In June 1929, the Nationalist Party promised that Political Tutelage would only last for a six-year period, after which a constitutional government would be formally established in 1935. This promise was not kept. Faced with intractable military and political crises both internationally and domestically, the the Nationalist Party did not proceed with the transition from Political Tutelage to constitutional democracy. Before addressing the constitution, the Nationalist Party felt there were other issues that were more critical, such as the resistance war against Japan, the continuing political and military conflicts amongst the different factions and cliques within the Nationalist Party, and the ‘encirclement and suppression’ campaign they were running against the Communist troops. After the end of the Second World War, Chiang Kai-shek still insisted on a military dictatorship and refused to implement constitutional democracy until the armed forces of the Communist Party had been entirely dismantled. In this context, many non- Nationalist intellectuals, and particularly those from the opposition parties, increased their calls for constitutional democracy, urging the Nationalist Party to honour its earlier commitment. During this movement of striving for constitutional democracy, fighting for a free press became an important agenda for these intellectuals.

The Constitutional Movement and Democratic Propositions

Even though calls to move towards constitutional democracy and press freedom had emerged as early as the late 1930s, it was not until the 1940s that they became more vocal.