The Three Principles of the People (Chinese: 三民主義; Pinyin: Sān mín zhǔyì), is a political ideology devised by ROC founder Sun Yat-sen.
The three principles are most commonly translated as nationalism (Chinese: 民族主義; Pinyin: Mínzú zhǔyì), democracy (Chinese: 民權主義; Pinyin: Mínquán zhǔyì), and welfare (Chinese: 民生主義; Pinyin: Mínshēng zhǔyì). Sun had originally envisioned a three stage plan of uniting China by expelling foreign invaders, establishing a benevolent one-party dictatorship to rule the country while the people would be introduced to democracy in the form of local self-government, and finally, establishing constitutional government. The last phase came to be implemented in 1947, shortly before the nationalist retreat to Taiwan.
Of particular relevance here is the second, democracy, since as the Three Principles are reflected in the constitution of the ROC, it did not support the kind of party-state dictatorship that Chiang Kai-shek had established.
