ROC Constitution
| Constitution of the Republic of China |
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Zhōnghuá Mínguó Xiànfǎ |
| Bopomofo | ㄓㄨㄥ ㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄈㄚˋ |
| Gwoyeu Romatzyh | Jonghwa Min'gwo Shiannfaa |
| Wade–Giles | Chung¹-hua² Min²-kuo² Hsien⁴-fa³ |
| Tongyong Pinyin | Jhonghuá Mínguó Siànfǎ |
| MPS2 | Jūnghuá Mínguó Shiànfǎ |
| Hakka | |
| Romanization | Chûng-fà Mìn-koet Hien-fap |
| Southern Min | |
| Hokkien POJ | Tiong-hôa Bîn-kok Hiàn-hoat |
| Tâi-lô | Tiong-hûa Bîn-kok Hiàn-huat |
The Constitution of the Republic of China (Chinese: 中華民國憲法; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó Xiànfǎ) 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 essentially the island of Taiwan and some minor outlying islands, the only territories not lost to the Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War. 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 Martial law was lifted in 1987, and in 1991 the Temporary Provisions were repealed and the Constitution amended to reflect the government's loss of mainland China, and the Constitution finally formed the basis of a multi-party democracy.
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