Taiwan Solidarity Union

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox political party Template:Chinese Template:Conservatism in Taiwan Template:Taiwan independence movement The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU)Template:Efn native lang 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.<ref name="tsu layoff"/>

HistoryEdit

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} }} In the summer of 2001, supporters of former President Lee Teng-hui formed the Taiwan Solidarity Union. In the 2000 presidential elections, the Kuomintang (KMT) suffered a devastating defeat, in which internal turmoil had caused the party to lose its grip on power. This was blamed on Lee, the KMT Chairman at the time, and he was forced to resign in March 2001. The hardliners in the KMT, as well as the supporters of James Soong recently expelled from the KMT, believed Lee secretly harbored support for Taiwan independence and had purposely sabotaged the KMT (by not allowing Soong to run under the KMT) in order to allow Chen Shui-bian, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate, to win. Meanwhile, after winning the presidential election, Chen Shui-bian moderated his pro-independence position, alienating some hardline independence supporters in the DPP. By July, just months before the December 2001 elections to the Legislative Yuan, these factors accumulated to result in the formation of the TSU to continue Lee's policies, and fill the void in Taiwanese politics caused by the DPP's abandonment of its strongly pro-independence political stance. It was hoped that this would lead to a pan-green majority in the nation's primary legislative body, thus giving the executive branch, under Chen, the political backing necessary to pursue policies supportive of Taiwanese independence.

The party name and emblem were announced on 25 July 2001, and was officially founded on 12 August.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The TSU's stated political aim is the advocacy of the creation of a Republic of Taiwan and a policy of desinicization which consists of eliminating the symbols and concepts which connect Taiwan to the idea of China. The TSU argues that any lingering connection with the concept of China renders Taiwan an "abnormal nation" and that clearly separating Taiwan from China is necessary to prevent Taiwan from being dominated by an enemy and foreign nation. The TSU has also strongly advocated the creation of a new constitution for Taiwan and the abandonment of "Republic of China" as Taiwan's formal name.

Lee was, naturally, identified as the "spiritual leader" (though he personally never joined the party); the TSU hoped that Lee's popularity would help the TSU make the 5% support mark. Further, Lee's dominance in the party was revealed when the candidates TSU nominated had all been personally approved by Lee beforehand. Meanwhile, as Lee's actions increasingly departed from the KMT's unificationist positions, he was eventually expelled from the Kuomintang. Although there was some initial speculation that Lee's expulsion would cause mass defections in the Kuomintang, none of the major Kuomintang leaders or Lee's close associates changed sides. Nonetheless, former members of the KMT were still to be the fundamental building blocks of the new party, with half of TSU candidates coming directly from the KMT.

After winning nine seats in the 225-member Legislative Yuan in December 2001, the TSU has largely displaced the Taiwan Independence Party (TAIP) as the strongly pro-Taiwan-independence political force and the TSU legislators began advocating relevant resolutions. For instance, they have opened the debates about changing the national flag and national anthem. In the 2002 Taiwanese municipal elections in Taipei and Kaohsiung, TSU fielded no mayoral candidate, and it suffered a defeat in winning no seats in the Taipei City council and won only two seats in the Kaohsiung City council.

Political positionEdit

The TSU was once described as left-wing progressive, but now supports right-wing conservative policies. The TSU is politically conservative and opposed to transgender rights. TSU's socially conservative stance sets it apart from other progressive Pan-Green political parties.<ref name="newbloommag">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="taiwaninsigh">Template:Cite news</ref>

The TSU endorsed Donald Trump at 2020 United States presidential election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After Trump won the 2024 United States presidential election, TSU's party leader Chou Ni-an expressed a favorable view of Trump, saying "the TSU is the closest party to the Republican Party within Taiwan".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The TSU is also described as "ultranationalist" due to its strong anti-Chinese sentiment.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Yasukuni Shrine visitEdit

The visit to the Yasukuni Shrine by TSU chairman Shu Chin-chiang in April 2005 generated a controversy across the political spectrum and further made their party goals more ambiguous to the voters. However, the TSU has made it clear that it would achieve its goal of total independence by all means. Chairman Shu denied the visit should be seen as support for militarism, and claimed it was a goodwill gesture to Taiwan's former colonial master Japan to further strengthen the security of the Pacific region. Chairman Su also emphasized that there is a need to remind the Taiwanese public that the People's Republic of China is aiming 700 missiles towards Taiwan and that Japan would be an important ally if China were inclined to invade.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Chairman Shu's visit, however, gave opportunity to aboriginal legislator Kao Chin Su-mei to gain publicity by protesting with her supporters at the chairman's arrival at the Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport, now renamed Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Later on the TSU press conference was disrupted by an angry mob from the members of pro-unification Patriot Association (愛國同心會), who showed their disagreement and dissatisfaction by throwing eggs at the conference building. The DPP, the ruling party, kept a low profile in this controversy and attempts to distance itself from the incident.

Current statusEdit

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} }} The TSU suffered defeat in the December 2005 local elections, along with its pan-green partner the DPP, and failed to win any municipal mayoral or county magistrate seats. Its representation in the Legislative Yuan was eliminated by the 2008 election when it failed to win any district-contested seats and failed to gain the 5% threshold for proportional representation.

In the 2012 legislative elections, the TSU won 8.98% of the popular vote and earned three representatives to the Legislative Yuan, renewing its status as a credible third party in Taiwanese government. The 2016 legislative elections saw the TSU win 2.51% of all votes, not enough for representation. The latest loss lead to the resignation of party chairman Huang Kun-huei.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Shortly after, all of the party's workforce was laid off.<ref name="tsu layoff">Template:Cite news</ref>

Election resultsEdit

Legislative electionsEdit

Election	Total seats won	Total votes	Share of votes	Outcome of election	Election leader
2001	Template:Composition bar	801,560	8.5%	Template:Increase13 seats; Minority governing coalition Template:Small	Huang Chu-wen
2004	Template:Composition bar	756,712	8.28%	Template:Decrease1 seats; Minority governing coalition Template:Small	Huang Chu-wen
2008	Template:Composition bar	344,887	3.5%	Template:Decrease12 seats; No seats	Huang Kun-huei
2012	Template:Composition bar	1,178,896	8.96%	Template:Increase3 seats; Opposition coalition Template:Small	Huang Kun-huei
2016	Template:Composition bar	305,675	2.51%	Template:Decrease3 seats; No seats	Huang Kun-huei
2020	Template:Composition bar	50,435	0.36%	Template:Nochange; No seats	Liu Yi-te
2024	Template:Composition bar	43,372	0.31%	Template:Nochange; No seats	Liu Yi-te

Local electionsEdit

Election	Mayors & Magistrates	Councils	Third-level Municipal heads	Third-level Municipal councils	Fourth-level Village heads	Election Leader
2001-2002	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Huang Chu-wen
2002 Template:Small	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Huang Chu-wen
2005	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Shu Chin-chiang
2006 Template:Small	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Huang Kun-huei
2009	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Huang Kun-huei
2010 Template:Small	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:Composition bar	Huang Kun-huei
2014 Template:Small	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Huang Kun-huei