Free and fair elections are the fundamental basis of the establishment of democratic nations, and serve to make sure that the government operates with the consent of those over whom it has administrative powers. This is one of the tenets of democracy which the United States strongly promotes throughout the world, in line with its own ideals as written in the Declaration of Independence.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, . . .

Contrastingly, the organizers of the Taiwan Civil Government (TCG) believe that the so-called "democratic elections" which are currently held in Taiwan are not truly representative of the will of the native Taiwanese people. In large part, this is due to the fact these so-called "democratic elections" are held under the legal structure of the Republic of China election laws, as authorized by the ROC Constitution.

Notably, an in depth overview of the historical and legal record fails to see how the ROC Constitution can be considered to be the true organic law of Taiwan. This is explained as follows:

• The ROC Constitution was originally drafted by KMT party delegates in mainland China, adopted by the National Assembly on December 25, 1946, promulgated by the National Government on January 1, 1947, and went into effect on December 25, 1947. During this period of time (and indeed up to April 28, 1952), Taiwan was sovereign Japanese territory.
  
  
• This Constitution was not drafted in Taiwan, or with the participation of the native Taiwanese populace or their representatives.
  
  
• This Constitution was brought over to Taiwan in the late 1940s by ROC government supporters and KMT loyalists.
  
  
• Although this "Nanjing Constitution" did not specifically define the territorial boundaries of the Republic of China, it appears that the Framers never considered Taiwan to be included therein. This is because the draft constitution of 1925 listed the provinces of the Republic of China individually, and Taiwan was not among them, since Taiwan had been a part of Japan as the result of the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895.
  
  
• None of the Allies recognized any transfer of the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan to the ROC at any time during the 1940s or 1950s.
  
  
• Taiwan has never been formally incorporated into the ROC's national territory via a resolution of the National Assembly, as required via the specifications of Article 4.

Historical Background

The People's Republic of China was founded in Beijing on Oct. 1, 1949, and remnants of the Republic of China regime fled to "Formosa and the Pescadores" -- areas which had been being held under military occupation since the Japanese surrender ceremonies on Oct. 25, 1945. In the post-war San Francisco Peace Treaty of April 28, 1952, Japan renounced all right, title, and claim to Formosa and the Pescadores, however no "receiving country" was specified.

Shortly after this ROC Constitution was promulgated, Taiwan Governor Chen Yi announced on January 10, 1947, that the new ROC Constitution would not apply to Taiwan after it went into effect in mainland China on December 25, 1947 as Taiwan was still under military occupation and also that Taiwanese were politically naive and were not capable of self-governance.

Beginning in March 1947, the government officials in Taiwan announced the beginning of martial law, and on April 18, 1948, the National Assembly amended the Constitution to add the "Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion."

Martial law continued until July 1987, and the "Temporary Provisions" were only abolished on May 1, 1991.

Although the ROC constitution provided for regular democratic elections, all such provisions were suspended after March 1947. The so-called democratic elections in Taiwan were not held until the early 1990s, after some 45 years of one-party (KMT) rule, which left the minority Chinese Nationalists of the ROC government in exile in firm control of the local power structure, both public and private, at every level.

Fundamentally speaking, all elections in held Taiwan are illegitimate, because they are organized and conducted under the auspices of the ROC government in exile -- a government which the international community has never recognized to be the "legal government of Taiwan." Under such circumstances, the Taiwanese people need the help and assistance of the officials of the US Executive Branch, and the members of Congress, in order to fully clarify their international legal position as an overseas territory of the United States under USMG jurisdiction. After this clarification is accomplished, plans can be made to call a constitutional convention to draft a true Taiwan Constitution under US administrative authority.

It is only within such a constitutional framework that the native Taiwanese people will be able to have true democratic elections.

The late Jeane Kirkpatrick, scholar and former US representative to the United Nations, offered the following words of encouragement to all peoples who were striving to establish true representative government: "Democratic elections are not merely symbolic. . . . . . They are competitive, periodic, inclusive, definitive elections in which the chief decision-makers in a government are selected by citizens who enjoy broad freedom to criticize government, to publish their criticism, and to present alternatives."