Progressivism in Taiwan

Last updated

Progressivism is a major political movement in Taiwanese politics. There are several progressive political parties in Taiwan, but most are associated with the Pan-Green Coalition led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Contents

Progressive parties in Taiwan

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre-left social liberal and progressive party in Taiwan. It grew out of the Tangwai movement formed in the 1970s to oppose the ruling Kuomintang. As of the 2020 legislative elections, the DPP holds a majority of 61 legislative seats.

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) is a left-wing progressive party characterised primarily by its Taiwanese nationalism and derives its membership from both the Kuomintang's former moderate and Taiwan-oriented fringe and DPP supporters disgruntled by the party's moderation on the question of Taiwanese sovereignty. Its progressive character is questionable, although it is part of the DPP's pro-Taiwan independence Pan-Green alliance. The TSU lost all of its seats in the 2016 elections.

The New Power Party (NPP) is a progressive party which aims to rewrite the Constitution of Republic of China and to carry out Taiwanization. [1] The NPP won three seats in the 2020 legislative election, but lost all the seats in 2024.

The modern liberal parties in Taiwan are mostly associated with Taiwanese nationalism, as well as liberal positions on social issues, such as support for LGBT rights and abolishing the death penalty. However, progressivism and social liberalism in Taiwan have not easily extended to extensive labor rights, or more liberal support for immigrant rights.

List of progressive parties

Represented in the Legislative Yuan

Not represented in the Legislative Yuan

Formerly represented in the Legislative Yuan

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Progressive Party</span> Taiwanese political party

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre to centre-left political party in Taiwan. It is currently the major ruling party in Taiwan, controlling both the presidency and the central government, also the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Taiwan</span>

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is governed in a framework of a representative democratic republic under a five-power system first envisioned by Sun Yat-sen in 1906, whereby under the constitutional amendments, the President is head of state and the Premier is head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Executive Yuan. Legislative power is vested primarily in the Legislative Yuan. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. In addition, the Examination Yuan is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants, and the Control Yuan inspects, reviews, and audits the policies and operations of the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiwan independence movement</span> Independence movement in East Asia

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan-Green Coalition</span> Political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China)

The pan-Green coalition, pan-Green force or pan-Green groups is a nationalist political coalition in Taiwan, consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Green Party Taiwan, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), and Taiwan Constitution Association (TCA). The platform of the New Power Party is also very closely aligned with all the other Pan-Green parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan-Blue Coalition</span> Political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China)

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 China Party (YCP). The name comes from the party color of the Kuomintang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiwan Solidarity Union</span> Political party in Taiwan

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) is a political party in Taiwan which advocates Taiwan independence, and is affiliated with the Taiwanese localization movement. It was officially founded on 12 August 2001 and is considered part of the Pan-Green Coalition. Unlike the Democratic Progressive Party, its larger companion party in the Pan-Green Coalition, the TSU actively campaigns for the creation of a de jure Republic of Taiwan. The future of the party is in doubt after the 2016 elections as the party failed to secure enough votes to be eligible for state funding.

<i>Tangwai</i> movement 1970s–1980s political movement in Taiwan

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 Legislative Yuan, opposition parties were still forbidden. As a result, many opponents of the KMT, officially classified as independents, ran and were elected as members "outside the party." The movement was at times tolerated and other times suppressed, the latter being the case particularly after the Kaohsiung Incident of 1979. Members of the movement eventually formed the Democratic Progressive Party, which after opposition political parties were legalized, contested elections and won the Presidency with candidate Chen Shui-bian, ending decades of single party rule in Taiwan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hsu Hsin-liang</span> Taiwanese politician

Hsu Hsin-liang is a Taiwanese politician, formerly Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). He was a supporter of the Pan-Blue Coalition from 2000 to 2008 but then supported the DPP in the 2008 presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Taiwanese legislative election</span>

The 2004 Taiwanese legislative election was held on 11 December 2004. All 225 seats of the Legislative Yuan were up for election: 168 elected by single non-transferable vote, 41 elected through party-list Proportional representation, eight elected from overseas Chinese constituencies on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected by popular vote among the aboriginal populations. Members served three-year terms beginning on 1 February 2005, and ending 31 January 2008. The next term served four years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 Taiwanese legislative election</span>

The 2001 Taiwanese legislative election was held on 1 December 2001. All 225 seats of the Legislative Yuan were up for election: 168 elected by popular vote, 41 elected on the basis of the proportional representation based of the nationwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected from overseas Chinese constituencies on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected by popular vote among the Taiwanese aboriginal populations. Members served three year terms from February 1, 2002 to February 1, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 Taiwanese National Assembly election</span>

An election for the National Assembly took place in Taiwan on Saturday, 14 May 2005, from 07:30 to 16:00 local time. It elected an ad hoc National Assembly whose only function was to serve as a constituent assembly in order to approve or reject amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of China already proposed by the Legislative Yuan. The results indicated that the amendments would be approved, as the parties supporting them won an overwhelming majority, and indeed the amendments were passed on 7 June 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiwanese nationalism</span> Political ideology

Taiwanese nationalism is a nationalist movement which asserts that the Taiwanese people are a distinct nation. Due to the complex political status of Taiwan, it is strongly linked to the Taiwan independence movement in seeking an identity separate from China. This involves the education of history, geography, and culture from a Taiwan-centric perspective, promoting native languages of Taiwan such as Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka, and indigenous languages, as well as reforms in other aspects.

The Four Ifs are a set of preconditions developed by Chen Shui-bian clarifying and tempering the stance of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) regarding independence for the island. They were developed in 1988 by Chen, under the Kuomintang administration of Lee Teng-hui. They indicate events which, if occurred, would cause the DPP to immediately advocate for independence for Taiwan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Taiwanese legislative election</span>

Legislative elections were held in Taiwan on 12 January 2008 to elect the members of the Legislative Yuan. It was the first Legislative Yuan election after the constitutional amendments of 2005, which extended term length from three to four years, reduced seat count from 225 to 113, and introduced the current electoral system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Power Party</span> Political party in Taiwan

The New Power Party (NPP) is a political party in Taiwan formed in early 2015. The party emerged from the Sunflower Student Movement in 2014, and advocates for universal human rights, civil and political liberties, as well as Taiwan independence/nationalism. The party is a part of the political phenomenon known as the "Third Force" (第三勢力), in which new political parties, unaligned with traditional Pan-Green or Pan-Blue Coalitions, sought to provide an alternative in Taiwanese politics. Nevertheless, the NPP's policies are very much aligned with and closely match the Pan-Green camp; thus the NPP cooperated with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the 2016 elections, going as far as not to run in traditional KMT strongholds to avoid competition with the DPP. The party works in tandem with a perceived generational shift towards Taiwan-centrism as the new socio-cultural norm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Taiwanese legislative election</span>

Legislative elections were held in Taiwan on 16 January 2016 to elect all 113 members in the Legislative Yuan, alongside presidential elections. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led by Tsai Ing-wen, who also won the presidential election on the same day, secured a majority for the first time in history by winning 68 seats. The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) lost both the presidency and its legislative majority and returned to the opposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chen Chin-ting</span> Taiwanese politician

Chen Chin-ting is a Taiwanese politician who served in the Legislative Yuan from 1999 to 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huang Chung-yuan</span> Taiwanese politician (born 1950)

Huang Chung-yuan is a Taiwanese politician. He was a member of the Taiwan Solidarity Union for most of his two-term stint in the Legislative Yuan and served the party as its acting chairman from December 2004 to January 2005. In 2007, Huang was expelled from the TSU and joined the Democratic Progressive Party.

Liu Yi-te is a Taiwanese politician. While affiliated with the Democratic Progressive Party, he was a member of the National Assembly between 1992 and 2000. He joined the Taiwan Solidarity Union upon its establishment in 2001, and since April 2016, has served as party chairman.

References