Constitution: 1 January 1947, amended in 1992, 1994, and 1997
Legal system: based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President LEE Teng-hui (succeeded to the presidency following the death of President CHIANG Ching-kuo 13 January 1988, elected by the National Assembly 21 March 1990, elected by popular vote in the first-ever direct elections for president 23 March 1996); Vice President LIEN Chan (since 20 May 1996) head of government: Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) Vincent SIEW (since 1 September 1997) and Vice Premier (Vice President of the Executive Yuan) LIU Chao-shiuan (since 10 December 1997) cabinet: Executive Yuan appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 23 March 1996 (next to be held NA 2000); premier appointed by the president; vice premiers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier election results: LEE Teng-hui elected president; percent of vote-LEE Teng-hui 54%, PENG Ming-min 21%, LIN Yang-kang 15%, and CHEN Li-an 10%
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Yuan (164 seats-128 elected by popular vote, 36 indirectly elected on the basis of proportional representation; members serve three-year terms; note-in 1997, the National Assembly passed an amendment to increase the membership of the Legislative Yuan to 225 seats, of which 168 are to be elected by popular vote, 41 by proportional representation, and 16 from aboriginal and Chinese groups) and unicameral National Assembly (334 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: Legislative Yuan-last held 2 December 1995 (next to be held NA December 1998); National Assembly-last held 23 March 1996 (next to be held NA 2000) election results: Legislative Yuan-percent of vote by party-KMT 46%, DPP 33%, CNP 13%, independents 8%; seats by party-KMT 85, DPP 54, CNP 21, independents 4; note-since the election, there has been a change in the distribution of seats, the new distribution is as follows-KMT 81, DPP 46, CNP 19, independents 8, other 5, vacant 5; National Assembly-percent of vote by party-KMT 55%, DPP 30%, CNP 14%, other 1%; seats by party-KMT 183, DPP 99, CNP 46, other 6
Judicial branch: Judicial Yuan, justices appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly
Political parties and leaders: Kuomintang (KMT, Nationalist Party),
LEE Teng-hui, chairman; Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), HSU
Hsin-Liang, chairman; Chinese New Party (CNP), leader NA; Taiwan
Independence Party (TAIP), HSU Shih-Kai; other various parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: Taiwan independence movement, various environmental groups note: debate on Taiwan independence has become acceptable within the mainstream of domestic politics on Taiwan; political liberalization and the increased representation of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan's legislature have opened public debate on the island's national identity; advocates of Taiwan independence, including within the DPP, oppose the ruling party's traditional stand that the island will eventually reunify with mainland China; goals of the Taiwan independence movement include establishing a sovereign nation on Taiwan and entering the UN; other organizations supporting Taiwan independence include the World United Formosans for Independence and the Organization for Taiwan Nation Building
International organization participation: APEC, AsDB, BCIE, ICC, IOC,
WCL, WTrO (applicant)
Diplomatic representation in the US: none; unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of the US are maintained through a private instrumentality, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) with headquarters in Taipei and field offices in Washington and 12 other US cities