Taiwan People's Communist Party

The Taiwan People's Communist Party is a minor political party in Taiwan. It was founded on 4 February 2017 by businessman Lin Te-wang, and was the sixth party with "communist" in its name to register with the Ministry of the Interior. It advocates socialism and Chinese unification.

History
Before establishing the Taiwan People's Communist Party, Lin Te-wang was a member of the Kuomintang's central committee. Lin sought the Kuomintang's nomination for Tainan City Constituency 1 in the 2016 legislative election, but the party declined. He subsequently left the Kuomintang and ran unsuccessfully as an independent.

Disgruntled with both the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party, Lin established the Taiwan People's Communist Party a year later, on 4 February 2017. It was the sixth party with "communist" in its name to register with the Ministry of the Interior. Lin originally applied for party registration under the name "Communist Party of China in Taiwan", but was told by the Ministry of Interior that the name could not be used due to existing laws on Cross-Strait relations. The party's inaugural meeting was held on 4 February 2017 in Xinying District, Tainan.

In the run-up to the 2020 legislative election, the Taiwan People's Communist Party was accused of vote buying with money channeled from mainland China. Tainan authorities launched a preliminary investigation after being tipped off and raided the party's offices on 30 December 2019. Sixty party members were detained for questioning. Tainan Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lin Chung-pin announced a few days later that those detained would be charged with contravening Taiwan's National Security Act and provisions of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act. According to the prosecution, the party's leadership took several Tainan residents on trips to Jiangsu Province in exchange for their votes.

In 2023, Lin Te-wang and two other party members were indicted under the Anti-Infiltration Act for colluding with the Chinese Communist Party to influence the 2024 presidential and legislative elections. The Chinese government's Taiwan Affairs Office subsequently condemned the indictments.

Ideology
The stated purpose of the Taiwan People's Communist Party is to "advocate modern socialism for economic development, adhere to the 1992 Consensus ('One China' Consensus), and promote Cross-Strait peace." The party regards Taiwan as "a sacred part of China's territory", and commemorates annually the National Day of the People's Republic of China (PRC) by singing the PRC anthem and raising the PRC flag.