Legislative Yuan
Updated: Wikipedia source
The Legislative Yuan (Chinese: 立法院; pinyin: Lìfǎyuàn; lit. 'Law-establishing court') is the unicameral legislature of Republic of China (Taiwan), which ruled Mainland China prior to its retreat in 1949, located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan area through a parallel voting system. Originally located in Nanjing, the Legislative Yuan, along with the National Assembly (electoral college) and the Control Yuan (upper house), formed the tricameral parliament under the original 1947 Constitution. The Legislative Yuan previously had 760 members representing constituencies in all of China (includes provinces, municipalities, Tibet Area, and various professions in Mainland China). Until democratization, the Republic of China was an authoritarian state under the Dang Guo system. At the time, the Legislative Yuan functioned as a rubber stamp for the ruling regime of the Kuomintang. Like parliaments or congresses of other countries, the Legislative Yuan is responsible for the passage of legislation, which is then sent to the president for signing. For these similarities, it is also common for people to refer to the Legislative Yuan as "the parliament" (國會; Guóhuì; Kok-hōe). Under the current amended Constitution, the Legislative Yuan, as the only parliamentary body, also holds the power to initiate several constitutional processes, including initiating constitutional amendments (then determined by a national referendum), recalls of the president (then determined by a recall vote), and impeachments of the president (then tried by the Constitutional Court).