This article lists the political parties 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 no ...

) from 7 December 1949. The organization of political parties in Taiwan is governed by the Political Parties Act, enacted on 6 December 2017. The Political Parties Act defines political parties as "political groups consisting of ROC citizens with a common political ideology who safeguard the free, democratic, constitutional order, assist in shaping the political will of the people, and nominate candidates for election to public office." Republished as: Prior to the passage of the Political Parties Act, political organizations in Taiwan followed the Civil Associations Act, also known as the Civil Organizations Act, promulgated in 1989. The Civil Associations Act required that groups held a convention to announce the formation of a political party, and within thirty days of the announcement, provide a list of party members and a party charter to 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" * Ministr ...

. Groups established when the Civil Associations Act was in effect should have revised their charters to comply with the Political Parties Act by 7 December 2019. To be compliant with the Political Parties Act, political groups must additionally convene a representative assembly or party congress for four consecutive years and have followed relevant laws and regulations governing the nomination of candidates to campaign in elections for public office for the same time period. Within one year of filing for political party status, a political group must complete legal person registration. The Ministry of the Interior requires that political parties submit annual property and financial statements. Political organizations that do not meet these regulations were dissolved and removed from the registry of political parties.

Current parties

Parties with national or local representation

* National representation includes the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

, the

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

, and the 113 national legislator seats in the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...

. * Local representation includes the 22 mayors/magistrates executive positions and 912 local legislator (councils) seats of the 6 special municipalities, 3

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and 13

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Full list of registered political parties

The following is a full list of registered political parties according to the

, by order of registration. Dates indicate date of founding.

Historical parties

Taiwan under Japanese rule

Political party movements in Taiwan started in the late 1910s after World War I, during the Taishō period (Taishō Democracy). Taiwanese political movements at this time were to modify the discriminatory colonial laws established in earlier years, and to setup local autonomy systems like in

Mainland Japan is a term to distinguish the area of Japan from its outlying territories. It was an official term in the pre-war period, distinguishing Japan and its colonies in the Far East. After the end of World War II, the term became uncommon, but sti ...

. The largest political movement at this time was the Petition Movement for the Establishment of a Taiwanese Parliament. At the same time, the

International Communist Movement The history of communism encompasses a wide variety of ideologies and political movements sharing the core theoretical values of common ownership of wealth, economic enterprise, and property. Most modern forms of communism are grounded at leas ...

also influenced Taiwan, many

Left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

parties and organizations were also established. Notable Taiwanese parties during this time are: * Taiwan Dōkakai (,

Taiwanese Hokkien Taiwanese Hokkien () (; Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-uân-uē''), also known as Taigi/Taigu (; Pe̍h-ōe-jī/ Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-gí / Tâi-gú''), Taiwanese, Taiwanese Minnan, Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively by about ...

: ''Tâi-oân Tông-hòa-hōe'', Japanese: ''Taiwan Dōkakai'') * New People Society (, Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Sin-bîn-hōe'', Japanese: ''Shinminkai'') *

Taiwanese Cultural Association The Taiwanese Cultural Association (TCA; ) was an important organization during the Japanese rule of Taiwan. It was founded by Chiang Wei-shui on 17 October 1921, in Daitōtei, a district in modern-day Taipei. History After World War I, an epi ...

(, Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Tâi-oân Bûn-hòa Hia̍p-hōe'', Japanese: ''Taiwan Bunka Kyōkai'') * Taiwanese Federation of Workers' Unions (, Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Tâi-oân Kang-iú Chóng Liân-bêng'', Japanese: ''Taiwan Kōyū Sōrenmei'') * Taiwanese Peasants Union (, Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Tâi-oân Lông-bîn Cho͘-ha̍p'', Japanese: ''Taiwan Nōmin Kumiai'') *

Taiwanese Communist Party The Taiwanese Communist Party ( zh, t=臺灣共產黨; ja, 台湾共產党) was a revolutionary organization active in Japanese-ruled Taiwan. Like the contemporary Taiwanese People's Party, its existence was short, only three years, but its ...

(, Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Tâi-oân Kiōng-sán Tóng'', Japanese: ''Taiwan Kyōsan-tō'') *

Taiwanese People's Party The Taiwanese People's Party (; ), founded 1927, was nominally Taiwan's first political party, preceding the founding of the Taiwanese Communist Party by nine months. Initially a party with members holding moderate and conservative views, by ...

(, Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Tâi-oân Bîn-chiòng Tóng'', Japanese: ''Taiwan Minshu-tō'') * Taiwan Local Autonomy Union (, Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Tâi-oân Tē-hng Chū-tī Liân-bêng'', Japanese: ''Taiwan Tihō-jiti Renmei'') At the same time, the political parties in

also affected Taiwan. Those who served as

Governor-General of Taiwan The governor-general of Taiwan ( ja, 臺灣總督, Taiwan Sōtoku) was the head of the Government-General of Taiwan in the Japanese era (including Formosa and the Pescadores) when they were part of the Empire of Japan, from 1895 to 1945. The ...

were also members of the House of Peers of the Imperial Diet (). Party affiliations of the Governor-Generals were: *

Rikken Seiyūkai The was one of the main political parties in the pre-war Empire of Japan. It was also known simply as the ''Seiyūkai''. Founded on September 15, 1900, by Itō Hirobumi,David S. Spencer, "Some Thoughts on the Political Development of the Japane ...

: ''Li̍p-hiàn Chèng-iú-hōe'') * Kenseikai (, Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Hiàn-chèng-hōe'') *

Rikken Minseitō was one of the main political parties in pre-war Empire of Japan. It was commonly known as the ''Minseitō''. History The ''Minseitō'' was founded on 1 June 1927, by a merger of the ''Kenseikai'' and the ''Seiyu Hontō'' political parties. ...

(, Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Li̍p-hiàn Bîn-chèng Tóng'') In the late 1930s, the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

joined the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. To prepare for the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

, all political parties in

were merged into a single organization * with its Taiwanese branch * Kōmin Hōkōkai (, Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Hông-bîn Hōng-kong-hōe'', Japanese: ''Kōmin Hōkōkai'') was the only legal political party-like organization in Taiwan until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Taiwan under the Republic of China

was ceded back to the

Republic of China 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 northeas ...

, founded in

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ** German geophysicist Alfred ...

on the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

, on 25 October 1945. From 1945 until 1949,

political parties in China The People's Republic of China is a one-party state ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Despite this, eight subservient political parties officially exist. Under the one country, two systems principle, the special administrative region ...

which had operated covertly under Japanese rule were permitted to operate in Taiwan province. The ruling

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 Ta ...

set up formal branches in Taiwan, and so did other major political parties including the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

(in 1946). Although it had no formal connection with the Taiwanese Communist Party suppressed by Japanese authorities in the 1930s (which was instead affiliated with the Communist Party of Japan), the Taiwan branch of the Chinese Communist Party absorbed many former members of the Taiwanese Communist Party. However, against the backdrop of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

which erupted soon after the retrocession of Taiwan, the Kuomintang-controlled Republic of China government attempted to restrict the operation of Chinese Communist Party cells in Taiwan, and other opposition parties. With the Republic of China government rapidly losing the Chinese Civil War against the Chinese Communist Party, the ruling

began preparing to move the government to Taiwan in 1949. Taiwan was placed under

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martia ...

from 19 May 1949 to 15 July 1987. The Taiwan provincial branch of the Chinese Communist Party was particularly targeted, and by 1952 had been completely destroyed. During this time, all forms of

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

were forbidden by the government, only three political parties that retreated to Taiwan were allowed to participate the elections. *

(;

: ''Tiong-kok Kok-bîn-tóng'') *

Chinese Youth Party The Young China Party (YCP), also known as the Chinese Youth Party (CYP), is a minor political party in Taiwan (Republic of China). It was one of the three legal political parties in Taiwan during the martial law period from 1949 to 1987, the ...

(; ; Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Tiong-kok Chheng-liân-tóng'') *

China Democratic Socialist Party The China Democratic Socialist Party (CDSP; ) was a Chinese political party founded in Shanghai on 14 August 1946. It was formed through the merger of the former Chinese National Socialist Party (; their preferred shorthand name was "Socialists ...

( , Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Tiong-kok Bîn-chú Siā-hoē-tóng'') All other oppositions who were not allowed not form a political party could only be listed as "independent candidate". These movements were called

Tangwai movement The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Leg ...

(, literally ''outside of Kuomintang''). A notable exception in this era was *

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majorit ...

(; Taiwanese Hokkien: ''Bîn-chú Chìn-pō͘ Tóng''; ). It was established "illegally" on 28 September 1986, then was legalized in the next year by the lifting of the martial law. As Taiwan democratized in the late 1980s, the number of legally registered political parties in

had increased exponentially and continued to increase year by year, indicating a liberal democracy and high political freedom in

. In recent decades, Taiwan's political campaigns can be classified to two ideological blocs * The

Pan-Green Coalition The pan-Green coalition, pan-Green force or pan-Green groups is a nationalist political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China), consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Taiwan Solidarity Union ...

, led by

, favors Taiwanization and the

Taiwan independence movement The Taiwan independence movement is a political movement which advocates the formal declaration of an Independence, independent and Sovereign state, sovereign Taiwanese state, as opposed to Chinese unification or the status quo in Cross-Str ...

, eventually aiming to establish a Taiwanese

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined ter ...

. * 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 You ...

, led by

, is in favor of building closer ties with

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

and the eventual

Chinese unification Chinese unification, also known as the Cross-Strait unification or Chinese reunification, is the potential unification of territories currently controlled, or claimed, by the People's Republic of China ("China" or "Mainland China") and the ...

under the

Government of the Republic of China The Government of the Republic of China, is the national government of the Republic of China whose ''de facto'' territory currently consists of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other island groups in the " free area". Governed by the ...

. The majority in both coalitions state a desire to maintain the status quo for now. Many minor parties in Taiwan are unaligned with either coalition. On 6 December 2017, the ''Political Parties Act'' () was enforced. The ''Act'' requires the political parties to maintain a number of compliance, including * File a declaration to the

, AND register as a

legal person In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason f ...

to a District Court, * Convene representative assembly or party congress at least once in a four-year period, * Nominate

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * ...

s in national or local elections at least once in a four-year period, and * Compliance on funding source, accounting, and financial transparency. By the end of 2018, among the 343 existing political party declarations: 220 have met the new compliance, 56 chose to dissolve or transformed to a national political association.

Notes

Words in native languages

References

External links

Ministry of the Interior (Taiwan)

The website of Parties and National Political Associations — Ministry of the Interior (Taiwan)

Political Parties Act

Document unearthed shows double-dealing of Chiang behind 228 Incident - Taiwan News
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Political Parties In Taiwan

Political parties 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 ...

Politics of Taiwan