s: since in the past the authorities
claimed to be the government of all China, the central
administrative divisions include the provinces of Fu-chien (some 20
offshore islands of Fujian Province including Quemoy and Matsu) and
Taiwan (the island of Taiwan and the Pescadores islands); note--the
more commonly referenced administrative divisions are those of
Taiwan Province--16 counties (hsien, singular and plural), 5
municipalities* (shih, singular and plural), and 2 special
municipalities** (chuan-shih, singular and plural); Chang-hua,
Chia-i, Chia-i*, Chi-lung*, Hsin-chu, Hsin-chu*, Hua-lien, I-lan,
Kao-hsiung, Kao-hsiung**, Miao-li, Nan-t'ou, P'eng-hu, P'ing-tung,
T'ai-chung, T'ai-chung*, T'ai-nan, T'ai-nan*, T'ai-pei, T'ai-pei**,
T'ai-tung, T'ao-yuan, and Yun-lin; the provincial capital is at
Chung-hsing-hsin-ts'un
note: Taiwan uses the Wade-Giles system for romanization

National holiday: National Day, 10 October (1911) (Anniversary of
the Chinese Revolution)

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 (225 seats--168
elected by popular vote, 41 elected on the basis of the proportion
of nationwide votes received by participating political parties,