Chinese Unification Promotion Party

The Chinese Unification Promotion Party (CUPP), also known as the Unionist Party, is a minor far-right political party in Taiwan that promotes Chinese unification.

History

On 9 May 2004, Chang An-lo established the NGO "Great Alliance for Defending China" in Guangzhou, China, with the help of the Bamboo Union triad (who he was formerly a leader of). Chang then helped register the Taiwan branch of his organization as a political party on 9 September 2005, under the name "Chinese Unification Promotion Party".

In 2017, the party claimed to have over 30,000 members, many of whom were accused by authorities of having ties to organized crime, something Chang himself does not deny. Other sources have put their membership at approximately 60,000.

In November 2024, a husband and wife couple affiliated with the CUPP and funded by the mainland Taiwan Affairs Office were indicted for contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act and election laws. The Ministry of the Interior stated that it would seek to forcibly disband the CUPP for engaging in illegal election interference on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

Controversies

The controversy about the China Unification Promotion Party mainly revolves around its pro-Chinese Communist Party position, intimidating pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong and Pan-Green Coalition leaders in Taiwan, using the triad background of their members.

Attack on Lam Wing-kee

Lam Wing-kee, the owner of Causeway Bay Books, announced in September 2019 that he planned to re-open the store in Taiwan. The store focuses on the history, social economy and other cultural related books of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China. The store publishes the works of dissident creators, and serves as a connection and mutual assistance base for people in Taiwan and Hong Kong, dedicated to preserving Hong Kong culture and promoting the free exchange of ideas and culture.

On 21 April 2020, Lam was splashed with paint by unidentified men while dining at a café. The Mainland Affairs Council posted on Facebook stating that Taiwan is a democratic country and cannot tolerate such behaviors. A self-proclaimed member of the Unionist Party left a message under the post, reading, "This is just our first warning to you, e willkill you in a matter of minutes" (). The New Power Party responded to the incident by urging the Taiwan government to dissolve and ban the Unionist Party. They also referred to the previous assaults against Joshua Wong, Denise Ho and other Hong Kong democrats conducted by members of Unionist Party, and criticized the government for its inaction.

Banning proposal

The proposal to ban the Chinese Unification Promotion Party was first proposed by the Hong Kong Future Concern Group, a political organization based in Hong Kong, on 18 August 2017. In an open letter to 18 legislators of the Taiwan Parliamentary Concern for Hong Kong Democracy Alliance (all of them being members of either the New Power Party or the Democratic Progressive Party), the group made a number of demands, including declaring the Chinese Patriotic United Association (中華愛國同心會) and the Chinese Unification Promotion Party illegal organizations and arresting all related persons, as well as banning members of Hong Kong's pro-China political parties from entering Taiwan.

In 2020, the New Power Party's Legislative Yuan caucus proposed that the Ministry of the Interior transfer the Unification Promotion Party to the Constitutional Court of the Judicial Yuan for dissolution procedures. The ruling Tsai Ing-wen government, however, has not responded positively. The proposal by the New Power Party was even rejected by the then-ruling Democratic Progressive Party with 64 votes against and only 7 votes in favor.

Some Hong Kong residents in Taiwan perceived unfairness and are dissatisfied with the overly strict requirements for their settlement applications, with some even resorting to far-fetched national security reasons, along with the excessive tolerance of the Chinese Unification Promotion Party.

On 6 November 2024, the Ministry of the Interior believed that the party was clearly likely to violate the free, democratic and constitutional order of the Republic of China, and therefore filed a petition with the Constitutional Court of the Judicial Yuan to dissolve the Unification Promotion Party in accordance with the Additional Articles to the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文) and the Political Parties Act (政黨法).

Interior Ministry officials said the law does not protect key members of a political party from engaging in criminal activity, which is the most important red line. The United Front Party is the first political party to be referred to the case by the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry will continue to monitor other political parties with similar cases.

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, strongly condemned this, saying that the DPP was suppressing patriotic unification forces on the island. The New Power Party responded to the Ministry of the Interior's 2024 action plan by expressing strong support and even stating that it was “long overdue.”

Gallery

Notes

See also

* United front in Taiwan
* Patriot Alliance Association
* Organized crime in Taiwan

References

External links

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{{Taiwanese political parties

2005 establishments in Taiwan
Political parties established in 2005
Chinese nationalism outside mainland China
Conservative parties in Taiwan
Far-right political parties in Taiwan
Organized crime groups in Taiwan
Chinese nationalist political parties
Chinese unification
United front (China)