Premier of the Republic of China in the context of Cho Jung-tai

The Government of the Republic of China is the national authority whose actual-controlled territory consists of main island of Taiwan (Formosa), Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other island groups, collectively known as Taiwan Area or Free Area. A unitary state, the ROC government, under the current constitutional amendments, is run by a de facto semi-presidential system, consists of the presidency and five branches (Yuan): the Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Judicial Yuan, Examination Yuan, and Control Yuan. The president is the head of state, with the premier as the head of government, currently ruled by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) since 2016. Since the 2005 amendments of the Additional Articles of the Constitution, the Legislative Yuan has been the de facto unicameral parliamentary body of the country.

Originally established in 1912 in Nanjing, the Government of the Republic of China relocated several times before finally moving to Taipei, Taiwan, in 1949 because of its military losses in the Chinese Civil War. Up until the 1990s, the government has historically been dominated by the Kuomintang (KMT) under the one-party state Dang Guo authoritarian regime, before evolving into a multi-party democracy after martial law and the climate of White Terror gradually ended. This government was the internationally recognized official government of China until 1971 by the United Nations and until 1979 by the United States.

Chiang Ching-kuo (/ˈtʃæŋtʃɪŋˈkwoʊ/, 27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a Chinese politician and statesman. He was the eldest and only biological son of President Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China and ended martial law in 1987. He served as the third premier of the Republic of China between 1972 and 1978 and was the third president of the Republic of China from 1978 until his death in 1988.

Born in Fenghua, Ching-kuo was sent as a teenager to study in the Soviet Union during the First United Front in 1925, when his father's Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party were in alliance. Before his education in the USSR, he attended school in Shanghai and Beijing, where he became interested in socialism and communism. He attended university in the USSR and spoke Russian fluently, but when the Chinese Nationalists violently broke with the Communists, Joseph Stalin sent him to work in a steel factory in the Ural Mountains. There, Chiang met and married Faina Vakhreva. With war between China and Japan imminent in 1937, Stalin sent the couple to China. During the war, Ching-kuo's father gradually came to trust him, and gave him more and more responsibilities, including administration.

Duan Qirui (Chinese: 段祺瑞; pinyin: Duàn Qíruì; Wade–Giles: Tuan Ch'i-jui, pronounced [twân tɕʰǐ.ɻwêɪ]) (March 6, 1865 – November 2, 1936) was a Chinese statesman and general who controlled the Beijing Government during the late 1910s. He was the Premier of China on four occasions between 1913 and 1918, and from 1924 to 1926 he served as acting Chief Executive of China in Beijing. As the last leader of the Beiyang Army, Duan was highly respected among the warlords and people of China, and was the founder of the Anhui Clique.

A graduate of the Tianjin Military Academy, Duan studied military science in Germany and became a prominent artillery commander under Yuan Shikai. Following the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 and the fall of the Qing dynasty, he became minister of war and premier in the Yuan cabinet. He opposed Yuan's restoration of monarchy in China and, upon Yuan's death, continued as premier and took effective control of northern China. His tenure was marked by political infighting as well as conflict with southern parliamentarians under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen.

The Executive Yuan (Chinese: 行政院; pinyin: Xíngzhèng Yuàn) is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China, which formerly ruled mainland China until 1949, that was founded in 1928.

Under the amended constitution, the head of the Executive Yuan is the Premier who is positioned as the head of government and has the power to appoint members to serve in the cabinet, while the ROC President is the head of state under the semi-presidential system, who can appoint the Premier and nominate the members of the cabinet. The Premier may be removed by a vote of no-confidence by a majority of the Legislative Yuan, after which the President may either remove the Premier or dissolve the Legislative Yuan and initiate a new election for legislators.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Wang Jingwei, former Premier of the Republic of China and Vice Director-General of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party), split from the party in 1939 and established a new Kuomintang in Nanking. Wang, who collaborated with the Japanese, intended to distance the new party from the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing. It was the sole ruling party of the Wang Jingwei regime, a puppet state of the Empire of Japan.

Officially still the "Kuomintang" (traditional Chinese: 中國國民黨; simplified Chinese: 中国国民党; pinyin: Zhōngguó Guómíndǎng), it was also referred to as "Wang's Pseudo-Kuomintang" or "Wang's Puppet Kuomintang" (traditional Chinese: 汪偽國民黨; simplified Chinese: 汪伪国民党; pinyin: Wāng wěi guómíndǎng).

Chen Cheng ([ʈʂʰə̌n ʈʂʰə̌ŋ]; Chinese: 陳誠; pinyin: Chén Chéng; January 4, 1898 – March 5, 1965), courtesy name Tsi-siou (辭修; Cíxiū), was a Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese politician, military leader, revolutionary, and well as the leader of Tsotanhui Clique. He is widely regarded as the chief architect of Taiwan's post-war land reform and economic modernization programs during the 1950s.

A close protégé of Chiang Kai-shek, Chen rose through the ranks of the National Revolutionary Army and played a major role as a senior commander during the Northern Expedition, the Warlord Era, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Chinese Civil War. Following the Kuomintang's retreat to Taiwan, Chen was appointed Governor of Taiwan, during which he declared martial law, and later served as Premier and Vice President. In these roles, he led Taiwan's land redistribution and industrial transformation throughout the 1950s and 1960s, reforms that scholars often identify as key precursors to the Taiwan Miracle. These programs were widely credited with curbing the spread of communism on the island and consolidating public support for the KMT regime.

The Vice Premier of the Republic of China (Chinese: 行政院副院長; pinyin: Xíngzhèng Yuàn Fù Yuànzhǎng; lit. 'Vice President of the Executive Yuan') serves as the deputy to the premier and is appointed by the president, on the recommendation of the Premier. The title of vice premier had been changed several times, so this list is divided into several sections. This includes both vice premiers of the Republic of China before 1949, when the seat of government was in Mainland China, and vice premiers since 1949, when the seat of government was relocated to Taiwan.

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is governed in a framework of a representative democratic republic under a five-power system first envisioned by Sun Yat-sen in 1906, whereby under the constitutional amendments, the President is head of state and the Premier (formally president of the Executive Yuan) is head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Executive Yuan. Legislative power is vested primarily in the Legislative Yuan. Taiwan's judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. In addition, the Examination Yuan is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants, and the Control Yuan inspects, reviews, and audits the policies and operations of the government.

The party system is currently dominated by two major parties: the Kuomintang (KMT), which broadly favors maintaining the constitutional framework of the Republic of China Constitution and economic cooperation with mainland China, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which broadly favors de jure Taiwanese independence, and the eventual abolition of the ROC Constitution in favor of creating a "Taiwanese Republic."

This is a list of the premiers of the Republic of China since 1912. The Republic of China before 1949 controlled mainland China as well as offshore islands. The Republic of China since 1949 has only controlled Taiwan and nearby islands. The current Republic of China is usually known as Taiwan. In the country's history, the official title of the head of government has changed over time.

Premiers, also known as Presidents of the Executive Yuan, are appointed by the Presidents of the Republic of China, but some premiers were even more powerful than the presidents, during the early age of the Republic of China. Some presidents were even expelled by the premiers they appointed.The title of premier in China was changed several times, so this list is divided into several sections.