Editing Politics of Taiwan (section)

== Legal framework ==
{{See also|Political status of Taiwan|Government of the Republic of China}}

Taiwan is governed under the [[Constitution of the Republic of China]], which was drafted in 1947 before the fall of the [[mainland China]] to the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) and the [[retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan|full retreat of the ROC government to Taiwan]]. The Constitution outlined a government intended for [[Greater China]], with territorial considerations encompassing [[mainland China]], [[Mongolia]], [[Taiwan]], and other [[Qing dynasty|Qing]]-ruled areas. Significant amendments were made to the Constitution in 1991, and there have been a number of judicial interpretations made to take into account the fact that the Constitution covers a [[Free area of the Republic of China|much smaller area]] than originally envisioned.

As the Kuomintang (KMT) government continued to insist that it was the only legitimate government of [[Greater China]], when the KMT retreated to [[Taipei]] in 1949, it re-established the full array of central political bodies which existed in mainland China in the ''de jure'' capital of [[Nanjing]] (Nanking). While much of this structure remains in place, in 1991 President [[Lee Teng-hui]] unofficially abandoned the government's claim of sovereignty over mainland China by stating that Taiwan does not "dispute the fact that the Communists control [[mainland China]]." However, the [[National Assembly (Republic of China)|National Assembly]] has not officially altered the nominal national borders, since to do so might be viewed as a prelude to formal [[Taiwanese independence]]. The People's Republic of China has several times threatened to start a war if the government of Taiwan formalizes independence, as codified in its [[Anti-Secession Law]]. Neither the National Assembly nor the [[Supreme Court of Taiwan|Supreme Court]] has defined the term "existing national boundaries," as stated in the constitution. The latter refused to do so, noting it was a "[[Political question#Taiwan|significant political question]]."<ref>{{cite web| url=https://cons.judicial.gov.tw/en/docdata.aspx?fid=100&id=310509| title=Interpretation No.328: The Boundaries of National Territory Case| publisher=Constitutional Court of Judicial Yuan| date=1993-11-26 |accessdate=2022-11-07}}</ref>

=== Administrative divisions ===
{{Main|Administrative divisions of Taiwan|Administrative divisions of China}}
The ROC currently administers the [[Geography of Taiwan|island of Taiwan]] (Formosa), [[Penghu]] (Pescadores), [[Kinmen]] (Quemoy) and [[Matsu Islands]]. The whole country is divided into two streamlined provinces ([[Taiwan Province|Taiwan]] and [[Fujian Province, Republic of China|Fukien]]) and six [[Special municipality (Taiwan)|special municipalities]]. Since the provinces are streamlined and the de facto dissolution of the provincial governments, the [[Provincial city (Taiwan)|cities]] and [[County (Taiwan)|counties]] are directly governed by the [[Government of the Republic of China|central government]], namely [[Executive Yuan]]. The central governed administrative divisions are listed below
* Six [[Special municipality (Taiwan)|special municipalities]]: [[Kaohsiung]], [[New Taipei]], [[Taichung]], [[Tainan]], [[Taipei]], and [[Taoyuan City|Taoyuan]].
* Two non-functioning [[Provinces of China|provinces]]: [[Fuchien Province, Republic of China|Fukien]] and [[Taiwan Province|Taiwan]]
** Three [[Provincial city (Taiwan)|provincial cities]]: [[Chiayi]], [[Keelung]], [[Hsinchu]].
** 13 [[County (Taiwan)|counties]]: [[Changhua County|Changhua]], [[Chiayi County|Chiayi]], [[Hsinchu County|Hsinchu]], [[Hualien County|Hualien]], [[Kinmen]], [[Matsu Islands|Lienchiang]], [[Miaoli County|Miaoli]], [[Nantou County|Nantou]], [[Penghu]], [[Pingtung County|Pingtung]], [[Taitung County|Taitung]], [[Yilan County, Taiwan|Yilan]] and [[Yunlin County|Yunlin]].