Green Party Taiwan[I] is a political party in Taiwan established on 25 January 1996. Although the party is sympathetic to Taiwanese nationalism and shares a number of centre-left positions with the Pan-Green Coalition, the party emphasizes campaigning primarily on social and environmental issues. The party is not a member of, and should not be confused with, the Pan-Green Coalition. Green Party Taiwan is a member of the Asia Pacific Greens Federation and participates in the Global Greens.
Much of the 400-strong membership are affiliated with the non-governmental organisation sector of Taiwanese society, as well as from academia and the youth community.[2]
In the 2008 legislative election, the Green Party of Taiwan formed a red-green coalition with a labour-led organization Raging Citizens Act Now! (人民火大行動聯盟), but failed to win any seats.
In the 2012 legislative election, Green Party Taiwan garnered 1.7% of the party vote. While still far short of the 5% threshold to win a seat in the legislature, this makes it the largest extraparliamentary party in Taiwan.[3] Its best showing is in Orchid Island, where Taiwan’s nuclear waste storage facility is located. There, the party collected 35.76% of the party votes due to its strong anti-nuclear stance.
In the 2016 general election, the party ran in a coalition with the newly founded centre-left Social Democratic Party[5] and fielded candidates in both constituency races and the nationwide party ballot.[6] The coalition garnered 2.5% of the party vote without winning any seats.[7]
In the 2020 legislative election, the Green Party nominated five young professionals, including famed psychologist Cheng Hui-wen and party founder Kao Cheng-yan.[8] They got 2.4% of the votes and did not win any seats. They were the second largest party that didn’t win a seat.[9]
The Green Party nominated Taiwan's first transgender legislative candidate, Abbygail ET Wu (吳伊婷), in the 2024 election cycle. The party won 117,298 votes (0.85%), not enough to seat any candidate named on the Green Party list.[11]
On March 30, 2024, Liu Chong-hsian resigned from the party.[12] This leaves the party with no members holding public office.
The Green Party averages around 3% of total votes cast in metropolitan urban areas, with support in rural areas, such as Orchid Island, as high as 35.8%.[2]
Kao Cheng-yan (高成炎), 1996–1997 and 2003–2004 Chair. Professor of Computer Science at National Taiwan University; Green Party Taiwan's founding chair; former director of Taiwan Environmental Protection Union; candidate for the Legislative Yuan in 1998 and 2001.
Shin-Min Shih (施信民), 1998 Chair. Professor of Chemical Engineering at National Taiwan University; President of the Institute of Environment and Resource; former Director of Taiwan Environmental Protection Union;
Kuang-Yu Chen (陳光宇), 1999–2000 Chair. candidate for the Taipei City Council in 1998.
Ayo Cheng (鄭先祐), 2001–2002 Chair. Dean of College of Environment and Ecology at National University of Tainan; former director of Taiwan Environmental Protection Union.
Yen-Wen Peng (彭渰雯), 2005 Chair. Assistant professor of Public Administration and Management at Shih Hsin University; candidate for the Taipei City Council in 1998.
Sam Lin (林聖崇), 2006 Co-chair. Former Chair of Taiwan Ecology Conservation Union.
Mary Chen (陳曼麗), 2007 Co-chair. Former president of the Homemakers' Union and Foundation; former president of the National Union of Taiwan Women Association; candidate for the Legislative Yuan in 2008. Elected to the legislature in 2016 after joining the Democratic Progressive Party.
Hung Hui-hsiang (洪輝祥), 2007 Co-chair. President of Pingtung Environmental Protection Union; candidate for the Legislative Yuan in 2004.
Chung Pao-chu (鍾寶珠), 2008–2009 Co-chair. President of Hualien Environmental Protection Union; candidate for the Hualien County Councilor in 1998, 2002.
Leo Chang (張宏林), 2008–2009 Co-chair. Secretary-General of the Taiwan NPO Self-Regulation Alliance; former Secretary-General of the Society of Wildness; candidate for the Taipei City Council in 2006.
Gelinda Chang,[citation needed] co-chair for 2011; educator.
Robin Winkler, co-chair for 2011 and 2012; lawyer and founder of Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association; naturalised Taiwanese citizen.
Karen Yu (余宛如), co-chair from 2012 to 2015; social entrepreneur and co-founder of OKOGreen café, a fair trade coffee shop. Elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2016 as a member of the Democratic Progressive Party.
Ken-cheng Lee (李根政), co-chair from 2013 to 2017; artist, educator and founder of Citizen of the Earth Taiwan, an environmental organisation.
Chang Yu-ching (張育憬), co-chair from 2015 to 2017; environmental activist.[citation needed]
Pan Han-chiang (潘翰疆), member of the Central Supervisory Committee of the party, 1999; former deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union. He split from Green Party Taiwan in 2014 to form the Trees Party.
Calvin Wen (溫炳原), a former secretary-general of the party, competed in the by-election in Daan District due to the resignation of Diane Lee in 2009.
Rita Jhang (張竹芩), also known as Zukkim Zong and JhuCin Jhang, served as Secretary-General of Green Party Taiwan from 1 April 2020 to 31 May 2021.[17] She is the current president of the North American Taiwan Studies Association[18] and co-host of the feminist podcast Z Green Party (Z色派對).[19]
Zoe Lee (李菁琪), current Secretary-General of Green Party Taiwan,[20] cannabis advocate and podcaster, and Taiwan's first "weed lawyer" whose law firm only takes on clients accused of cannabis-related crimes.[21]
^綠黨超越新黨 成小黨落選頭Archived 18 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine. China Times (15 January 2012): Greens surpassing the New Party to be the largest extraparliamentary party.
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