Taiwan People's Communist Party

The Taiwan People's Communist Party[upper-roman 1] is a minor political party in Taiwan. It was founded on 4 February 2017 by businessman Lin Te-wang, and was the sixth party with "communist" in its name to register with the Ministry of the Interior. It advocates socialism and Chinese unification.

Taiwan People's Communist Party
臺灣人民共產黨
LeaderLin Te-wang
Secretary-GeneralLu Hsin-shang
Founded4 February 2017 (2017-02-04)
HeadquartersSinying District, Tainan
Ideology
Party flag
Taiwan People's Communist Party
Traditional Chinese臺灣人民共產黨
Simplified Chinese台湾人民共产党

History

Before establishing the Taiwan People's Communist Party, Lin Te-wang was a member of the Kuomintang's central committee. Lin sought the Kuomintang's nomination for Tainan City Constituency 1 in the 2016 legislative election, but the party declined. He subsequently left the Kuomintang and ran unsuccessfully as an independent.[1]

Disgruntled with both the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party, Lin established the Taiwan People's Communist Party a year later, on 4 February 2017. It was the sixth party with "communist" in its name to register with the Ministry of the Interior.[1] Lin originally applied for party registration under the name "Communist Party of China in Taiwan", but was told by the Ministry of Interior that the name could not be used due to existing laws on Cross-Strait relations. The party's inaugural meeting was held on 4 February 2017 in Sinying District, Tainan.[2]

In the run-up to the 2020 legislative election, the Taiwan People's Communist Party was accused of vote buying with money channeled from mainland China. Tainan authorities launched a preliminary investigation after being tipped off and raided the party's offices on 30 December 2019. Sixty party members were detained for questioning. Tainan Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lin Chung-pin announced a few days later that those detained would be charged with contravening Taiwan's National Security Act and provisions of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act. According to the prosecution, the party's leadership took several Tainan residents on trips to Jiangsu Province in exchange for their votes.[3]

In 2023, Lin Te-wang and two other party members were indicted under the Anti-Infiltration Act for colluding with the Chinese Communist Party to influence the 2024 presidential and legislative elections. The Chinese government's Taiwan Affairs Office subsequently condemned the indictments.[4][5]

Ideology

The stated purpose of the Taiwan People's Communist Party is to "advocate modern socialism for economic development, adhere to the 1992 Consensus ('One China' Consensus), and promote Cross-Strait peace."[6] The party regards Taiwan as "a sacred part of China's territory", and has gathered small number of people to commemorate the National Day of the People's Republic of China by singing the PRC anthem and raising the flag of the PRC.[7]

See also

Notes

References
  1. Chung, Lawrence (6 February 2017). "Taiwan's sixth communist party seeks closer ties with mainland". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  2. Wu Cheng-hsiu (4 February 2017). "台灣人民共產黨台南成立 台商林德旺任總理". United Daily News (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  3. Pan, Jason (1 January 2020). "2020 Elections: Taiwanese communist party accused of buying votes with funds from China". Taipei Times. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  4. Wang, Ting-chuan; Chung, Jake (4 October 2023). "Taiwanese communist party trio indicted". Taipei Times. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  5. "Taiwan indicts 2 communist party members accused of colluding with China to influence elections". Associated Press. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  6. ""台湾人民共产党"成立 称坚持"九二共识"". Sina News (in Chinese (China)). 4 February 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  7. Wang, Ann (1 October 2022). "Flag raisings and burnings in Taiwan as some mark China's national day". Reuters. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
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