Taiwan Politics Database
www.taiwan-database.net

Welcome to the database politics Taiwan/R.O.C.!

The Republic of China (Zhonghua minguo 中華民國, abbrev. ROC) was established in 1912 and is a sovereign, independent and self-ruled state. Since 1987 it has evolved from a one-party dictatorship to a modern, vibrant multi-party democracy, and its jurisdiction today covers Taiwan, the Pescadores (Penghu), Kinmen (Quemoy), Matsu and several smaller islets. The ROC is usually referred to as Taiwan and should not be confused with the People's Republic of China (Zhonghua renmin gongheguo 中華人民共和國, abbrev. PRC) which is in control of the Chinese mainland. The administrative center of the ROC is Taipei.

Purpose of this website

This website is first and foremost a repository of data and information with the intention to cover all major aspects regarding politics of the ROC/Taiwan, providing reference material for academics, journalists and anybody interested in Taiwan affairs, cross-Strait issues and more.

Research on history and political science often involves gathering information about the structure of a government as well as the rulers and political players—understanding who held which office when. This website basically offers a concise but comprehensive record showing all ministerial-level officials (and more) in the history of the ROC. The ROC government structure, its changes and major political parties are also introduced.

According to Article 1 in the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, a state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications:
  • a permanent population;
  • a defined territory;
  • government; and
  • capacity to enter into relations with the other states.
This website shows that the ROC fulfills all those requirements.

Aside from providing data and information, another purpose of this website is promotion of Taiwan’s current vibrant multiparty democracy with all its freedoms and respect for human rights as its very existence is increasingly threatened by authoritarian expansionism, and Taiwan therefore needs the resolute support of other countries in the democratic camp.

Conflicting positions

Since the establishment of the PRC in 1949, there are two basic positions regarding the status of the ROC which are irreconcilable and have no common ground:

  1. Stance of the Chinese Communists—With the founding of the PRC, the existence of the ROC came to an end, and the ROC therefore has had no legitimacy ever since.
  2. Stance of the leadership in Taiwan—The founding of the PRC had no legal impact on the existence of the ROC, and the ROC has legitimate jurisdiction over the territories it controls.

In addition, some proponents of Taiwan independence claim that the ROC government has no legal jurisdiction over Taiwan. (More details regarding this point can be found under the headline "Legal aspects of Taiwan in the ROC" of the section Taiwan Province on the page "Local administration".)

The existence of these conflicting positions is an undeniable fact. Since this website intends to present the practical reality in Taiwan regardless of considerations concerning international recognition, government agencies are introduced with their official names, and the website also shows ROC state symbols like the national flag as well as logos of government agencies.

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How to use this website

This website was set up to share information about politics in Taiwan/ROC. Its focus is on data, statistics and relevant explanations. A comprehensive introduction makes the website suitable for users with no prior knowledge about Taiwan and its politics.

All information and data put on the pages of this website by the chief researcher are accessible unrestricted and free of charge. Links to other websites might lead to contents which in some cases may be protected by a paywall or require membership.

Left-side Menu 網站選單 (左邊)

The Left-side Menu acts like a table of contents, each menu button leading to its own submenu (page). These pages cover all major aspects pertaining to politics in Taiwan/the ROC.

Please note that due to the sheer volume of available information and data, the ROC central government is presented on this website on three separate pages.

  • The superordinate cabinet organization is introduced on the page "Executive Yuan (Cabinet)".
  • The ministries, cabinet agencies and their subordinate level-3 agencies which are directed by the Executive Yuan are shown on the page "Ministries and cabinet agencies".
  • The page "Other central government agencies" provides information about major agencies and institutions of the ROC central government which are not under the formal supervision of the Executive Yuan.

Toolbar on Top 網站工具列 (上面)

The Toolbar on Top offers quick access to the following categories: Site Map, Symbols, Abbreviations, Tools (= useful background information), Maps, and Name Index.

  • Site Map—gives an overview of the entire website and serves as an important tool for orientation.
  • Symbols, Abbreviations—display these particular items as to make understanding this website's contents easier.

Bilingual glossary for Menu, Toolbar 雙語的實用指導

For brief directions about the Left-side Menu WITH CHINESE please click here.
本網站英文、中文選單內容請按這裏。(中英文詞彙對照表)

For brief directions about the Toolbar on Top WITH CHINESE please click here.
本網站英文、中文工具列解釋請按這裏。(中英文詞彙對照表)

Orientation and navigation

In addition to the landing page here, this website consists of 27 pages, including 21 under the Left-side Menu and 6 under the Toolbar on Top. Each page opens with an overview of the page’s contents, by and large like an excerpt of the page’s contents as shown on the Site Map. The only exceptions, i. e. pages without an overview, are the pages PDF download, Disclaimer, Abbreviations and Symbols as well as the Site Map itself which have no further subdivisions.

Romanization

By and large, all Chinese names of institutions, places and other terms are presented with their respective Chinese characters and their pronunciation in Hanyu Pinyin. Longer quotes and text passages in Chinese are shown without Hanyu Pinyin. As for personal names, this website shows the English spelling most common in Taiwan's news publications and other media, and a name index of all persons who have/had a leadership position also presents the pronunciation of those names in Hanyu Pinyin.

Enlarged images

Some images on this website—i. e. selected maps and presidential portraits—can be displayed in an enlarged format by clicking on the original image. For most of the logos of agencies, organizations and companies the enlarging option is not available.

Disabled URLs

On this website hundreds of government agencies, public and private institutions, NGOs, commercial companies and other entities are introduced in detail, including the proper name and abbreviation, founding date, the succession of leaders since establishment, the current HQ address and the respective web link (URL). In some cases the web links shown here might have undergone changes since inclusion in this website, rendering their URLs here obsolete. The chief researcher does his best to keep all URLs up to date and apologizes for delays in updating disabled URLs.

No cell phone version

Please note that this database contains hundreds of tables, many of which with multiple columns and therefore unsuitable to be displayed on the narrow screens of cellphones. For this reason no cellphone version was created for this website. Recommended devices for users of this website include desktops, laptops/notebooks and tablet computers.

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