1948 Chinese presidential election

The 1948 Chinese presidential election was held on April 20, 1948 at the National Assembly House in Nanking. The election was conducted by the National Assembly to elect the President and Vice President of China. This is the first election under the newly adopted 1947 Constitution of the Republic of China.

1948 Chinese presidential election

April 20, 1948
All 3,045 votes of the National Assembly 1,523 votes needed to win
Nominee Chiang Kai-shek Ju Zheng Party Kuomintang Kuomintang Electoral vote 2,430 269 Percentage 90.03% 9.97%
President before election Chiang Kai-shek (as Chairman of Nationalist government) Kuomintang Elected President Chiang Kai-shek Kuomintang

This indirect elections were held during the Chinese Civil War. Chiang Kai-shek, the incumbent leader of the Nationalist government, won a landslide victory against the same party candidate Ju Zheng in the presidential election. However, Sun Fo, Chiang's preferred Vice-Presidential candidate, was defeated by General Li Zongren in the vice-presidential elections.

Chiang and Li inaugurated at the Presidential Palace in Nanking on May 20, 1948. This also marked the transition of Nationalist government to the constitutional government.

Overview

Delegates voting in the election.

After the Northern Expedition, the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government acquired control of a unified China nominally. The party began to draft a constitution to transit the government from tutelage period to constitutional period, according to the political philosophy of Sun Yat-sen.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, China established a close partnership with the United States and was given military and financial supports. George Marshall was appointed ambassador to Chongqing, the wartime capital, as to broker a negotiation between the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) and Communist Party after the war. Two parties agreed to rebuild the country with democratization and military nationalization.

Simultaneously, the Nationalist government continued to draft the Constitution of the Republic of China, however it was boycotted by the Communists and the full-scale Chinese Civil War was resumed.

Electors

The election was conducted by the National Assembly in its meeting place National Assembly House in Nanking. There were 2,961 delegates elected during the 1947 Chinese National Assembly election for the 3,045 seats. In total, there were 2,859 delegates reported to the secretariat to attend this first session of the first National Assembly.[1]

The election regulations has a 50% requirement for the President and Vice President to be elected. Since there were 3,045 seats in the National Assembly, the candidates shall get 1,523 votes to be elected. This requirement can be relieved if no candidate passed this threshold in the first three rounds of vote.

Vote summary

Presidential election

Election results of the presidential election.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Chiang Kai-shek	Kuomintang	2,430	90.03
	Ju Zheng	Kuomintang	269	9.97
Total			2,699	100.00
Valid votes			2,699	98.72
Invalid/blank votes			35	1.28
Total votes			2,734	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			3,045	89.79
Source: Schafferer[2]

Vice-presidential elections

Election results of the 4th round Vice-president election.

Inaugural address by President Chiang Kai-shek.

Party		Candidate	1st round		2nd round		3rd round		4th round
			Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Kuomintang	Li Zongren	754	27.30%	1,163	42.69%	1,156	42.64%	1,438	52.62%
	Kuomintang	Sun Fo	559	20.24%	945	34.69%	1,040	38.36%	1,295	47.38%
	Kuomintang	Cheng Qian	522	18.90%	616	22.61%	515	19.00%
	Kuomintang	Yu Youren	493	17.85%
	Nonpartisan	Mo Teh-hui	218	7.89%
	China Democratic Socialist Party	Xu Fulin	216	7.82%
Total			2,762	100.00%	2,724	100%	2,711	100%	2,733	100%

Vice President Candidates

• 
  Li Zongren
• 
  Sun Fo
• 
  Cheng Qian
• 
  Yu Youren
• 
  Mo Teh-hui
• 
  Xu Fulin

Previous and next elections

There were some regime changes in China during the first half of the 20th century. Depending on the definition, possible previous and next elections for the leader of China are listed below.

Order	Election	Political entity	Title (term)	Electoral college
Previous	1923 Chinese presidential election	Republic of China (1912–1949)	President the Republic of China (3rd)	National Assembly (1st, Beiyang government)
	1943 Chinese chairmanship election	Republic of China (1912–1949)	Chairman of the Nationalist government (4th)	Central Committee of Kuomintang
Next	1949 Chinese chairmanship election	People's Republic of China	Chairman of the Central People's Government	Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
	1954 Taiwanese presidential election	Republic of China (on Taiwan)	President the Republic of China (2nd)	National Assembly (1st, Constitutional government)

See also

• History of Republic of China
• Nationalist government
• President of the Republic of China
• Vice President of the Republic of China

References

1. 第一屆國民大會第一次會議實錄
2. Christian Schafferer (2003) The Power of the Ballot Box: Political Development and Election Campaigning in Taiwan