The Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China are the revisions and amendments to the original constitution of the Republic of China to "meet the requisites of the nation prior to national unification", taking into account the democratic reforms and current political status of Taiwan. The Additional Articles are usually attached after the original constitution as a separate document. It also has its own preamble and article ordering different from the original constitution.
The Additional Articles has been part of the fundamental law of the present government of the Republic of China on Taiwan since 1991, and were last amended in 2005.
The current Additional Articles of the Constitution entail 12 articles:
The territory controlled by the Government of the Republic of China changed significantly after the Chinese Civil War, and the Republic of China could not hold elections in territories it did not control. Thus, the Additional Articles of the Constitution defines the Free Area (; PhaÃÂk-fa-sá¹³: ) to be the territory and the people under the government's effective jurisdiction. Whilst all residents of China are nominally citizens of the Republic, only the citizens who have the household registration in Taiwan may exercise the full civil and political rights, including right of abode and suffrage.
The Additional Articles requires direct election of the President by the citizens of the free area. The first direct presidential election was held in 1996. Under the original constitution, the President was elected indirectly by the National Assembly.
The Additional Articles of the Constitution reformed the government of the Republic of China from a parliamentary system to a de facto semi-presidential system. The National Assembly is de facto abolished, and its functions are exercised directly by the citizens of the Free area. The five-power governmental structure is retained, though it functions closer to the traditional Western trias politica in practice.
A 2005 amendment regarding on referendum stated that a constitutional amendment or an alteration of the national territory has to be ratified by more than half (50%) of voters of the Free Area in a referendum after passed in the Legislative Yuan with a three-quarters majority. Before that, constitutional amendments and national territory alterations were ratified by the National Assembly.
Most of the amendments brought by the Additional Articles focuses on the mechanism of separation of powers among central governmental organs. The Additional Articles changed the form of government from parliamentary system to semi-presidential system, enhance the implementation of direct democracy and direct election, reduce the chambers of parliament, and simplify the hierarchy of local governments.
The Additional Articles of the Constitution have been amended seven times since the 1990s.