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Pro-ROC camp 親中華民國派 | |
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| Political position | Centre-right toright-wing |
| Regional affiliation | Pro-democracy camp Pan-Blue Coalition |
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| District Councils | 0 / 470 |
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| Three Principles of the People |
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Thepro-Republic of China camp (Chinese:親中華民國派 or 民國派), or thepro-Kuomintang camp (親國民黨派), is a political alignment inHong Kong. It generally pledges allegiance to theRepublic of China (ROC) inTaiwan and theKuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party).
Thepro-ROC camp were called "Rightists" and was one of the two major political forces in Hong Kong during the first decades of the post-war period of theBritish colony of Hong Kong. The pro-ROC camp, who competed with thepro-Communist ("Leftists"), has gradually declined in numbers after theRepublic of China's departure from theUnited Nations in 1971 and the signing of theSino-British Joint Declaration in 1984 which decided Hong Kong's sovereignty to be handed over to thePeople's Republic of China (PRC). Today, it is generally aligned with thepro-democracy camp in Hong Kong and thePan-Blue Coalition in Taiwan led by the Kuomintang.
The pro-ROC camp closely follows the Kuomintang's doctrines, includingSun Yat-sen'sThree Principles of the People and the1992 Consensus ofCross-strait relations. It opposesTaiwan independence and also supportsuniversal suffrage in Hong Kong. The only elected representatives of the pro-ROC camp in the post-handover era are from theDemocratic Alliance, of which party chairmanJohnny Mak and Shek King-ching occupied seats in theYuen Long District Council until 2021.
The support base of theKuomintang has existed even before the founding of theRepublic of China (ROC), as its founding fatherSun Yat-sen was a medical student in British Hong Kong in the late 19th century and set up anti-Qing revolutionary organisations in Hong Kong. After the founding of the Republic, Hong Kong pro-Nationalist forces remained their close contact with the Nationalist revolutionary government inCanton. With the Canton's support, the pro-Nationalists and pro-Communists launched the1922 Hong Kong Seamens' Strike and1925 Canton–Hong Kong General Strike. In 1927, the pro-Nationalists gained their status as the Nationalist Party became the official government in China until 1949.
TheChinese Civil War saw the influx of pro-Kuomintang refugees and former soldiers to Hong Kong who were driven from their homeland by the Communists, and they first settled at refugee centers inKai Lung Wan.[1] After years of exile and grinding poverty, many of them were steeped in bitterness and yearning for revenge against the Communists. The pro-Kuomintangtriad members played a key part in theDouble Ten riots, which was escalated from provocations between pro-Nationalist andpro-Communist factions in 1956.[2] A government official ordered that Republic of China flags be removed from theLei Cheng Uk estate, eventually leading to the riots.[1] After the riots ended, the colonial government decided to move the Nationalists to a more remote spot. This became the most iconic pro-Nationalist neighbourhoodRennie's Mill, which was a Nationalist enclave in the colony until it was redeveloped into theTseung Kwan O New Town in the 1990s on the eve of thehandover of Hong Kong.
The KMT also subsidized schools in Hong Kong via theOverseas Chinese Affairs Commission, such as the Hong Kong Tak Ming College andChu Hai College of Higher Education. The British government in Hong Kong did not recognize Chu Hai College's accreditation, so it was instead registered under the Republic of China'sMinistry of Education, giving it recognition as if the school were located in Taiwan.[1]
Some Hong Kong newspapers advertised joining the KMT military, and a number of Hong Kong residents signed up and defendedKinmen Island in 1958. Some of these members returned to Hong Kong and joined the Republic of China Veterans' Association, where they gathered at theRed House everyNational Day.
The political scene in Hong Kong was split into pro-Nationalist and pro-Communist factions in the first decades of the post-war Hong Kong, of which both camps controlled various sectors from labour unions, schools, media to film companies. The largest pro-Nationalist trade unions was theHong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council (TUC) established in 1948, which was the main rival of the pro-CommunistHong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Trade Unions (FTU). The pro-Nationalist forces also owned theHong Kong Times which was founded in 1949 with an anti-communist stance and was regarded as a Kuomintang party organ.[3] Many major newspapers at that time were also generally pro-Nationalist, such as theKung Sheung Daily News,Wah Kiu Yat Pao and theSing Tao Daily which used theMinguo calendar until the 1980s or 90s.[4][clarification needed]
After theRepublic of China'sdeparture from theUnited Nations, the Taipei government lost a great prestige in the Chinese community. The pro-Kuomintang forces also suffered a decline. The signing of theSino-British Joint Declaration in 1984, which decided Hong Kong's sovereignty to be handed over to thePeople's Republic of China (PRC), also resulted in diminished numbers of the pro-Taiwan forces. In the 1990s, it saw the two pro-Kuomintang newspapersHong Kong Times andHong Kong United Daily closed. The right-leaningSing Tao Daily also could not be classified as a rightist paper anymore after a political metamorphosis.
The pro-Kuomintang camp also tried to participate in the elections as the colonial government introduced representative democracy in the 1980s but could hardly launch an effective campaign. In 1985, it saw the TUC representativePang Chun-hoi occupy a seat in theLabourfunctional constituency along with FTU representativeTam Yiu-chung in the first electedLegislative Council of Hong Kong. Pang was generally aligned with theliberal cause in the legislature and served for three terms until he stepped down in 1995.
In 1994, the pro-Nationalists founded a political party123 Democratic Alliance to contest in the1995 first full Legislative Council election.Yum Sin-ling, the leader of the alliance won a seat through anElection Committee composing ofDistrict Board members in the last colonial Legislative Council on the eve of the handover.
Since 1997, the pro-ROC camp has become a small faction within thepro-democracy camp. TheDemocratic Alliance led byJohnny Mak was founded in 2003 and cooperated with pro-democrat legislatorAlbert Chan in the2003 District Council election. It was briefly affiliated with the radical democratic partyPeople Power between 2011 and 2012. The other currently active pro-Taiwan political groups include the China Youth Service & Recreation Centre and Hong Kong Chung Shan Research Institute, the localKMT branch. The Hong Kong Chung Shan Research Institute as of 2021 numbers around 2000 members and is run entirely by local cadres.[5]
These Hong Kong politicians were also members of the Kuomintang.
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