The Constitution - Territory II

Original post by www.taiwanlawresources.com

Article 4 of the Constitution states:

第 4 條

中華民國領土，依其固有之疆域，非經國民大會之決議，不得變更之。

Article 4

The territory of the Republic of China according to its existing national boundaries shall not be altered except by resolution of the National Assembly.

Vocabulary

中華民國 [Zhōnghuámínguó] /Republic of China/

領土 [lǐngtǔ] /territory/

依 [yī] /according to/depend on/

其 [qí] /his/her/its/theirs/that/such/it (refers to sth preceding it)/

固有 [gùyǒu] /(v) be intrinsic or inherent to sth/existing/

之 [zhī] /(literary equivalent of 的)/

疆域 [jiāngyù] /territory/

非 [fēi] /non-/not-/un-/

經 [jīng] /pass through/to undergo/

國民大會 [guómíndàhuì] /National Assembly/

決議 [juéyì] /resolution/

不得 [bùdé] /must not/may not/not be allowed/cannot/

變更 [biàngēng] /change/alter/modify/

This Article was amended by the first amendment of the Constitution which states: ”The electors of the free area of the Republic of China shall cast ballots at a referendum within three months of the expiration of a six-month period following the public announcement of a proposal passed by the Legislative Yuan on the amendment of the Constitution or alteration of the national territory. The provisions of Article 4 and Article 174 of the Constitution shall not apply.”

Some grammar usage tips:

1)

其 － 置於句中或句末。用於彼﹑何之後。

其 is used to refer to something preceeding it, and in this Article 其 refers to 中華民國領土。

Example in the Civil Code:

第 155 條

（要約之失效（一）－拒絕要約）

要約經拒絕者，失其拘束力。

Article 155

An offer ceases to be binding if it is refused.

2)

非經，未經 － Has not gone through, has not been registered.

Example in the Civil Code:

第 30 條

法人非經向主管機關登記，不得成立。

Article 30

A juridical person can not be established unless it has been registered with the relevant authorities.

經 － 歷、過。 學法律需要經年累月的努力.

To learn the law requires many years of accumulative effort.