Editing Kuomintang (section)

== History ==
{{main|History of the Kuomintang}}

=== Founding and Sun Yat-sen era ===
[[File:Sun Yat Sen portrait 2 (9to12).jpg|thumb|upright|left|The KMT reveres its founder, [[Sun Yat-sen]], as the "Father of the Nation"]]

The KMT traces its ideological and organizational roots to the work of [[Sun Yat-sen]], a proponent of [[Chinese nationalism]] and democracy who founded the [[Revive China Society]] at the capital of the [[Republic of Hawaii]], [[Honolulu]], on 24 November 1894.<ref>See (Chinese) [http://www.kmt.org.tw/hc.aspx?id=10 "Major Events in KMT" ''History Official Site of the KMT''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126201029/http://www.kmt.org.tw/hc.aspx?id=10 |date=26 November 2012 }} last accessed 30 August 2009</ref> On 20 August 1905, Sun joined forces with other [[Anti-Qing sentiment|anti-monarchist societies]] in Tokyo, [[Empire of Japan]], to form the [[Tongmenghui]], a group committed to the overthrow of the [[Qing dynasty]] and to establish a republic in China.

[[File:The revolutionary army attacks Nanking and crosses a stream Wellcome V0047152 (cropped).jpg|thumb|The Revolutionary Army attacking [[Nanjing]] in 1911]]
The group supported the [[Xinhai Revolution]] of 1911 and the founding of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] on 1 January 1912. Although Sun and the Tongmenghui are often depicted as the principal organizers of the Xinhai Revolution, this view is disputed by scholars who argue that the Revolution broke out in a leaderless and decentralized way and that Sun was only later elected provisional president of the new Chinese republic.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Spence |first1=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Spence |title=[[The Search for Modern China]] |year= 2012 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton]] |isbn=978-0-393-93451-9 |pages=249–254 |edition=3rd}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wright |first1=Mary Clabaugh |title=Introduction, China in Revolution |date=4 September 2009 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-01460-0 |pages=52–53 |url=https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300014600/china-revolution |access-date=11 March 2021 |archive-date=7 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107013131/https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300014600/china-revolution |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Sun did not have military power and ceded the [[President of the Republic of China|provisional presidency]] of the republic to [[Yuan Shikai]], who arranged for the [[abdication]] of [[Puyi]], the last Emperor, on 12 February.

On 25 August 1912, the Nationalist Party was established at the [[Huguang Guild Hall]] in [[Beijing]], where the [[Tongmenghui]] and five smaller pro-revolution parties merged to contest the first national elections.<ref>{{cite book |last=Strand |first=David |editor1-last=Goldman |editor1-first=Merle |editor2-last=Perry |editor2-first=Elizabeth |editor2-link=Elizabeth J. Perry |title=Changing Meanings of Citizenship in Modern China |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YF-ftHbw59sC&pg=PA389 |year=2002 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-674-00766-6 |chapter=Chapter 2: Citizens in the Audience and at the Podium |pages=59–60 |access-date=24 September 2016 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205103119/https://books.google.com/books?id=YF-ftHbw59sC&pg=PA389 |url-status=live }}</ref> Sun was chosen as the party chairman with [[Huang Xing]] as his deputy.

The most influential member of the party was the third ranking [[Song Jiaoren]], who mobilized mass support from gentry and merchants for the Nationalists to advocate a constitutional parliamentary democracy. The party opposed [[Progressive Party (China)|constitutional monarchists]] and sought to check the power of Yuan. The Nationalists won an overwhelming majority in the first [[1912 Chinese National Assembly election|National Assembly election]] in December 1912.

However, Yuan soon began to ignore the parliament in making presidential decisions. Song Jiaoren was assassinated in Shanghai in 1913. Members of the Nationalists, led by Sun Yat-sen, suspected that Yuan was behind the plot and thus staged the [[Second Revolution (Republic of China)|Second Revolution]] in July 1913, a poorly planned and ill-supported armed rising to overthrow Yuan, and failed. Yuan, claiming subversiveness and betrayal, expelled adherents of the KMT from the [[National Assembly (Republic of China)|parliament]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Hugh Chisholm |title=The Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bAooAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA658 |access-date=13 June 2011 |year=1922 |publisher=The Encyclopædia Britannica, Company ltd. |page=658 |editor=Hugh Chisholm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205085023/https://books.google.com/books?id=bAooAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA658 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Hugh Chisholm|title=The Encyclopædia Britannica: Abbe to English history ("The first of the new volumes")|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lf9aAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA658|access-date=13 June 2011|year=1922|publisher=The Encyclopædia Britannica, Company ltd|page=658|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205024143/https://books.google.com/books?id=lf9aAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA658|archive-date=5 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Yuan dissolved the Nationalists, whose members had largely fled into exile in Japan, in November and dismissed the parliament early in 1914.

[[Yuan Shikai]] proclaimed himself emperor in December 1915. While exiled in Japan in 1914, Sun established the Chinese Revolutionary Party on 8 July 1914,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nationalist Party – Chinese political party |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nationalist-Party-Chinese-political-party |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |location=[[Chicago]], Illinois, U.S. |date=15 March 2025 |access-date=15 March 2025}}</ref> but many of his old revolutionary comrades, including Huang Xing, [[Wang Jingwei]], [[Hu Hanmin]] and [[Chen Jiongming]], refused to join him or support his efforts in inciting armed uprising against Yuan. To join the Revolutionary Party, members had to take an oath of personal loyalty to Sun, which many old revolutionaries regarded as undemocratic and contrary to the spirit of the revolution. As a result, he became largely sidelined within the Republican movement during this period.

Sun returned to China in 1917 to establish a military junta at [[Guangzhou|Canton]] to oppose the [[Beiyang government]] but was soon forced out of office and exiled to [[Shanghai]]. There, with renewed support, he resurrected the KMT on 10 October 1919, under the name Kuomintang of China ({{lang-zh|t=中國國民黨|labels=no}}) and established its headquarters in Canton in 1920.

In 1923, the KMT and its Canton government accepted aid from the [[Soviet Union]] after being denied recognition by the western powers. Soviet advisers—the most prominent of whom was [[Mikhail Borodin]], an agent of the [[Comintern]]—arrived in China in 1923 to aid in the reorganization and consolidation of the KMT along the lines of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)]], establishing a [[Leninist]] party structure that lasted into the 1990s.{{Sfn|Fenby|2005|p=413}} The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was under Comintern instructions to cooperate with the KMT, and its members were encouraged to join while maintaining their separate party identities, forming the [[First United Front]] between the two parties. [[Mao Zedong]] and early members of the CCP also joined the KMT in 1923.

[[File:1st National Congress of Kuomintang of China.jpg|thumb|Venue of the [[1st National Congress of Kuomintang]] in 1924]]
Soviet advisers also helped the KMT to set up a political institute to train propagandists in mass mobilization techniques, and in 1923 Chiang Kai-shek, one of Sun's lieutenants from the [[Tongmenghui]] days, was sent to Moscow for several months' military and political study. At the [[1st National Congress of Kuomintang|first party congress in 1924]] in [[Guangzhou]], Guangdong, which included non-KMT delegates such as members of the CCP, they adopted Sun's political theory, which included the [[Three Principles of the People]]: nationalism, democracy and people's livelihood.
[[File:蔣中正總統玉照.png|left|thumb|Official portrait of President [[Chiang Kai-shek]] of the [[Taiwan|Republic of China]], 1955]]

=== Under Chiang Kai-shek in Mainland China  ===
When Sun Yat-sen died in 1925, the political leadership of the KMT fell to [[Wang Jingwei]] ("[[Reorganization Group]]") and [[Hu Hanmin]] ("[[Western Hills Group]]"), respectively the left-wing and right-wing leaders of the party. However, the real power was in the hands of Chiang Kai-shek, who was in near complete control of the military as the superintendent of the [[Whampoa Military Academy]]. With their military superiority, the KMT confirmed their rule on Canton, the provincial capital of [[Guangdong]]. The Guangxi warlords pledged loyalty to the KMT. The KMT now became a rival government in opposition to the [[Warlord era|warlord]] [[Beiyang government]] based in [[Beijing]].<ref name="Nationalist China">{{cite web|url=http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MODCHINA/NATIONAL.HTM|title=Nationalist China|publisher=Washington State University|date=6 June 1996|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060906095406/http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MODCHINA/NATIONAL.HTM|archive-date=6 September 2006}}</ref>

Chiang assumed leadership of the KMT on 6 July 1926. Unlike Sun Yat-sen, whom he admired greatly and who forged all his political, economic, and revolutionary ideas primarily from what he had learned in Hawaii and indirectly through [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] and [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] under the [[Meiji Restoration]], Chiang knew relatively little about the West. He also studied in Japan, but he was firmly rooted in his ancient [[Han Chinese]] identity and was steeped in [[Chinese culture]]. As his life progressed, he became increasingly attached to ancient Chinese culture and traditions. His few trips to the West confirmed his pro-ancient Chinese outlook and he studied the ancient [[Chinese classics]] and ancient Chinese history assiduously.<ref name="Nationalist China"/> In 1923, after the formation of the [[First United Front]], Sun Yat-sen sent Chiang to spend three months in Moscow studying the political and military system of the Soviet Union. Although Chiang did not follow the Soviet Communist doctrine, he, like the Communist Party, sought to destroy [[warlordism]] and foreign [[Western imperialism in Asia|imperialism in China]], and upon his return established the [[Whampoa Military Academy]] near Guangzhou, following the Soviet Model.<ref name="China in the 20th Century">{{cite web |last1=Bowblis |first1=J |title=China in the 20th Century |url=https://departments.kings.edu/history/20c/china.html#Chiang |website=Kings College History |publisher=King's College History Department |access-date=31 October 2020 |archive-date=5 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105231856/https://departments.kings.edu/history/20c/china.html#Chiang |url-status=live }}</ref>

Chiang was also particularly committed to Sun's idea of "political tutelage". Sun believed that the only hope for a unified and better China lay in a military conquest, followed by a period of political tutelage that would culminate in the transition to democracy. Using this ideology, Chiang built himself into the dictator of the Republic of China, both in the [[Chinese mainland]] and after the [[Government of the Republic of China|national government]] relocated to [[Taiwan]].<ref name="Nationalist China"/>

Following the death of Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek emerged as the KMT leader and launched the [[Northern Expedition (1926–1927)|Northern Expedition]] to defeat the [[Warlord era (China)|northern warlords]] and unite China under the party. With its power confirmed in the southeast, the [[Nationalist Government]] appointed Chiang Kai-shek commander-in-chief of the [[National Revolutionary Army]] (NRA), and the [[Northern Expedition]] to suppress the warlords began. Chiang had to defeat three separate warlords and two independent armies. Chiang, with Soviet supplies, conquered the southern half of China in nine months.

A split erupted between the Chinese Communist Party and the KMT, which threatened the Northern Expedition. Wang Jing Wei, who led the KMT leftist allies, took the city of [[Wuhan]] in January 1927. With the support of the Soviet agent [[Mikhail Borodin]], Wang declared the National Government as having moved to Wuhan. Having taken Nanjing in March, Chiang halted his campaign and prepared a violent break with Wang and his communist allies. Chiang's expulsion of the CCP and their Soviet advisers, marked by the [[Shanghai massacre]] on 12 April, led to the beginning of the [[Chinese Civil War]]. Wang finally surrendered his power to Chiang. Once this split had been healed, Chiang resumed his Northern Expedition and managed to take Shanghai.<ref name="Nationalist China"/>

[[File:Countermand concession.jpg|thumb|The [[National Revolutionary Army]] soldiers marched into the British concessions in [[Hankou]] during the [[Northern Expedition]]]]
During the [[Nanking incident of 1927|Nanjing incident]] in March 1927, the NRA stormed the consulates of the United States, the United Kingdom and [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japan]], looted foreign properties and almost assassinated the Japanese consul. An American, two British, one French, an Italian and a Japanese were killed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Foreign News: NANKING|magazine=Time|date=4 April 1927 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,722979,00.html|access-date=11 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426030922/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,722979,00.html|archive-date=26 April 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> These looters also stormed and seized millions of dollars' worth of British concessions in [[Hankou]], refusing to hand them back to the UK government.<ref>{{cite news|title=China: Japan & France |magazine=Time|date=11 April 1927|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,730304,00.html|access-date=11 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426030508/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,730304,00.html|archive-date=26 April 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Both Nationalists and Communist soldiers within the army participated in the rioting and looting of foreign residents in Nanjing.<ref name="beede">{{cite book|last=Beede|first=R. Benjamin|title=The War of 1898, and U.S. interventions, 1898–1934: an encyclopedia|year=1994|publisher=Taylor & Francis Publishing|isbn=0-8240-5624-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/americanrevoluti0000unse_o8w2/page/355 355]|url=https://archive.org/details/americanrevoluti0000unse_o8w2/page/355}}</ref>

NRA took Beijing in 1928. The city was the internationally recognized capital, even when it was previously controlled by warlords. This event allowed the KMT to receive widespread diplomatic recognition in the same year. The capital was moved from Beijing to Nanjing, the original capital of the [[Ming dynasty]], and thus a symbolic purge of the final Qing elements. This period of KMT rule in China between 1927 and 1937 was relatively stable and prosperous and is still known as the [[Nanjing decade]].

After the [[Northern Expedition]] in 1928, the [[Nationalist government]] under the KMT declared that China had been exploited for decades under the [[Unequal treaty|unequal treaties]] signed between the foreign powers and the Qing dynasty. The KMT government demanded that the foreign powers renegotiate the treaties on equal terms.<ref>{{cite news|title=CHINA: Nationalist Notes|magazine=Time|date=25 June 1928|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,786420,00.html|access-date=11 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426030536/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,786420,00.html|archive-date=26 April 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Before the Northern Expedition, the KMT began as a heterogeneous group advocating American-inspired federalism and provincial autonomy. However, the KMT under Chiang's leadership aimed at establishing a centralized [[one-party state]] with one ideology. This was even more evident following Sun's elevation into a cult figure after his death. The control by one single party began the period of "political tutelage", whereby the party was to lead the government while instructing the people on how to participate in a democratic system. The topic of reorganizing the army, brought up at a military conference in 1929, sparked the [[Central Plains War]]. The cliques, some of them former warlords, demanded to retain their army and political power within their own territories. Although Chiang finally won the war, the conflicts among the cliques would have a devastating effect on the survival of the KMT. Muslim Generals in [[Gansu]] waged war against the [[Guominjun]] in favor of the KMT during the [[Muslim conflict in Gansu (1927–1930)|conflict in Gansu in 1927–1930]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Andrew D. W. Forbes|title=Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: a political history of Republican Sinkiang 1911–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ|access-date=28 June 2010|year=1986|publisher=CUP Archive|location=Cambridge, England|isbn=978-0-521-25514-1|page=108|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704173905/http://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ|archive-date=4 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:kmtarmy.JPG|thumb|upright|[[National Revolutionary Army|Nationalist soldiers]] during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]]]
In 1931, Japanese aggression resumed with the [[Mukden Incident]] and occupation of Manchuria, and the CCP founded the [[Chinese Soviet Republic]] (CSR) in [[Jiangxi]] while secretly recruiting within the KMT government and military. Chiang was alarmed by the expansion of communist influence; he wanted to suppress internal conflicts before confronting foreign aggression. The KMT were aided by German military advisors. The CSR was destroyed in 1934 after a series of KMT offensives. The communists abandoned bases in southeast China for Shaanxi in a military retreat called the [[Long March]]; less than 10% of the communist army survived. A new base, the [[Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region]], was created with Soviet aid.

KMT secret police persecuted suspected communists and political opponents with [[Terror (politics)|terror]]. In ''The Birth of Communist China'', C.P. Fitzgerald describes China under the rule of the KMT thus: "the Chinese people groaned under a regime Fascist in every quality except efficiency."<ref>C.P. Fitzgerald, ''The Birth of Communist China'', Penguin Books, 1964, pp. 106. ({{ISBN|978-0140206944}})</ref>

In 1936, Chiang was kidnapped by [[Zhang Xueliang]] in the [[Xi'an Incident]] and forced into the [[Second United Front]], an anti-Japanese alliance with the CCP; the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] started the following year. The alliance brought little coordination and was treated as a temporary cease fire in the civil war. The [[New Fourth Army Incident]] in 1941 ended the alliance.

[[File:19451025 中國戰區臺灣省受降典禮後 臺灣省警備總司令部全體官兵合影.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[retrocession of Taiwan]] in [[Taipei]] on 25 October 1945]]
[[Surrender of Japan|Japan surrendered]] in 1945, and [[Retrocession of Taiwan|Taiwan was returned]] to the Republic of China on 25 October of that year. The brief period of celebration was soon shadowed by the possibility of a civil war between the KMT and CCP. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan just before it surrendered and occupied [[Manchuria]], the north eastern part of China. The Soviet Union denied the KMT army the right to enter the region but allowed the CCP to take control of the Japanese factories and their supplies.

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-13-14-22, Tibetexpedition, Haus mit Glückszeichen.jpg|thumb|upright|left|KMT flag displayed in Lhasa, Tibet in 1938]]
[[File:Kuomintang Party in Xinjiang 1942.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The KMT in [[Ürümqi|Tihwa (Ürümqi)]], Xinjiang in 1942]]
Full-scale civil war between the [[Chinese Communist Party|Communists]] and the [[Nationalist government|Nationalists]] erupted in 1946. The Communist Chinese armies, the [[People's Liberation Army]] (PLA), previously a minor faction, grew rapidly in influence and power due to several errors on the KMT's part. First, the KMT reduced troop levels precipitously after the Japanese surrender, leaving large numbers of able-bodied, trained fighting men who became unemployed and disgruntled with the KMT as prime recruits for the PLA. Second, the KMT government proved thoroughly unable to manage the economy, allowing hyperinflation to result. Among the most despised and ineffective efforts it undertook to contain inflation was the conversion to the gold standard for the national treasury and the [[Chinese gold yuan]] in August 1948, outlawing private ownership of gold, silver and foreign exchange, collecting all such precious metals and foreign exchange from the people and issuing the Gold Standard Scrip in exchange. As most farmland in the north were under CCP's control, the cities governed by the KMT lacked food supply and this added to the hyperinflation. The new scrip became worthless in only ten months and greatly reinforced the nationwide perception of the KMT as a corrupt or at best inept entity. Third, Chiang Kai-shek ordered his forces to defend the urbanized cities. This decision gave CCP a chance to move freely through the countryside. At first, the KMT had the edge with the aid of weapons and ammunition from the United States (US). However, with the country suffering from [[hyperinflation]], widespread corruption and other economic ills, the KMT continued to lose popular support. Some leading officials and military leaders of the KMT hoarded material, armament and military-aid funding provided by the US. This became an issue which proved to be a hindrance of its relationship with [[Federal government of the United States|US government]]. US President [[Harry S. Truman]] wrote that "[[Chiang family|the Chiangs]], [[HH Kung|the Kungs]] and [[Soong sisters|the Soongs]] (were) all thieves", having taken $750&nbsp;million in US aid.<ref>{{cite book|author=Wesley Marvin Bagby|title=The Eagle-Dragon Alliance: America's Relations With China in World War II|year=1992|isbn=978-0-87413-418-6|page=65|publisher=University of Delaware Press }}</ref>

[[File:Cina1948.JPG|thumb|Territories under the control of the Kuomintang/warlords (orange/grey) and communists (yellow) in 1948]]
At the same time, the suspension of American aid and tens of thousands of deserted or decommissioned soldiers being recruited to the PLA cause tipped the balance of power quickly to the CCP side, and the overwhelming popular support for the CCP in most of the country made it all but impossible for the KMT forces to carry out successful assaults against the Communists.

By the end of 1949, the CCP controlled almost all of [[mainland China]], as the KMT [[Retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan|retreated to Taiwan]] with a significant amount of China's national treasures and 2 million people, including [[Waishengren|military forces and refugees]]. Some party members stayed in the mainland and broke away from the main KMT to found the [[Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang]] (also known as the Left Kuomintang), which still currently exists as one of the [[list of political parties in the People's Republic of China|eight minor registered parties]] of the People's Republic of China.

=== In Taiwan: 1945–present ===
{{more citations needed section|date=August 2018}}<!--many paragraphs without citations-->
{{see also|North–South divide in Taiwan}}
{{Politics of the Republic of China}}
[[File:KMT Headquarters, Taipei.JPG|thumb|The former KMT headquarters in [[Taipei City]] (1949–2006), whose imposing structure, directly facing the [[Presidential Office Building (Republic of China)|Presidential Office Building]], was seen as a symbol of the party's wealth and dominance]]
In 1895, Formosa (now called Taiwan), including the [[Penghu]] islands, became a Japanese colony via the [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]] following the [[First Sino-Japanese War]].

After Japan's defeat at the end of [[World War II]] in 1945, [[General Order No. 1]] instructed Japan to surrender its troops in Taiwan to Chiang Kai-shek. On 25 October 1945, KMT general [[Chen Yi (Kuomintang)|Chen Yi]] acted on behalf of the Allied Powers to accept Japan's surrender and proclaimed that day as [[Retrocession Day|Taiwan Retrocession Day]].

Tensions between the local Taiwanese and [[waishengren|mainlanders]] from mainland China increased in the intervening years, culminating in a flashpoint on 27 February 1947 in [[Taipei]] when a dispute between a female cigarette vendor and an anti-smuggling officer in front of [[Tianma Tea House]] triggered civil disorder and protests that would last for days. The uprising turned bloody and was shortly put down by the [[Military of the Republic of China|ROC Army]] in the [[February 28 Incident]]. As a result of the 28 February Incident in 1947, Taiwanese people endured what is called the "[[White Terror (Taiwan)|White Terror]]", a KMT-led political repression that resulted in the death or disappearance of over 30,000 Taiwanese intellectuals, activists, and people suspected of opposition to the KMT.<ref>[http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=5B33122680FD5E65A32B8E335FE5727A "Ceremonies held to commemorate 228 Incident victims (2014/02/28)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211124818/http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=5B33122680FD5E65A32B8E335FE5727A |date=11 December 2014}}. ''englishnews.ftv.com.tw''.</ref>

Following the [[Proclamation of the People's Republic of China|establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC)]] on 1 October 1949, the commanders of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) believed that [[Kinmen]] and [[Matsu Islands|Matsu]] had to be taken before a final assault on Taiwan. The KMT fought the [[Battle of Guningtou]] on 25–27 October 1949 and stopped the PLA invasion. The KMT headquarters were set up on 10 December 1949 at No. 11 Zhongshan South Road.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.kmt.org.tw/english/page.aspx?type=para&mnum=108|title=Party's History|publisher=Kuomintang|quote=Following the government of the Republic of China, the Kuomintang relocates to Taiwan. Kuomintang Party headquarters are set up at No. 11 Zhongshan South Road.|access-date=26 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226232702/http://www1.kmt.org.tw/english/page.aspx?type=para&mnum=108|archive-date=26 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1950, Chiang took office in Taipei under the [[Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion]]. The provision declared [[martial law in Taiwan]] and halted some democratic processes, including presidential and parliamentary elections, until the mainland could be recovered from the CCP. The KMT estimated it would take 3 years to defeat the Communists. The slogan was "prepare in the first year, start fighting in the second, and conquer in the third year." Chiang also initiated the [[Project National Glory]] to retake back the mainland in 1965, but was eventually dropped in July 1972 after many unsuccessful attempts. However, various factors, including international pressure, are believed to have prevented the KMT from militarily engaging the CCP full-scale. The KMT backed Muslim insurgents formerly belonging to the [[National Revolutionary Army]] during the [[Kuomintang Islamic insurgency in China (1950–58)|KMT Islamic insurgency in 1950–1958]] in mainland China. A cold war with a couple of minor military conflicts was resulted in the early years. The various government bodies previously in [[Nanjing]], that were re-established in Taipei as the KMT-controlled government, actively claimed sovereignty over all China. The Republic of China in Taiwan retained [[China and the United Nations|China's seat in the United Nations]] until 1971 as well as recognition by the United States until 1979.

In response to widespread corruption, factionalism, and bureaucratic inefficiency that had plagued the Kuomintang and were viewed as key contributors to its defeat in the Chinese Civil War, Chiang Kai-shek initiated a sweeping modernization campaign known as the [[Party Reform Program]] between 1950 and 1952. The reform aimed to consolidate party discipline and centralize authority under Chiang's leadership. The campaign was led by the newly established Central Reform Committee, which sought to eliminate defeatism, factionalism, bureaucratism, and dependency within the party ranks. It also emphasized institutionalization, organizational cohesion, and the transformation of party culture. At the KMT's National Congress held in October 1952, Chiang declared the reform a success. As a result, the party charter was amended to redefine the Kuomintang as a revolutionary democratic party, drawing its social base from youth, intellectuals, and the working and agricultural classes, while positioning patriotic revolutionaries among these classes as the core of party membership. The program also marginalized rival factions such as the [[CC Clique]], paving the way for the rise of figures like [[Chen Cheng]] and later Chiang Ching-kuo, who would dominate party leadership in the decades to come.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chen |first=Cheng-mao |title=日治及戰後初期臺灣政黨與政治團體史論 (1900–1960) |publisher=Yuan Hua Wen Chuang Co., Ltd. |date=2020 |isbn=9789577111586 |language=zh-hant |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/%E6%97%A5%E6%B2%BB%E5%8F%8A%E6%88%B0%E5%BE%8C%E5%88%9D%E6%9C%9F%E8%87%BA%E7%81%A3%E6%94%BF%E9%BB%A8%E8%88%87%E6%94%BF.html?id=2Nz2EAAAQBAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Slater |first=Dan |last2=Wong |first2=Joseph |title=從經濟發展到民主：現代亞洲轉型之路的不同面貌 |publisher=春山出版有限公司 |year=2024 |isbn=9786267478080 |pages=141–143 |language=zh-hant}}</ref>

Until the 1970s, the KMT successfully pushed ahead with land reforms, developed the economy, implemented a democratic system in a lower level of the government, improved [[Cross-Strait relations|relations between Taiwan and the mainland]] and created the [[Taiwan economic miracle]]. However, the KMT controlled the government under a one-party authoritarian state until reforms in the late 1970s through the 1990s. The ROC in Taiwan was once referred to synonymously with the KMT and known simply as Nationalist China after its ruling party. In the 1970s, the KMT began to allow for "supplemental elections" in Taiwan to fill the seats of the aging representatives in the [[National Assembly (Republic of China)|National Assembly]].

Although opposition parties were not permitted, the pro-democracy movement ''[[Tangwai]]'' ("outside the KMT") created the [[Democratic Progressive Party]] (DPP) on 28 September 1986. Outside observers of Taiwanese politics expected the KMT to clamp down and crush the illegal opposition party, though this did not occur, and instead the party's formation marked the beginning of Taiwan's [[democratization]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-052318-025732|doi-access=free|title=Authoritarian-Led Democratization|year=2020|last1=Riedl|first1=Rachel Beatty|last2=Slater|first2=Dan|last3=Wong|first3=Joseph|last4=Ziblatt|first4=Daniel|journal=Annual Review of Political Science|volume=23|pages=315–332}}</ref>

[[Martial law]] ceased in 1987 and the President [[Lee Teng-hui]] terminated the [[Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion]] in 1991. All parties started to be allowed to compete at all levels of elections, including the presidential election. [[Lee Teng-hui]], the ROC's first democratically elected president and the leader of the KMT during the 1990s, announced his advocacy of "special state-to-state relations" with the PRC. The PRC associated this idea with [[Taiwan independence movement|Taiwan independence]].

The KMT faced a split in 1993 that led to the formation of the [[New Party (Taiwan)|New Party]] in August 1993, alleged to be a result of Lee's "corruptive ruling style". The New Party has, since the purging of Lee, largely reintegrated into the KMT. A much more serious split in the party occurred as a result of the [[2000 Taiwan presidential election|2000 presidential election]]. Upset at the choice of [[Lien Chan]] as the party's presidential nominee, former party Secretary-General [[James Soong]] launched an independent bid, which resulted in the expulsion of Soong and his supporters and the formation of the [[People First Party (Taiwan)|People First Party]] (PFP) on 31 March 2000. The KMT candidate placed third behind Soong in the elections. After the election, Lee's strong relationship with the opponent became apparent. To prevent defections to the PFP, Lien moved the party away from Lee's pro-independence policies and became more favorable toward [[Chinese unification]]. This shift led to Lee's expulsion from the party and the formation of the [[Taiwan Solidarity Union]] (TSU) by Lee supporters on 24 July 2001.

[[File:Pan-blue supporters during 2004 ROC presidential election with ROC flags.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Pan-Blue Coalition|Pan-blue]] supporters at a rally during the [[2004 Republic of China presidential election|2004 presidential election]]]]
Prior to this, the party's voters had defected to both the PFP and TSU, and the KMT did poorly in the [[2001 Taiwan legislative election|December 2001 legislative elections]] and lost its position as the largest party in the [[Legislative Yuan]]. However, the party did well in the 2002 local government mayoral and council election with [[Ma Ying-jeou]], its candidate for Taipei mayor, winning reelection by a landslide and its candidate for [[Kaohsiung]] mayor narrowly losing but doing surprisingly well. Since 2002, the KMT and PFP have coordinated electoral strategies. In 2004, the KMT and PFP ran a joint presidential ticket, with Lien running for president and Soong running for vice-president.

The loss of the presidential election of 2004 to DPP President [[Chen Shui-bian]] by merely over 30,000 votes was a bitter disappointment to party members, leading to large scale rallies for several weeks protesting alleged electoral fraud and the "odd circumstances" of the [[3-19 shooting incident|shooting of President Chen]]. However, the fortunes of the party were greatly improved when the KMT did well in the [[2004 Taiwan legislative election|legislative elections]] held in December 2004 by maintaining its support in southern Taiwan achieving a majority for the [[Pan-Blue Coalition]].

Soon after the election, there appeared to be a falling out with the KMT's junior partner, the People First Party and talk of a merger seemed to have ended. This split appeared to widen in early 2005, as the leader of the PFP, James Soong appeared to be reconciling with President [[Chen Shui-Bian]] and the [[Democratic Progressive Party]]. Many PFP members including legislators and municipal leaders have since defected to the KMT, and the PFP is seen as a fading party.

In 2005, Ma Ying-jeou became KMT chairman defeating speaker [[Wang Jin-pyng]] in the [[2005 Kuomintang chairmanship election|first public election for KMT chairmanship]]. The KMT won a decisive victory in the [[2005 Taiwanese local elections|3-in-1 local elections]] of December 2005, replacing the DPP as the largest party at the local level. This was seen as a major victory for the party ahead of legislative elections in 2007. There were elections for the two municipalities of the ROC, Taipei and [[Kaohsiung]] in December 2006. The KMT won a clear victory in Taipei, but lost to the DPP in the southern city of [[Kaohsiung]] by the slim margin of 1,100 votes.

On 13 February 2007, Ma was indicted by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on charges of allegedly embezzling approximately NT$11&nbsp;million (US$339,000), regarding the issue of "special expenses" while he was mayor of Taipei. Shortly after the indictment, he submitted his resignation as KMT chairman at the same press conference at which he formally announced his candidacy for ROC president. Ma argued that it was customary for officials to use the special expense fund for personal expenses undertaken in the course of their official duties. In December 2007, Ma was acquitted of all charges and immediately filed suit against the prosecutors. In 2008, the KMT won a landslide victory in the [[2008 Taiwan presidential election|Republic of China presidential election on 22 March 2008]]. The KMT fielded former Taipei mayor and former KMT chairman [[Ma Ying-jeou]] to run against the DPP's Frank Hsieh. Ma won by a margin of 17% against Hsieh. Ma took office on 20 May 2008, with vice-presidential candidate Vincent Siew, and ended 8 years of the DPP presidency. The KMT also won a landslide victory in the [[2008 Taiwan legislative election|2008 legislative elections]], winning 81 of 113 seats, or 71.7% of seats in the [[Legislative Yuan]]. These two elections gave the KMT firm control of both the executive and legislative yuans.

On 25 June 2009, President Ma launched his bid to regain the KMT leadership and registered as the sole candidate for the [[2009 Kuomintang chairmanship election|chairmanship election]]. On 26 July, Ma won 93.9% of the vote, becoming the new chairman of the KMT,<ref>[http://english.cna.com.tw/ReadNews/Detail.aspx?pSearchDate=&pNewsID=200907270004&pType1=PD&pType0=xPDCS&pTypeSel=0 President Ma elected KMT chairman]{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} – CNA ENGLISH NEWS</ref> taking office on 17 October 2009. This officially allowed Ma to be able to meet with [[Xi Jinping]], the [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party]], and other PRC delegates, as he was able to represent the KMT as leader of a Chinese political party rather than as head-of-state of a political entity unrecognized by the PRC.<ref>[http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=986347&lang=eng_news&cate_img=logo_taiwan&cate_rss=TAIWAN_eng Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou registers for KMT leadership race] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429035126/http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=986347&lang=eng_news&cate_img=logo_taiwan&cate_rss=TAIWAN_eng |date=29 April 2011 }} – eTaiwan News</ref>

On 29 November 2014, the KMT suffered a heavy loss in the [[2014 Taiwanese local elections|local election]] to the DPP, winning only 6 municipalities and counties, down from 14 in the previous election in [[2009 Taiwanese local elections|2009]] and [[2010 Taiwanese municipal elections|2010]]. Ma Ying-jeou subsequently resigned from the party chairmanship on 3 December and replaced by acting Chairman [[Wu Den-yih]]. [[2015 Kuomintang chairmanship election|Chairmanship election]] was held on 17 January 2015 and [[Eric Chu]] was elected to become the new chairman. He was inaugurated on 19 February.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201411290001.aspx|title=Polls open for 9-in-1 local government elections|date=29 November 2014 |access-date=4 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706061952/http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201411290001.aspx|archive-date=6 July 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2021, Kuomintang elected its former leader (in office 2015–2016), veteran politician [[Eric Chu]], as its new leader to replace [[Johnny Chiang]] (in office 2020–2021).<ref>{{cite news |title=Taiwan's new Kuomintang leader keeps party on China-friendly track |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Taiwan-s-new-Kuomintang-leader-keeps-party-on-China-friendly-track |work=Nikkei Asia |access-date=12 October 2021 |archive-date=12 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012043849/https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Taiwan-s-new-Kuomintang-leader-keeps-party-on-China-friendly-track |url-status=live }}</ref> In January 2024, no party won a majority in Taiwan's [[2024 Taiwanese legislative election|legislative election]] for the first time since 2004, meaning 51 seats for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), 52 seats for the Kuomintang (KMT), and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) secured eight seats.<ref>{{cite news |title=No party gets majority in Legislature; KMT wins most seats - Focus Taiwan |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202401130014 |work=Focus Taiwan - CNA English News |date=13 January 2024 |access-date=15 January 2024 |archive-date=4 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204163716/https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202401130014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Current issues and challenges ===
==== Party assets ====
Upon arriving in Taiwan the KMT occupied assets previously owned by the Japanese and forced local businesses to make contributions directly to the KMT. Some of this real estate and other assets was distributed to party loyalists, but most of it remained with the party, as did the profits generated by the properties.<ref>{{cite web |last=Anaforian |first=Daniel |title=KMT Assets a Barrier to Party Reform and Electoral Success |url=https://globaltaiwan.org/2021/04/vol-6-issue-8/ |work=Global Taiwan Brief |date=21 April 2021 |volume=6 |issue=8 |publisher=Global Taiwan Institute |access-date=25 April 2021 |archive-date=25 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425010359/https://globaltaiwan.org/2021/04/vol-6-issue-8/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Dianqing |title=The KMT Party's Enterprises in Taiwan |journal=Modern Asian Studies |date=May 1997 |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=399–413|doi=10.1017/S0026749X00014359 |s2cid=143714126 }}</ref>

As the ruling party on Taiwan, the KMT amassed a vast business empire of banks, investment companies, petrochemical firms, and television and radio stations, thought to have made it the world's richest political party, with assets once estimated to be around US$2–10&nbsp;billion.<ref name="KMT_asset">{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=898158|newspaper=Economist|title=Taiwan's Kuomintang On the brink|date=6 December 2001|access-date=21 March 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908041252/http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=898158|archive-date=8 September 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> Although this war chest appeared to help the KMT until the mid-1990s, it later led to accusations of corruption (often referred to as "[[Black gold (politics)|black gold]]").

After 2000, the KMT's financial holdings appeared to be more of a liability than a benefit, and the KMT started to divest itself of its assets. However, the transactions were not disclosed and the whereabouts of the money earned from selling assets (if it has gone anywhere) is unknown. There were accusations in the [[2004 Taiwan presidential election|2004 presidential election]] that the KMT retained assets that were illegally acquired. During the 2000–2008 DPP presidency, a law was proposed by the DPP in the [[Legislative Yuan]] to recover illegally acquired party assets and return them to the government. However, due to the DPP's lack of control of the legislative chamber at the time, it never materialized.

The KMT also acknowledged that part of its assets were acquired through extra-legal means and thus promised to "retro-endow" them to the government. However, the quantity of the assets which should be classified as illegal are still under heated debate. DPP, in its capacity as ruling party from 2000 to 2008, claimed that there is much more that the KMT has yet to acknowledge. Also, the KMT actively sold assets under its title to quench its recent financial difficulties, which the DPP argues is illegal. Former KMT chairman [[Ma Ying-Jeou]]'s position is that the KMT will sell some of its properties at below market rates rather than return them to the government and that the details of these transactions will not be publicly disclosed.

[[File:Shilin Division, Kuomintang Taipei City Committee 20161231.jpg|thumb|Kuomintang public service center in Shilin, Taipei]]
In 2006, the KMT sold its headquarters at 11 Zhongshan South Road in [[Taipei]] to [[Evergreen Group]] for [[New Taiwan dollar|NT$]]2.3&nbsp;billion (US$96&nbsp;million). The KMT moved into a smaller building on Bade Road in the eastern part of the city.<ref>Mo, Yan-chih. "[http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2006/03/23/2003298738 KMT headquarters sold for NT$2.3bn] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413190732/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2006/03/23/2003298738 |date=13 April 2010 }}." ''[[Taipei Times]]''. Thursday 23 March 2006. Page 1. Retrieved 29 September 2009.</ref>

In July 2014, the KMT reported total assets of NT$26.8&nbsp;billion (US$892.4&nbsp;million) and interest earnings of NT$981.52&nbsp;million for the year of 2013, making it one of the richest political parties in the world.<ref>2014-07-24, [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/07/24/2003595820 KMT is again 'world's richest party'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726150524/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/07/24/2003595820 |date=26 July 2014 }}, Taipei Times</ref>

In August 2016, the [[Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee]] was set up by the ruling DPP government to investigate KMT party assets acquired during the [[Martial law in Taiwan|martial law]] period and recover those that were determined to be illegally acquired.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tai|first1=Ya-chen|last2=Hsieh|first2=Chia-chen|last3=Hsu|first3=Elizabeth|title=Commission to investigate KMT assets launched|url=http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201608310021.aspx|access-date=31 August 2016|agency=Central News Agency|date=31 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901140008/http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201608310021.aspx|archive-date=1 September 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>