The Minkuotang (MKT), also known as the Republican Party, was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

Republic of China (Taiwan) Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

. The party was established on 13 March 2015 by former

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

legislative representative Hsu Hsin-ying, with the founding assembly held on 18 March 2015. It was part of the

Pan-Blue Coalition The pan-Blue coalition, pan-Blue force or pan-Blue groups is a political coalition in the Republic of China (Taiwan) consisting of the Kuomintang (KMT), People First Party (PFP), New Party (CNP), Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU), and Young ...

and then merged with the newly-formed

Congress Party Alliance The Congress Party Alliance (CPA; ) is a political party in Taiwan. The party was established on 18 October 2018 during its inaugural meeting in Taipei City. The Central Party Department is located in the Zhongzheng District of Taipei City. The CP ...

in 2019.

Party flag and emblem

The party flag of Minkuotang consisted of the

national emblem of the Republic of China The Blue Sky with a White Sun () serves as the design for the party flag and emblem of the Kuomintang, the canton of the flag of the Republic of China, the national emblem of the Republic of China, and as the naval jack of the ROC Navy. In t ...

in the center with a golden background, representing the party's aim of reviving and making the country wealthy. The flag was controversial for its use of the national emblem in its party flag, but the flag was later approved by the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

Controversy

Soon after its founding in 2015, the party faced allegations that it was funded for religious causes, after it was revealed that prominent religious figure

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

Master Wujue Miaotian was supporting the party for the 2016 general election. Party leader Hsu Hsin-ying denied the allegations, stating that the party "belongs to the people".

Electoral history

Party chair Hsu Hsin-ying switched party affiliations from the Kuomintang to the Minkuotang midway through her term as

Hsinchu County Hsinchu County (Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a county in north-western Taiwan. The population of the county is mainly Hakka; with a Taiwanese aboriginal minority in the southeastern part of the county. Zhubei is the county capital, where ...

legislator. She ran for reelection in the 2016 legislative elections, but quit the race when People First Party chair

James Soong James Soong Chu-yu (born 16 March 1942) is a Taiwanese politician. He is the founder and current Chairman of the People First Party. Born to a Kuomintang military family of Hunanese origin, Soong began his political career as a secretary to ...

chose her to be his vice presidential candidate. The MKT fielded four total candidates in the 2016 elections, and failed to win a seat. On 25 January 2019, the party was merged with the newly-formed

Local elections

Chairperson

* Hsu Hsin-ying (13 March 2015 – 29 November 2018)

Notes

References

{{reflist 2015 establishments in Taiwan 2019 disestablishments in Taiwan Conservative parties in Taiwan Defunct political parties in Taiwan Political parties established in 2015 Political parties disestablished in 2019