The Taiwanese People's Party, founded in 1927, was nominally
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
'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 the time of its banning, on 18 February 1931, it had become a solidly leftist, workers-oriented party. In a political atmosphere increasingly dominated by the rise of
Japanese fascism, the party never participated in electoral politics.
History
The party grew out of the conflict within the
Taiwanese Cultural Association. By the late 1920s that organization had become largely
socialist
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
-dominated. A group of its founders met during the first half of 1927 to plan an alternative, more moderate organization. After several of their proposals had been rejected by the Japanese authorities, they finally settled on "Taiwanese People's Party" and a much diluted, vaguely worded party program. Specifically the new party officially disavowed any ambition to promote "national struggle" and declared its intention to use legal means to "affirm democratic politics", establish "reasonable economic organization" and reform "defects in the social institutions". In terms of policy it advocated the rights of Taiwanese to publish newspapers, the need to teach
Taiwanese in public schools, abolition of a system of informers known as
Hoko System, removal of the need for passports when travelling to China, and reform of the farmers' associations and government monopolies.
The party grew quickly. By the end of 1927, it had 15 branches and 456 members; among them, many prominent elites, including landowners, lawyers and doctors. However, the vague party charter soon presented problems: on the one hand the charter had apparently managed to placate the wary authorities; on the other, the vague wording had the effect of hiding away some of the divisive ideological differences among the most powerful players. During the party's short existence its internal politics was dominated by the struggle between the left-wing, led by
Chiang Wei-shui
Chiang Wei-shui (; 6 August 1890 – 5 August 1931) was a Taiwanese physician and activist. He was a founding member of the Taiwanese Cultural Association and the Taiwanese People's Party. He is seen as one of the most important figures in Ta ...
, and the right-wing, represented by , to define the party's core values, particularly its position on "the
class
Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...
question". Whereas Chiang's faction sought to define the party as representing the interests of workers and peasants, Peng's faction took the moderate position of "working to improve their quality of life". After Chiang set up the as a party affiliate in February 1928, Peng resigned in protest. In August 1930 a number of conservatives left the party to form the , led by
Lin Hsien-tang
Lin Hsien-tang (; 22 October 1881 – 8 September 1956) was a Taiwanese politician and activist who founded several political organizations and sat on the Japanese House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers.
Early life and family
Lin Hsien-tang's earl ...
and .
By the third party congress later that year, Chiang had won control of the executive committee. His proposal for a revision of the party charter was passed the following year. It admonished "bourgeois" and "reactionary" members for not heeding the international climate, which had "strengthened the consciousness of struggle within the island's masses". The revised charter characterized the party as one to work toward the political freedom and interests of workers, peasants, the urban proletariat, and all similarly oppressed. Chiang believed that the time was ripe for a strategy that combined class and national (anti-colonial) movements.
For the most part, the party was not effective in achieving its goals. On 7 July 1927 it put forward a "Statement of Recommendations", given to Prime Minister
Hamaguchi Osachi, that demanded local autonomy for the island and urged freedom of speech. The following year, it demanded that the colonial governor institute popular, proportionally representative ballot for some councils. Its singular triumph was in forcing the authorities to set aside budget for establishing treatment centers for
opium
Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
addicts. The party successfully created international pressure by filing complaints to the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
(of which Japan remained a member until the early 1930s), which then sent a representative to investigate.
As civilian rule gave way to a new, harsher phase of all-consuming
militarism
Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
in Taiwan and elsewhere in the
Japanese colonies, the fate of the party was sealed. Ironically the result was essentially as Peng Hua-ying had predicted in his objection to Chiang's more radical vision: As soon as the fourth party congress passed the revised charter, the authorities proceeded to ban the organization. Chiang Wei-shui and other party leaders were arrested. In its statement the authorities accused "leftist, nationalist members" of controlling the party and secretly working on
independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
for the colony, as well as alerting the international community of Japan's use of
chemical warfare in suppressing the
Musha Rebellion of 1930. Chiang himself came to be disillusioned with legitimate political means of reform. After his death in August 1931 from
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...
, the party fell into disarray and later disbanded.
Platform
The party program of the TPP was
socialist
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
, emphasizing
constitutional democracy
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of Legal entity, entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed.
Wh ...
and separation of power with a new Taiwanese constitution. The party had a radical economic program aiming at redistributing land to peasants and removing big landlords, abolishing big bourgeoisie and privileged classes in Taiwan, and implementing socialist programs to nationalize big companies and improve workers' rights. It also included the liberation of the Taiwanese people and regaining Taiwanese sovereignty from the
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
. Those programs were heavily inspired by Sun Yat-sen's
Three Principles of the People
The Three Principles of the People (), also known as the Three People's Principles, San-min Doctrine, San Min Chu-i, or Tridemism is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to improve China during the Republi ...
.
[https://nckur.lib.ncku.edu.tw/retrieve/149274/1010515010-000011.pdf]
See also
*
Ethnic nationalism in Japan#Taiwanese nationalism
*
Pro-Republic of China
References
{{Taiwanese political parties
1927 establishments in Taiwan
1931 disestablishments in Taiwan
Anti-fascist organizations
Anti-imperialist organizations
Chinese nationalist political parties
Defunct political parties in Taiwan
Left-wing parties in Asia
Liberal parties in Taiwan
Political parties disestablished in 1931
Political parties established in 1927
Socialist parties in Taiwan
Taiwanese nationalist political parties
Three Principles of the People