Operation KMTaiwan: The National Assembly of The Republic of China, 1949

From the formation of its Constitution in 1947 till its dissolution in 2005, the National Assembly of the Republic of China was the authoritative legislative body of Taiwan. It was designed to represent the will of the people by electing the President and Vice President, amending the constitution, and overseeing key governmental processes. It played a significant role in safeguarding the constitutional order and, at least on paper, was part of a system of checks and balances intended to prevent the concentration of power. However, 1949 marked a pivotal moment in the ROC’s history, as the government was forced to retreat to Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War, where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland.

The political dynamics of the National Assembly were shaped by the dominance of the Kuomintang (KMT), which controlled both the ROC government and its legislative apparatus. At this time, the KMT was grappling with the aftermath of its defeat by the CCP, members of the assembly were elected from across China, and many seats were frozen because of the civil war and the ROC's retreat to Taiwan, and new elections were delayed indefinitely. The National Assembly became largely symbolic in nature. As a result, the political power of the National Assembly was concentrated among a smaller, mostly KMT-aligned elite, and the assembly was criticized for being unrepresentative of the broader population, especially after the ROC’s jurisdiction was limited to Taiwan. The goal of this committee is thus to lay the groundwork to resolve emerging political tensions the following decades as calls for democratization grew, re-establish an effective governing body internally, all while facing precarious diplomatic challenges externally.