June 1960.

The ROC government, now threatened by both demands for independence within Taiwan, and by the Communists in mainland China, became increasingly dictatorial. The White Terror, started while the ROC central government was still governed from mainland China, remained in place until 1987 as a way to suppress the political opposition.[34] During these acts of violence, 140,000 Taiwan residents were imprisoned or executed for being perceived as anti-KMT or pro-Communist.[35]

Initially, the United States abandoned the KMT and expected that Taiwan would fall to the Communists. However, in 1950 the conflict between North Korea and South Korea, which had been ongoing since the Japanese withdrawal in 1945, escalated into full-blown war, and in the context of the Cold War, US President Harry S. Truman intervened again and dispatched the 7th Fleet into the Taiwan Straits to prevent hostilities between Taiwan and mainland China.[36] In the Treaty of San Francisco and the Treaty of Taipei, which came into force respectively on 28 April 1952 and 5 August 1952, Japan formally renounced all right, claim and title to Taiwan and Penghu, and renounced all treaties signed with China before 1942. The United States and the United Kingdom disagreed on whether the ROC or the PRC was the legitimate government of China—as a result both treaties remained silent about who would take control of the island.[37] Continuing conflict of the Chinese Civil War through the 1950s, and intervention by the United States notably resulted in legislations such as the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty and the Formosa Resolution of 1955.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the ROC maintained an authoritarian, single-party government while its economy became industrialized and technology oriented. This rapid economical growth, known as the Taiwan Miracle, was the result of a fiscal regime independent from mainland China and backed up, among others, by the support of US funds and demand for Taiwanese products.[38][39] In the 1970s, Taiwan was economically the second fastest growing state in Asia after Japan.[40] Taiwan, along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore, became known as one of the Four Asian Tigers. Because of the Cold War, most Western nations and the United Nations regarded the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s. Later and especially after the termination of the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, most nations switched diplomatic recognition to the PRC.

Up until the 1970s, the ROC was regarded by Western critics as undemocratic for upholding martial law, for severely repressing any political opposition and for controlling media. The KMT did not allow the creation of new parties and those that existed did not seriously compete with the KMT. Thus, competitive democratic elections did not exist.[41][42][43][44][45] From the late 1970s to the 1990s, however, reforms slowly moved the Republic of China from an authoritarian state to a democracy. In 1979, a pro-democracy protest known as the Kaohsiung Incident took place in Kaohsiung to celebrate Human Rights Day. Although the protest was rapidly crushed by the authorities, it is today considered as the main event that united Taiwan's opposition.[46] In 1986, Chiang Ching-kuo and Lee Teng-hui allowed for the creation of new political parties, which led to the founding of the first opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party. In 1987, the martial law was lifted along with, a year later, the ban on new newspaper registration. The democratization process eventually led to the first direct presidential election by universal adult suffrage in 1996.[47][48]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Taiwan Timeline – Retreat to Taiwan". BBC News. 2000. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  2. ^ a b China: U.S. policy since 1945. Congressional Quarterly. 1980. ISBN 0871871882. the city of Taipei became the temporary capital of the Republic of China
  3. ^ "Introduction to Sovereignty: A Case Study of Taiwan". Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education. 2004. Retrieved 2010-02-25. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ "Growth in United Nations membership, 1945–present".
  5. ^ Roy, Denny (2003). Taiwan: A Political History. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. pp. 55, 56. ISBN 0-8014-8805-2.
  6. ^ "Decisive election win puts KMT back in power". ROC Central News Agency. 2008-03-22.
  7. ^ a b "The Chinese Revolution of 1911". US Department of State. Retrieved 2009-05-20.[dead link‍]
  8. ^ Trocki, Carl A. (1999). Opium, empire and the global political economy: a study of the Asian opium trade, 1750–1950. Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 0415199182.
  9. ^ Fenby 2009, pp. 89–94
  10. ^ Fairbank (1972). China. p. 235. ISBN 0690076126. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Fenby 2009, pp. 123–125
  12. ^ Fenby 2009, p. 131
  13. ^ Fenby 2009, pp. 136–138
  14. ^ Meyer, Kathryn (2002). Webs of Smoke. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 54–56. ISBN 074252003X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Pak, Edwin (2005). Essentials of Modern Chinese History. Research & Education Assoc. pp. 59–61. ISBN 9780878914586. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Guillermaz, Jacques (1972). A History of the Chinese Communist Party 1921–1949. Taylor & Francis. pp. 22–23.
  17. ^ Fenby 2009
  18. ^ "南京市". 重編囯語辭典修訂本. Ministry of Education, ROC. 民國十六年，國民政府宣言定為首都，今以臺北市為我國中央政府所在地。(In the 16th Year of the Republic of China [1927], the National Government established [Nanjing] as the capital. At present, Taipei is the seat of the central government.)
  19. ^ (Fung 2000, p. 30)
  20. ^ Chen, Lifu (1994). Hsu-hsin Chang, Ramon Hawley Myers (ed.). The storm clouds clear over China: the memoir of Chʻen Li-fu, 1900–1993. Hoover Press. p. 102. ISBN 0817992723. After the 1930 mutiny ended, Chiang accepted the suggestion of Wang Ching-wei, Yen Hsi-shan, and Feng Yü-hsiang that a provisional constitution for the political tutelage period be drafted. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ (Fung 2000, p. 5) "Nationalist disunity, political instability, civil strife, the communist challenge, the autocracy of Chiang Kai-shek, the ascendancy of the military, the escalating Japanese threat, and the "crisis of democracy" in Italy, Germany, Poland, and Spain, all contributed to a freezing of democracy by the Nationalist leadership."
  22. ^ 荆, 知仁. 中华民国立宪史 (in Simplified Chinese). 联经出版公司.
  23. ^ "This Is the Shame". Time Magazine. 1946-06-10.
  24. ^ "Snow Red & Moon Angel". Time Magazine. 1947-04-07.
  25. ^ "Taiwan Timeline – Civil War". BBC News. 2000. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  26. ^ Inc, Time (1956). LIFE, Truman, China and History. Vol. 40. Time Inc.
  27. ^ 评马歇尔离华声明，周恩来选集上卷，1947-1-10
  28. ^ 首都卫戍司令部，淞沪重庆警备司令，分别致电函京沪渝中共代表，所有中共人员限期全部撤退，重庆:大公报,1947-3-1
  29. ^ Westad, Odd Arne (2003). Decisive encounters: the Chinese Civil War, 1946–1950. ISBN 0804744785.
  30. ^ Kubek, Anthony (1963). How the Far East was lost: American policy and the creation of Communist China. ISBN 0856220000.
  31. ^ "A brief history of Taiwan" (in Chinese). Government Information Office, Republic of China. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 1949年，國民政府退守臺灣後，以臺北為戰時首都
  32. ^ Dunbabin, J. P. D. (2008). The Cold War. Pearson Education. p. 187. ISBN 978-0582423985. In 1949 Chiang Kai-shek had transferred to Taiwan the government, gold reserve, and some of the army of his Republic of China.
  33. ^ Ng, Franklin (1998). The Taiwanese Americans. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 10. ISBN 9780313297625.
  34. ^ "28 February 1947 – Taiwan's Holocaust Remembered – 60th Commemoration". New Taiwan, Ilha Formosa. 2007. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  35. ^ "Taiwan president apologises for 'white terror' era". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  36. ^ US Department of Defense (1950). "Classified Teletype Conference, dated 27 June 1950, between the Pentagon and General Douglas MacArthur regarding authorization to use naval and air forces in support of South Korea. Papers of Harry S. Truman: Naval Aide Files". Truman Presidential Library and Museum: 1 and 4. Page 1: In addition 7th Fleet will take station so as to prevent invasion of Formosa and to insure that Formosa not be used as base of operations against Chinese mainland." Page 4: "Seventh Fleet is hereby assigned to operational control CINCFE for employment in following task hereby assigned CINCFE: By naval and air action prevent any attack on Formosa, or any air or sea offensive from Formosa against mainland of China. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  37. ^ Alagappa, Muthiah (2001). Taiwan's presidential politics. M.E. Sharpe. p. 265. ISBN 9780765608345.
  38. ^ "Taiwan Timeline – Cold war fortress". BBC News. 2002. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  39. ^ Woodward, Taiwanese hyperinflation, "Yet, the Chinese Nationalist government attempted to isolate Taiwan from the mainland inflation by creating it as an independent currency area. And during the later stages of the civil war it was able to end the hyperinflation on Taiwan, something it was unable to do on the mainland despite two attempts."
  40. ^ "China: Chiang Kai-shek: Death of the Casualty". TIME. 14 April 1975. p. 3. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  41. ^ Sun, Yat-sen (1994). Julie Lee Wei, Ramon Hawley Myers, Donald G. Gillin (ed.). Prescriptions for saving China: selected writings of Sun Yat-sen. Hoover Press. p. 36. ISBN 0817992812. The party first applied Sun's concept of political tutelage by governing through martial law, not tolerating opposition parties, controlling the public media, and using the 1947 constitution drawn up on the China mainland to govern. Thus, much of the world in those years gave the ROC government low scores for democracy and human rights but admitted it had accomplished an economic miracle. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  42. ^ Chao, Linda (1997). Democracy's new leaders in the Republic of China on Taiwan. Hoover Press. p. 3. ISBN 0817938028. Although this party [the KMT] had initiated a democratic breakthrough and guided the democratic transition, it had also upheld martial law for thirty-six years and severely repressed political dissent and any efforts to establish an opposition party. [...] How was it possible that this party, so hated by opposition politicians and long regarded by Western critics as a dictatorial, Leninist-type party, still remained in power? {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  43. ^ (Fung 2000, p. 67) "Nanjing was not only undemocratic and repressive but also inefficient and corrupt. [...] Furthermore, like other authoritarian regimes, the GMD sought to control people's mind."
  44. ^ (Fung 2000, p. 85) "The response to national emergency, critics argued, was not merely military, it was, even more important, political, requiring the termination of one-party dictatorship and the development of democratic institutions."
  45. ^ Copper, John Franklin (2005). Consolidating Taiwan's democracy. University Press of America. p. 8. ISBN 0761829776. Also, the "Temporary Provisions" (of the Constitution) did not permit forming new political parties, and those that existed at this time did not seriously compete with the Nationalist Party. Thus, at the national level the KMT did not permit competitive democratic elections.
  46. ^ "Out with the old". BBC News. 2002. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  47. ^ "Taiwan Timeline – Out with the old". BBC News. 2002. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  48. ^ "Taiwan Timeline – Path to democracy". BBC News. 2002. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
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