The Constitutional Convention

At the end of 1946, the Republic of China convened the Constitutional Convention in Nanjing, with Taiwan sending representatives to participate in national-level constitutional deliberations for the first time. These Taiwan representatives — many of them Japanese-educated intellectuals — entered the assembly with expectations for democratic institutions, only to discover vast gaps in language and political culture between themselves and mainland delegates.

The marginalization of Taiwan's representatives during the constitutional process reflected deeper structural issues: although Taiwan had nominally "returned" to the ROC, its actual position within the political system remained ambiguous. The drafting of the ROC Constitution would profoundly influence Taiwan's future political development.

This volume documents the role and predicaments of Taiwan's delegates at the Constitutional Convention, as well as the historical significance of this constitution for Taiwan.