President of the Republic of China

The President of the Republic of China (中華民國總統; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó Zǒngtǒng) 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, under the Beiyang warlords, the Republic of China was also headed by a president. The National Government headed by the Kuomintang from 1917 to 1948 was headed by a "chairman of the National Government" and not 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 quotes or more commonly refers to the office holder as leader of the Taiwan authorities. Template:Politics of Taiwan

The President is currently selected by a 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.

Diplomatic protocol

The diplomatic protocol regarding the ROC President 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.

In the case of the United States, the ROC President has travelled several times, formally in transit to and from Central America, which contains a number of nations which do recognize the ROC. This system allows the ROC President to visit the United States without the State Department having to issue a visa. During these trips, the ROC 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 1990's which were formally private tourist visits, however these have become increasingly infrequent as a result of PRC pressure.

List of Presidents

Presidents of the Republic of China, 1912-1928

President	Begin	End	Notes
Sun Yat-sen	1 January 1912	10 March 1912	provisional
Yuan Shikai	10 March 1912	6 June 1916	proclaimed himself the 'Emperor of the Chinese Empire' on December 12, 1915
Li Yuanhong	7 June 1916	17 July 1917
Feng Guozhang	17 July 1917	10 October 1918
Xu Shichang	10 October 1918	2 June 1922
Zhou Ziqi	2 June 1922	11 June 1922	acting
Li Yuanhong	11 June 1922	13 June 1923
Zhang Shaozeng	13 June 1923	9 September 1923	acting
Gao Lingwei	9 September 1923	10 October 1923	acting
Cao Kun	10 October 1923	2 November 1924
Huang Fu	2 November 1924	24 November 1924	acting
Duan Qirui	24 November 1924	20 April 1926	Provisional Chief Executive
Hu Weide	20 April 1926	13 May 1926	acting
Yan Huiqing	13 May 1926	22 June 1926
Du Xigui	22 June 1926	1 October 1926	acting
Gu Weijun	1 October 1926	18 June 1927	acting (also known as Wellington Koo)
Zhang Zuolin	18 June 1927	2 June 1928	Generalissimo of the Chinese Armed Forces

Presidents of the Republic of China, 1948-present

President	Begin	End	Party	Terms
Chiang Kai-Shek	May 20, 1948	January 21, 1949	KMT	Elected 1-5
Li Tsung-jen	January 21, 1949	March 1, 1950	KMT	Acting
Chiang Kai-Shek	March 1, 1950	April 5, 1975	KMT	see above
Yen Chia-kan	April 5, 1975	May 20, 1978	KMT	Finished 5
Chiang Ching-kuo	May 20, 1978	January 13, 1988	KMT	Elected 6-7
Lee Teng-hui	January 13, 1988	May 20, 2000	KMT	Finished 7; Elected 8-9
Chen Shui-bian	May 20, 2000	incumbent	DPP	Elected 10-11

For Presidents before the enactment of the 1947 Constitution, see list of leaders of the Republic of China.

Elections

• ROC presidential election, 1996
• ROC presidential election, 2000
• ROC presidential election, 2004

See also

• President of the People's Republic of China

External links

• Office of the President of the Republic of China (http://www.president.gov.tw/index_e.html)

ja:総統 (中華民国) zh:中華民國總統