Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area Article 5-3

Ninety days prior to the commencement of the negotiation of an agreement involving political issues, the Executive Yuan shall submit to the Legislative Yuan a plan for entering into the agreement and an evaluation report on the constitutional or major political impact arising therefrom. The negotiation for entering into such an agreement shall not commence until the plan therefor is approved by an affirmative vote of three-quarters of the attending members of the Legislative Yuan at a session attended by three-quarters of all members of the Legislative Yuan.An agreement involving political issues as referred to in the preceding paragraph shall mean any agreement that could cause a constitutional or major political impact.The agency responsible for handling the agreement shall conduct negotiations based upon the approved plan for entering into the agreement and shall submit report(s) to the Legislative Yuan at appropriate times. The Legislative Yuan and the related committees may request the agency responsible for handling the agreement to appear before them to make a report.In the event that the Legislative Yuan determines based upon the report(s) referred to in the preceding paragraph that the negotiation of the agreement between the parties could no longer proceed pursuant to the plan for entering into the agreement, the Legislative Yuan may demand the agency responsible for handling the agreement to terminate the negotiation by a resolution adopted by the vote of one-half or more of all members of the Legislative Yuan. In the event that the Executive Yuan determines that the negotiation of the agreement could no longer proceed pursuant to the plan for entering into the agreement, the Executive Yuan shall terminate the negotiation and report the circumstances to the Legislative Yuan.The agency responsible for handling the agreement shall submit the draft agreement to the President for review and approval through a resolution of the Executive Yuan Council within fifteen days after the completion of the negotiation of the draft agreement pursuant to the plan for entering into the agreement. Within fifteen days after the approval by the President, the Executive Yuan shall publicize the full content of the draft agreement, and forward it to the Legislative Yuan for review and discussion, and report to the Legislative Yuan the process of the negotiation and the evaluation of any constitutional or major political impact as a result of the draft agreement.All committees of the Legislative Yuan shall conduct hearing on the content of the draft agreement and the evaluation of its constitutional and major political impact prior to the review and discussion by the Legislative Yuan.After the review and discussion of the draft agreement by the Legislative Yuan and upon an affirmative vote of three-quarters of the attending members of the Legislative Yuan at a session attended by three-quarters of all members of the Legislative Yuan, the Executive Yuan shall forward the draft agreement together with the main text of referendum and the statement of reasons to the Central Election Commission to hold a national referendum. The draft agreement shall be deemed adopted if the number of valid affirmative ballots exceeds one-half of the total number of eligible voters for the referendum. The agency responsible for handling the agreement shall then arrange the draft agreement to be signed and the exchange of notes, and shall submit the agreement to the President for promulgation.Articles 9 through 16, Paragraph 1 of Article 17 regarding the time periods and Subparagraph 3 thereof, Article 19, Article 23, and Articles 26 through 29 of the Referendum Act shall not be applicable to the referendum of an agreement involving political issues. The Referendum Act shall be applicable to other matters of the referendum not regulated in this Act.The destruction or change of the nation’s sovereign status or the free and democratic constitutional order shall not be the subject of a negotiation or an agreement involving political issues.Any negotiation or agreement in violation of this Article shall be void.