The inauguration of local self-government in Taiwan so soon after its reunion with the mother country and without going through the stage of tutelage which, in the Program of National Reconstruction prescribed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, is an indispensable step to the next and final stage of constitutionalism, might seem to some to be premature. Those who should have misgivings on this score really fail to understand both Dr. Sun's intentions in insisting on tutelage as a preliminary to constitutionalism and Taiwan's qualifications for full-fledged self-government.
In prescribing tutelage as a sine qua non to constitutionalism, Dr. Sun was actuated by the desire to see the fulfillment of certain conditions in each district (hsien) before local self-government could be introduced. Those conditions included, in his opinion, a complete local census, a complete land survey, a well-organized police force, and a complete network of roads leading in all directions. In so far as these requirements are concerned, Taiwan is well qualified for constitutionalism in the form of local self-government, although it has not undergone, in a formal sense, the stage of tutelage.
On becoming Governor of Taiwan in the winter of 1948, General Chen Cheng declared that his policy would be guided by two considerations: enthronement of the people and assignment of first priority to the question of people's livelihood. He proceeded to implement the one by advancing the date for the introduction of local self-government in the districts and municipalities and the other by carrying out the program of rent reduction as an initial step. I have used the phrase, "advancing the date", advisedly, because, according to the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of China, the attainment of full local self-government is the last term in a series of legislative enactments and popular elections which, in the case of Taiwan, yet remain to be carried out. The Constitution provides for: (1) the enactment by the Legislative Yuan of General Principles Governing Provincial and District Self-Government; (2) the convocation, one after the other, of Provincial and District People's Delegates Conference to draw up, respectively, Statutes of Provincial and District Self-Government; and (3) the election, according to the provisions of the said Statutes, of Provincial Governors and District Magistrates and members of the Provincial and District Assembly.
Up to the moment of writing (March, 1952), the Legislative Yuan has not yet enacted the General Principles Governing Provincial and District Self-Government. A bill is under discussion, indeed, but it has only passed second reading. There is no indication that it might become law in the near future, because its enactment will have to require very careful consideration in view of the large number of Provinces (35), Municipalities (12) which occupy a position on a par with the Provinces, and Districts (2000 odd) concerned, because the loss of the mainland to the communist has rendered its enactment less urgent, and because members of the Legislative Yuan wish to study the question with greater care, to consult a wider circle of expert opinion, and to profit by the results of the Taiwan experiment. When I refer to General Chen Cheng's policy as "advancing the date" for the introduction of local self-government in Taiwan, I mean that it is done without waiting for the enactment of the General Principles Governing Provincial and District Self-Government as required by the Constitution.
As the General Principles have not yet been enacted and as some sort of basic law is required, General Chen Cheng resorted to the expediency of appointing an expert commission to study and report on the question of self-government for Taiwan. With twenty-two Taiwanese representing all geographical areas and seven mainlanders with rich administrative experience, the commission was duly organized in July, 1949, presided over by Mr. Chang Li-sen, former Minister of the Interior and the incumbent Deputy Premier. Its terms of reference were: (a) to formulate a plan for the readjustment of the geographical boundaries of districts and municipalities in Taiwan and (b) to draw up an Outline for the Implementation of Local Self-Government in Districts and Municipalities in Taiwan to serve as the basic law pending the enactment of the General Principles by the Legislative Yuan.
Both the plan for the readjustment of the geographical boundaries and the outline for the implementation of local self-government in districts and municipalities in Taiwan were duly drawn up by the Commission towards the end of the year and submitted to the Taiwan Provincial Government as well as the Executive Yuan of the National Government for approval. When the necessary authorization had been obtained, they went into force as from April, 1950. By then General Chen Cheng had become Prime Minister, President of the Executive Yuan, and Dr. K. C. Wu, who had succeeded him as Governor of Taiwan, was henceforth to be responsible for the carrying out of these measures.
The readjustment of the geographical boundaries of districts and municipalities, though prescribed by neither Dr. Sun Yat-sen nor the Constitution as a prerequisite before the introduction of local self-government, was nevertheless called for in the case of Taiwan, because the Japanese administrative areas, on which the pre-1950 Chinese system was based, did not fit into the requirements for local self-government and even the Japanese had redrawn the boundaries for as many as nine times in the half century of their rule. Now that local self-government was about to be introduced for the first time, it was only natural that serious consideration should be given to the geographical areas, population, and environmental and historical factors, so that the best possible results could be obtained. After a careful study of the whole problem, the Commission had recommended that the original system of eight districts and nine municipalities be changed and their boundaries be redrawn to form sixteen districts and five municipalities, with an average population of from 300 to 400 thousand for each.
As soon as the boundaries had been readjusted in accordance with the recommendations of the Commission, the Taiwan Provincial Government proceeded to draw up subsidiary regulations, among which the most important were those governing the election and recall of magistrates, mayors, members of district and municipal assemblies, and officials of lower-grade administrative units.
The basic provisions of the Outline for the Implementation of Local Self-Government, as recommended by the Commission and as enforced now, may be summarized under the following headings:
1. Local self-government in Taiwan is to be carried out only in districts and municipalities and lower levels. It is not to apply to the Provincial level because, as explained in a previous paragraph, the General Principles Governing Provincial and District Self-Government have not yet been enacted by the Legislative Yuan as required by the Constitution. That is why there is, for the moment, only a Provisional Assembly for Taiwan Province. (A full-fledged Provincial Assembly would function under complete self-government.)
2. All magistrates and mayors who were originally appointees of the Taiwan Provincial Government are to be elected directly by the people.
3. The old District and Municipal Consultative Councils, which have been indirectly elected, are to be replaced by full-fledged District and Municipal Assemblies, whose members are to be elected directly by the people and at least one-tenth of whose membership must be women.
4. All nationals of the Republic of China now resident in any district or municipality in Taiwan are considered to be residents of that district or municipality. All such persons having resided in a particular region continuously for six months or more, or having had domicile therein for one year or more, who have attained the age of twenty and are not otherwise disqualified, are considered to be citizens who, irrespective of whether they are Taiwanese or mainlanders, equally enjoy the political rights of suffrage, initiative, referendum, and recall.
5. Members of District and Municipal Assemblies who represent areas inhabited by the aboriginal mountain tribes are to be elected directly by the tribes themselves in order to protect the political rights of minority peoples.
6. Magistrates, mayors, and members of District and Municipal Assemblies are to be elected from among candidates whose candidacy is submitted by themselves each for himself and not on the signed nomination of a certain number of electors or of a political party.
7. In the election of magistrates, mayors, and members of District and Municipal Assemblies no alternate incumbent to replace the successful candidate is provided for. In cases of death, transfer of official duties, or resignation, by-elections are to be held to fill up the vacancy.
8. All magistrates, mayors, and members of District and Municipal Assemblies are to be elected directly by the citizens. There is no other restriction on the right to be elected except the one provided in Article 130 of the Constitution, which requires all candidates to be at least twenty-three years of age.
9. All magistrates, mayors, and members of District and Municipal Assemblies who are elected directly by the citizens are also subject to their recall, concerning which detailed regulations are provided.
10. Villages and townships below the district are also legal persons and units of local self-government. Heads of villages and yownships as well as delegates to the Village and Township Delegates' Assembly are also to be elected and recalled directly by the citizens.
11. The exercise of the rights of initiative and referendum by the citizens remains to be regulated by separate statutes and is yet a thing of the future. Popular opinion, however, is fully represented by the Village and Township Delegates' Assembly and the District and Municipal Assemblies.
12. Budgets of districts, municipalities, villages, and townships are to be submitted to the respective Assemblies for approval. The same is true of appropriations.
On the basis of these provisions the people of Taiwan have soon proceeded to exercise their rights of self-government. Two points are especially noteworthy in connection with the elections that have been held since.
The first is the high percentage of voting. All citizens, whether they come from the mainland or are natives of Taiwan, take their right of suffrage very seriously. In some places the percentage of voting is as high as 90 or over.
The second point is the high degree of mutual confidence between Taiwanese and mainlanders. Not a few of the original magistrates and mayors, who came from the mainland and were Government appointees, are now elected to the same offices through popular mandate, because they have captured the hearts of their Taiwanese brethren. No candidate is ever handicapped on account of his mainland origin. The same is also true of elections for members of the District and Municipal Assemblies.
Taiwan is the first province to have local self-government since the Nationalists came into power in the late twenties. It is also the first one to give concrete expression to the chapters on "The Division of Powers between the Central and Local Governments" and" Local Institutions" since the promulgation of the Constitution in 1947. The Taiwan people are now in a position to determine who shall be their public servants and who shall work out for them a program of political action and draw up their budget. It is only reasonable to expect that, having achieved self-government, they will be able to shoulder their share of the burden in the all-out effort which President Chiang Kai-shek has enjoined one and all to make in the current year. It is equally to be expected that the results of local self-government in Taiwan would serve as an object lesson for other provinces in the years to come.
After fifty years of alienation from the mother country, Taiwan may not, in certain respects, come up to the same standard as the other provinces; but, in the history of local self-government, it takes precedence over the rest and its position as pioneer is permanently assured.