Chinese political parties
Encyclopedia
The first major political party in China
was the Kuomintang
(KMT) which moved to Taiwan
in 1949. It was founded in Guangdong
Province on August 25, 1912 from a union of several revolutionary groups. The Republic of China
was founded by Kuomintang's leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen
later that year. In 1921, the Communist Party of China
(CPC) was founded by Chen Duxiu
and Li Dazhao
in Shanghai
as a study society, and an informal political network.
During the Chinese Civil War
, under the CPC's leadership, the People's Liberation Army
defeated the Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army
in 1949. As a last resort, the Kuomintang leadership left mainland China
, and moved to Taiwan. Since then, there have been two very different Chinese political entities, one ruling mainland China, and the other ruling Taiwan.
elections. The four largest winners were the Nationalist Party
representing revolutionaries
, the Republican Party representing militarists
, the Unity Party representing the gentry
, and the Democratic Party representing former constitutional monarchists
. The latter three merged to form the Progressive Party
in 1913. After the failed Second Revolution against Yuan Shikai
, the Nationalist leadership fled China and regrouped as the Chinese Revolutionary Party
. The Progressives were split into pro- and anti-Yuan factions during the National Protection War
.
During the warlord era
, the Chinese Revolutionary Party which ruled in southern China renamed itself as the Chinese Nationalist Party in 1919. Meanwhile, the Beiyang government
in northern China held its own elections in 1918 which were won by the Anfu Club and followed by the Communications Clique
and the Research Clique (successors to the Progressives). The Anfu Club dissolved after the 1920 Zhili-Anhui War
, the Communications Clique in the Northern Expedition, and the Research Clique after the 1924 Beijing coup
.
The Communist Party of China
, formed in 1921, entered into a united front with the Nationalists in 1923 to defeat the warlords. The right-wing Young China Party (YCP) appeared in 1923. Following the 1925 Yunnan-Guangxi War
, ex-Nationalists who adhered to the expelled Chen Jiongming
and Tang Jiyao
created the China Public Interest Party (CPIP). During the Northern Expedition, the Communists were purged from the united front while the Nationalists set up their single party state. Left-wing Nationalists and non-doctrinaire Communists formed the genesis of the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party
(CPWDP) in the wake of the purge.
In 1932, former members of the Research Clique created the Chinese National Socialist Party, they were known as the Socialists to avoid confusion with the German Nazis. The CPWDP joined the short-lived Productive People's Party
in the Fujian Rebellion. During the Second Sino-Japanese War
, the YCP, CPWDP, and the Socialists formed the China Democratic League
(CDL), as an umbrella group, to fight the Japanese while providing for a "Third Way". After the war, the YCP and the Socialists, joined the Nationalists in Taiwan. The Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang
, CPWDP, CDL, and the CPIP joined the Communists' United Front which also included several political pressure groups.
ruled all of mainland China before 1949 and has been confined to Taiwan after 1949.
Major parties prior to 1949 were:
Major parties since 1949 are:
For more, see:
has ruled mainland China
since 1949. The sole major political party is the Communist Party of China
. For more, see:
and Macau
were both Europe
an colonies until the late 1990s, and, as a result, both special administrative regions have different political party histories. For more, see:
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
was the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
(KMT) which moved to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
in 1949. It was founded in Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
Province on August 25, 1912 from a union of several revolutionary groups. The Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
was founded by Kuomintang's leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
later that year. In 1921, the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
(CPC) was founded by Chen Duxiu
Chen Duxiu
Chen Duxiu played many different roles in Chinese history. He was a leading figure in the anti-imperial Xinhai Revolution and the May Fourth Movement for Science and Democracy. Along with Li Dazhao, Chen was a co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. He was its first General Secretary....
and Li Dazhao
Li Dazhao
Li Dazhao was a Chinese intellectual who co-founded the Communist Party of China with Chen Duxiu in 1921.-Early life:...
in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
as a study society, and an informal political network.
During the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
, under the CPC's leadership, the People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
defeated the Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army
National Revolutionary Army
The National Revolutionary Army , pre-1928 sometimes shortened to 革命軍 or Revolutionary Army and between 1928-1947 as 國軍 or National Army was the Military Arm of the Kuomintang from 1925 until 1947, as well as the national army of the Republic of China during the KMT's period of party rule...
in 1949. As a last resort, the Kuomintang leadership left mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
, and moved to Taiwan. Since then, there have been two very different Chinese political entities, one ruling mainland China, and the other ruling Taiwan.
History
After the founding of the Republic of China in 1912, a plethora of parties appeared to compete for the upcoming National AssemblyNational Assembly of the Republic of China
The National Assembly of the Republic of China refers to several parliamentary bodies that existed in the Republic of China. The National Assembly was originally founded in 1913 as the first legislature in Chinese history, but was disbanded less than a year later as President Yuan Shikai assumed...
elections. The four largest winners were the Nationalist Party
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
representing revolutionaries
Tongmenghui
The Tongmenghui, also known as the Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance and United Allegiance Society, was a secret society and underground resistance movement formed when merging many Chinese revolutionary groups together by Sun Yat-sen, Song...
, the Republican Party representing militarists
Beiyang Army
The Beiyang Army was a powerful, Western-style Chinese military force created by the Qing Dynasty government in the late 19th century. It was the centerpiece of a general reconstruction of China's military system. The Beiyang Army played a major role in Chinese politics for at least three decades...
, the Unity Party representing the gentry
Gentry (China)
As used for imperial China, landed gentry does not correspond to any term in Chinese. One standard work remarks that under the Ming dynasty, called shenshi or shenjin, meaning variously degree-holders, literati, scholar-bureaucrats or officials, they are loosely known in English as the Chinese...
, and the Democratic Party representing former constitutional monarchists
Hundred Days' Reform
The Hundred Days' Reform was a failed 104-day national cultural, political and educational reform movement from 11 June to 21 September 1898 in late Qing Dynasty China. It was undertaken by the young Guangxu Emperor and his reform-minded supporters...
. The latter three merged to form the Progressive Party
Progressive Party (China)
- Origins :Chinese constitutionalism was a movement that originated after the First Sino-Japanese War . A young group of intellectuals in China led by Kang Youwei argued that China's defeat was due to its lack of modern institutions and legal framework which the Self-Strengthening Movement had...
in 1913. After the failed Second Revolution against Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...
, the Nationalist leadership fled China and regrouped as the Chinese Revolutionary Party
Chinese Revolutionary Party
The Chinese Revolutionary Party was the short lived renaming of the Kuomintang between 1914 and 1919....
. The Progressives were split into pro- and anti-Yuan factions during the National Protection War
National Protection War
The National Protection War , also known as the anti-Monarchy War, was a civil war that took place in China between 1915 and 1916. The cause of this war was Yuan Shikai's proclamation of himself as Emperor. Only three years earlier, the last Chinese dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, had been overthrown...
.
During the warlord era
Warlord era
The Chinese Warlord Era was the period in the history of the Republic of China, from 1916 to 1928, when the country was divided among military cliques, a division that continued until the fall of the Nationalist government in the mainland China regions of Sichuan, Shanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia,...
, the Chinese Revolutionary Party which ruled in southern China renamed itself as the Chinese Nationalist Party in 1919. Meanwhile, the Beiyang government
Beiyang Government
The Beiyang government or warlord government collectively refers to a series of military regimes that ruled from Beijing from 1912 to 1928 at Zhongnanhai. It was internationally recognized as the legitimate Government of the Republic of China. The name comes from the Beiyang Army which dominated...
in northern China held its own elections in 1918 which were won by the Anfu Club and followed by the Communications Clique
Communications Clique
The Communications Clique was a powerful interest group of politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats, businessmen, engineers, and labour unionists in China's Beiyang government . It is also known as the Cantonese Clique because many of its leaders hail from Guangdong...
and the Research Clique (successors to the Progressives). The Anfu Club dissolved after the 1920 Zhili-Anhui War
Zhili-Anhui War
The Zhili–Anhui War was a 1920 conflict in the Republic of China's Warlord Era between the Zhili clique and Anhui cliques for control of the Beiyang government.-Prelude:...
, the Communications Clique in the Northern Expedition, and the Research Clique after the 1924 Beijing coup
Beijing coup
The Beijing coup refers to the October 1924 coup d'etat by Feng Yuxiang against Chinese President Cao Kun, leader of the Zhili warlord faction. Feng called it the Capital Revolution . The coup occurred at a crucial moment in the Second Zhili–Fengtian War and allowed the pro-Japanese Fengtian...
.
The Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
, formed in 1921, entered into a united front with the Nationalists in 1923 to defeat the warlords. The right-wing Young China Party (YCP) appeared in 1923. Following the 1925 Yunnan-Guangxi War
Yunnan-Guangxi War
The Yunnan–Guangxi War was a war of succession fought for the control of the Chinese Nationalist Party after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. It was launched by the Yunnan clique against the party leadership and the New Guangxi clique....
, ex-Nationalists who adhered to the expelled Chen Jiongming
Chen Jiongming
Chen Jiongming was a revolutionary figure in the early periods of the Republic of China. Chen Jiongming was born in 1878 at Haifeng, Guangdong, China....
and Tang Jiyao
Tang Jiyao
Tang Jiyao was a Chinese general and warlord of Yunnan during the Warlord Era of Republican China. Tang Jiyao was military governor of Yunnan from 1913-1927.-Life:...
created the China Public Interest Party (CPIP). During the Northern Expedition, the Communists were purged from the united front while the Nationalists set up their single party state. Left-wing Nationalists and non-doctrinaire Communists formed the genesis of the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party
Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party
The Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party is one of the eight non-communist, legally recognised political parties in the People's Republic of China that follow the direction of the Communist Party of China and is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.The...
(CPWDP) in the wake of the purge.
In 1932, former members of the Research Clique created the Chinese National Socialist Party, they were known as the Socialists to avoid confusion with the German Nazis. The CPWDP joined the short-lived Productive People's Party
Productive People's Party
The Productive People's Party was a short-lived leftist political party formed during the Fujian Rebellion in November 1933. It was formed by officers of the National Revolutionary Army's 19th Route Army. They were disaffected by Chiang Kai-shek's domination of both the Kuomintang and the...
in the Fujian Rebellion. During the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, the YCP, CPWDP, and the Socialists formed the China Democratic League
China Democratic League
The China Democratic League is one of the eight legally recognised political parties in the People's Republic of China.The party was established in 1939 and took its present name in 1944. At its formation, it was a coalition of three pro-democracy parties and three pressure groups...
(CDL), as an umbrella group, to fight the Japanese while providing for a "Third Way". After the war, the YCP and the Socialists, joined the Nationalists in Taiwan. The Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang
Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang
The Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang is one of eight registered minor political parties in the People's Republic of China....
, CPWDP, CDL, and the CPIP joined the Communists' United Front which also included several political pressure groups.
The Government of the Republic of China
The Government of the Republic of ChinaGovernment of the Republic of China
The Republic of China was formally established by Dr. Sun Yat-sen in 1912 in Nanjing under the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China but this government was moved to Beijing in the same year and continued as the internationally recognized government of China until 1928. In the history...
ruled all of mainland China before 1949 and has been confined to Taiwan after 1949.
Major parties prior to 1949 were:
- KuomintangKuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
(KMT) - Communist Party of ChinaCommunist Party of ChinaThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
- Youth Party of China
- Progressive Party of China
- Constitution Party of China
Major parties since 1949 are:
- Kuomintang
For more, see:
The Government of the People's Republic of China
The Government of the People's Republic of ChinaGovernment of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
has ruled mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
since 1949. The sole major political party is the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
. For more, see:
Hong Kong and Macau
Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
were both Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an colonies until the late 1990s, and, as a result, both special administrative regions have different political party histories. For more, see:
See also
- Democracy in ChinaDemocracy in ChinaDemocracy was a major concept introduced to China in the late nineteenth century. The debate over its form and definition as well as application was one of the major ideological battlegrounds in Chinese politics for well over a century. It is still a contentious subject...
- List of political parties