Written by Jonathan Leung.
Image credit: 新黨打假除亂/ Facebook.
The Earth Thunders: Ups and Downs of the New Party
The recent detention of Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) leader Ko Wen-je has renewed debate over the need for a stable and effective third party in Taiwan. Though new parties often generate initial enthusiasm, they rarely sustain it. To endure within Taiwan’s two-party dominance, third parties frequently adjust their strategies to attract wider support. This article traces back to Taiwan’s first prominent third party, the New Party, exploring its ideological and value shifts through the evolving lyrics of its theme song, The Earth Thunders (大地一聲雷).
A breakaway from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the New Party was once Taiwan’s third-largest political party in the 1990s. After Chiang Ching-kuo died in 1988, the young KMT generation established the New Kuomintang Alliance (NKA) to challenge the leadership of Lee Teng-hui. Many of the NKA members quit the KMT after their victory in the 1992 legislative election. The New Party was then established by Jaw Shaw-kong and Wang Chien-shien in 1993. They became the critical minority with 1.2 million votes and 21 parliamentary seats in 1995. Their influence diminished as many members returned to the KMT or joined the People First Party (PFP) in the early 2000s. Once a robust discourse of power, only one current official, Taipei City Councillor Hou Han-ting, remains standing. They received less than 0.3% of votes in the 2024 legislative election, ranking eleventh in the party list. Walking through three decades, they declined from the third-largest political force to a marginalised party. Their positions have always been explicit, given that it has changed over time. This article looks at its ideological transformation through its theme song.
The Earth Thunders: The New Party in the 1990s
In order to raise the party’s campaign spirit in the 1994 local elections, the party launched a theme song – the Earth Thunders. The song was written by a famous songwriter, Tan Chien-chang, and was sung by campus folk singer Lee Chien-fu. Literally interpreted as “A great thunder sound strikes to the earth, shocked both you and me (大地一聲雷 警醒了我和你),” its name and the first sentence of the lyrics shows the abruptness of the party’s sudden formation. “A brand new you and me, starting an unlimited new hope (新的你新的我 開創無限新的希望)” reveals its grand ambition in standing out while setting up a new political model.
Attention should be directed to the second verse, where “Creating a new Republic of China (創造新的中華民國)” reveals the party’s stance on national identity—a core aspect defining its position. The New Party aimed to protect the Republic of China, showing its allegiance to the “China” represented in its constitution and historical context. The NKA broke away due to their suspicion of Lee’s national identity and cross-strait position. The Non-mainstreams suspected Lee’s tendency to keep a distance from the mainland, which means rejecting unification, regardless of peaceful or military – a pivotal KMT principle. The journalistic review “Shake of the New Party” suggested that Lee’s localised KMT was pro-unification only by formality, but it was in fact de facto pro-independence (形統實統). The New Party underscored its pro-ROC position.
The chorus is worth paying attention to in explaining their core values. “The flower of freedom flourishes from our heart, the light of democracy sparkles from our hands (我們心中開滿自由的花 我們雙手點燃民主的光)” illustrates progressive and liberal ideas like “freedom” and “democracy” are their genes. Despite being dissatisfied with Lee’s cross-strait position, they also challenged Lee’s black-gold politics. Since Lee accelerated democratisation, gang members and corrupt officials used elections to legitimise their backgrounds or to secure institutional protection from prosecution for illegal activities. They blamed Lee for encouraging or even cooperating with them. They were also discontent with Lee’s decision to isolate the mainlanders Waishengren and centralise the power of the military, KMT and Executive Yuan into the president’s hands. Therefore, they defined their core values as “freedom” and “democracy,” in particular, to show contrast with the KMT’s one-party dictatorship in the 1990s. Their determination could also be seen in collaborating with the DPP in the February Reform by forming a coalition to challenge the KMT’s speaker and vice-speaker seats.
Moreover, they positioned themselves as a Taiwan-based party with the ambition of liberating China. “Let the glory of the democratic Taiwan shine on China forever (讓我民主的台灣照耀中華到永遠)” stresses their democratic value, with “Taiwan” as their foundation. They wanted to set a role model for China, which shows their ultimate goal of creating a democratically unified China.
The final sentence reaffirmed their pro-ROC position. “Defend the Greater China of Blue Sky, White Sun and Red Land (捍衛青天白日滿地紅的大中華)” expresses its unification dream under the ROC framework. The description symbolises the ROC flag, while “greater China” symbolises constitutional China, including the mainland. The primary aim of the New Party was to challenge Lee’s presidency by opposing his distancing “China” approach and “corrupted politics.” The song had cheered the party up by spreading their brand-new ideas and gathering their supporters – mainly from the dissatisfied KMT members. They prioritised the importance of “safeguarding ROC” as well as reinforcing their progressive values. They were clear to contrast with the Lee-leading KMT in the 1990s, claiming themselves the legitimate “blue party” which they believed they were defending traditional KMT values.
The Millennium Thunders: From the Vicennial Yuk Mu-ming Period to the Gen Y members
During the 24th-anniversary celebration banquet in 2017, the New Party released the latest version of their theme song. The Earth Thunder’s lyrics were modified and were sung by the New Party Youths. Members, including spokespersons Hou and Wang Ping-chung, recorded the song; they also participated in recent elections and frequently attended TV commentary programmes to express their thoughts. After the rise of the PFP, supporters of the New Party dropped drastically. Legislator Yuk Mu-ming became the leader in 2002 after the influx of member withdrawal and served until 2020. Former legislator and Kinmen Deputy Magistrate Wu Cherng-dean succeeded and continued Yuk’s approach. The party continued to decline and also had a fundamental switch into a pro-PRC hardliner. Still a pro-unification party, their core values and position have gone through a fundamental transformation.
The once firm-defended ROC identity is abandoned. “Creating a New Splendid China (創造新的中華輝煌)” stressed the glory of the Chinese nation without mentioning the existence of the ROC. “Safeguard the greater China closely with the Chinese sons and daughters (捍衛中華兒女心連心的大中華)” replaced the entire phrase of the national flag description. The former ROC elements were all superseded by greater China sentiments. As a supporter of the 1992 Consensus, the New Party was once a defendant of the ROC. Yet, they have chosen to abandon their fundamental identity and have just stressed the “glory” of China. Yuk, Wu and their members regularly participate in the united front activities the Chinese organised and visit the mainland. They would even pay tribute and sing the anthem of the People’s Republic. One remarkable example was the celebration of Sun Yat-sen’s 150th birthday in 2016.
Consequently, the New Party has abandoned its liberal ideals. In the modified lyrics, “The flower of justice flourishes from our heart, the light of nationality sparkles from our hands” (我們心中開滿正義的花 我們雙手點燃民族的光), “justice” and “nationality” have replaced the original terms “freedom” and “democracy.” While the original version embodied progressive ideas with clear, universally accepted meanings, the new wording appears more ambiguous and neutral, offering less insight into the party’s ideological stance. Especially the emphasis on “nationality” (or ethnicity) is obviously referring to “Chinese.” The renouncement of “freedom” and “democracy” reflected that they no longer valued these liberal ideas. Instead, they prioritise unification with China as a more important and urgent agenda, which explains why “nationality” was chosen. They have decided to draw closer to the mainland. While their old values contradict the mainland undoubtedly, they considered these as obstacles to strengthening bilateral ties.
Though many of its members are of mainland Chinese descent, the party has solely participated in Taiwanese elections, initially embodying a Taiwanese identity. However, this focus has shifted. In the revised lyrics, “Let the glory of our splendid nationality shine on China forever (讓我民族的光輝照耀中華到永遠),” the phrase “democratic Taiwan” has been replaced with “splendid nationality,” marking a notable departure from their original stance. They have abandoned “Taiwan” as their basis and positioned only the greater China sentiment.
The updated version of the New Party theme song is a portrayal of its re-position under the vicennial of Yuk’s leadership. While the majority is deepening democratisation and shaping a Taiwan-based/oriented identity, they are walking anticlockwise. While the KMT is becoming more reluctant to stick to the Chinese taboo, they are walking opposite. Unlike the Chinese Unification Promotion Party, which has never advocated liberal ideas, the New Party’s switch is, in other words, a wonder in Taiwanese politics. They abandoned their progressive ideas to draw closer to China; they stressed Chinese nationalist sentiments rather than safeguarding the ROC and Taiwan. Taiwanese politicians often have their theme songs to promote their manifesto. As a party propaganda, the New Party’s theme song truthfully explained their beliefs. Both versions, in different space-time, delivered their ideas. With only slight lyric modification, their re-position is heterogeneous. Action speaks louder than words, but they are too honest to execute both parallelly.
Jonathan Leung is a history teacher in Hong Kong. He earned his Master’s degree in history at SOAS, University of London and his Bachelor’s degree in history at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the post-war political and social history of Taiwan. His research interests are situated in the life and decision-making of critical moments of prominent Taiwanese figures from a broad to a micro perspective. His research topics include the histories of power struggles, party politics, elections, democratisation, social movement and institutional changes.
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