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| President of the Executive Yuan of Republic of China | |
|---|---|
| 行政院院長 | |
 National Emblem of the Republic of China | |
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| Executive Yuan | |
| Style | Mr. Premier (informal) His Excellency (diplomatic) |
| Status | Head of government |
| Reports to | Legislative Yuan |
| Seat | Zhongzheng District,Taipei |
| Appointer | President |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of the Republic of China and theAdditional Articles |
| Precursor | Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet |
| Inaugural holder | Tang Shaoyi (as Premier of Cabinet) Weng Wenhao (1947 Constitution) |
| Formation | 12 March 1912; 113 years ago (1912-03-12) (Establishment by theBeiyang government in Mainland China) 25 October 1945; 79 years ago (1945-10-25)[a] (ROC handover) 24 May 1948; 77 years ago (1948-05-24) (current form) |
| Abolished | 1 October 1949; 76 years ago (1949-10-01) (Mainland China) |
| Succession | Premier of the People's Republic of China (after 1949, Mainland China) |
| Unofficial names | Premier of Taiwan Prime Minister of Taiwan |
| Deputy | Vice Premier |
| Salary | 3,728,835New Taiwan dollars/US$121,500 annually[1] |
| Website | english |
| Premier of the Executive Yuan | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 行政院院長 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 行政院院长 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Executive Court Court-Chief | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 閣揆 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 阁揆 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Cabinet Premier | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Thepremier of the Republic of China, officially thepresident of the Executive Yuan (Chinese:行政院院長), is thehead of government ofTaiwan and leader of theExecutive Yuan. The premier is nominally the principal advisor to thepresident and positioned as the head of central government, appointed by thepresident[2] without approval by theLegislative Yuan.[3] The current premier of the Executive Yuan isCho Jung-tai, who took office on 20 May 2024.
The predecessor of the president of the Executive Yuan was the prime minister of the Republic of China, and the first president of the Executive Yuan wasTan Yankai; the first president after the promulgation of the 1947 constitution wasWeng Wenhao; and the first president to take office after the government relocated to Taiwan wasChen Cheng.
DuringJapanese colonial rule over Taiwan, executive power was vested in thegovernor-general of Taiwan; the post was formed on 10 May 1895 as the governors-general were members of the Diet, civilian officials, Japanese nobles or generals. They exercised their power on behalf of the sovereign of Taiwan (theemperor of Japan) until the dissolution of the empire. Taiwan'shead of government was then represented by the administration of theRepublic of China underT. V. Soong of theExecutive Yuan, after thehandover in 1945, in which the post was originally founded in 1928 inMainland China.Weng Wenhao became the first premier in the 1947Constitution of the Republic of China in both Mainland China and Taiwan, butYan Xishan also served as premier duringthe ROC government's retreat to Taiwan in 1949. The sovereignty of Taiwan and Penghu was renounced by Japan in 1952.[4]
The premier presides over theExecutive Yuan Council, which makes up the official cabinet. The vice premier, ministers, and chairpersons of the Executive Yuan Council are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier. The premier's official duties also include presenting administrative policies and reports to thelegislators, responding to the interpellations of legislators (much likeQuestion Time in some parliamentary systems), and, with the approval of the president, asking the legislators to reconsider its resolutions. Laws and decrees promulgated by the president must also be countersigned by the premier.
In the event of vacancies in both the presidency and the vice presidency, the premier serves as acting president of the republic for up to three months.
One-third of the legislators may initiate a no-confidence vote against the premier. If approved with simple majority, the premier must resign from office within ten days and at the same time may request that the president dissolve the Legislative Yuan. If the motion fails, another no-confidence motion against the same premier cannot be initiated for one year. This power has never been used. In practice, the president has enough legitimacy and executive authority to govern in the face of a legislature controlled by the opposition, and would likely respond to a vote of no-confidence by nominating another person with similar views.
TheConstitution of the Republic of China did not originally define strictly the relation between the premier and the president of the Republic and it was not clear whether the government would lean towards apresidential system orparliamentary system when divided. Power shifted to PremierChiang Ching-kuo after PresidentChiang Kai-shek's death but shifted to the presidency again when Chiang Ching-kuo became president. After PresidentLee Teng-hui succeeded Chiang as president in 1988, the power struggle within the Kuomintang extended to the constitutional debate over the relationship between the president and the premier. The first three premiers under Lee,Yu Kuo-hwa,Lee Huan andHau Pei-tsun, weremainlanders who had initially opposed Lee's ascension to power. The appointment of Lee and Hau were compromises by President Lee to placate the conservative mainlander faction in the party. The subsequent appointment of premierLien Chan was taken as a sign of Lee's consolidation of power. Moreover, during this time, the power of the premier to approve the president's appointments and the power of the Legislative Council to confirm the president's choice of premier was removed (out of fears that theDemocratic Progressive Party would one day gain control of the legislature), clearly establishing the president as the more powerful position of the two.
The relationship between the premier and the legislature again became a contentious issue after the2000 Presidential election, which led to the election of the Democratic Progressive Party'sChen Shui-bian to the presidency, while the legislature remained under a Kuomintang-led-Pan-Blue majority. Initially, President Chen Shui-bian appointedTang Fei, a member of the Kuomintang, to the premiership; however, this arrangement proved unworkable, and Chen's subsequent appointments were from theDemocratic Progressive Party, leading minority governments. However, thePan-Blue Coalition of the Kuomintang and its coalition partners contended that Chen's actions were unconstitutional, and proposed to name its own choice of premier. When Chen's successorMa Ying-jeou and his KMT party lost a majority in the legislature, Ma had offered for the DPP to nominate a premier, though the DPP refused to do so; thus presidents subsequently appointed premiers largely from their own parties and the established constitutional convention is that the premier is responsible to the president and does not have any responsibility to the legislature other than to report on his activities. There are calls for a constitutional amendment to better define the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government.
Media related toPremiers of the Republic of China at Wikimedia Commons| Premiers of Cabinet | .svg)  | |
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| Premiers of State Council | ||
| Premiers ofState Council | ||
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| Presidents of Executive Yuan (Taiwan) |
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