Martial law is the system of rules that takes effect (usually after a formal declaration) when a military authority takes control of the normal administration of justice.

In order to understand what China’s under martial law is all about, it is important to know that China has lived with two governments Since December 1949, the Communists and the ruling Nationalists. The victorious Communists under Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China on the mainland, with their capitol in Beijing. On the other hand, General Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Chinese (Kuomintang) fled to the island of Taiwan, where they established a provisional capitol in the city of Taipei.

From 1949 until 1991, the Taipei regime claimed to be the sole and legitimate government of all China, including the mainland. While the structure of the Taiwan government has remained essentially unchanged, Taiwan authorities have abandoned the claim of governing mainland China and no longer dispute the fact that the People’s Republic of China controls mainland China.

Operating under a constitution first adopted on January 1, 1947, the Nationalist Government of the Kuomintang functioned as a single-party authoritarian state. From 1948 to 1987, Taiwan lived under martial law imposed by an emergency decree that gave the president virtually unlimited powers for use against the Communists. Until martial law was ended in 1987, individuals and groups expressing dissenting views were treated harshly. In the wake of a liberalizing trend that began in the late 1980s, Taiwan has worked to create a democratic political system. It greatly reduced restrictions on the press, relaxed restrictions on personal freedoms, and lifted the prohibition against organizing new political parties. Following its first direct presidential elections in 1996, Taiwan has become an open, vigorous multi-party democracy with 3 major parties and more than 70 registered parties.