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President of the Republic of China Wikipedia

The President of the Republic of China (中華民國總統) is the head of state of the Republic of China, the government which administered part or all of Mainland China from 1917 to 1949 and has administered Taiwan and several outlying islands from 1945 until the present. This polity has only had a president since 1948. Between 1912 and 1928, a different polity, also known as the Republic of China, ruled over most of China, and also had a president.

Outside of Taiwan, the President of the ROC is commonly referred to as the "President of Taiwan" (台灣總統). This usage is actually
rather uncommon on Taiwan itself, as members of the pan-blue coalition dislike the term because it implies separation from the concept of China, while members of the pan-green coalition, even those who support Taiwan independence, generally regard calling the office President of Taiwan needlessly provocative. For its part, the People's Republic of China refuses to formally recognize the office as president at all, and in official statements the PRC either places the term president in quotation mark|quotes or more commonly refers to the office holder as <i>leader of the Taiwan authorities</i>.

The President is currently selected by a First Past the Post electoral system|first past the post 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.

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 2000, and the election of Chen Shui-bian to the Presidency, 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.

Last Modified:   2005-04-13