Recently, a social media platform account named “CKCP Communist Party of Chien Kuo High School” has sparked controversy. It involves students from the more than century-old prestigious Chien Kuo High School in Taipei, who established the “CKCP Communist Party” and connected with students from another 38 schools to form the “Taiwan Inter-School Communist Union.” Concerns have been raised about the infiltration of “red forces” into Taiwanese high school campuses. Several scholars have urged the government to be vigilant, emphasizing the importance of not disregarding such actions as merely “student freedom.”
The Instagram account “CKCP Communist Party of Chien Kuo High School” that gained attention starting on August 21 was registered in 2022. The “CKCP Communist Party” was established by students, with its IG account claiming to “promote the Communist Party’s governance in Chien Kuo democratically, accelerate reforms in Chien Kuo, and spread correct communist ideas,” while also asserting that “this party is not related to the Chinese Communist Party.”
The “CKCP Communist Party” expanded beyond Chien Kuo to establish the “Taiwan Inter-School Communist Union,” which includes a chairman, decision-making committee, and independent committee, further subdivided into “school organizations,” “school chairpersons (representatives),” and “school committees.”
Members of the decision-making committee of the “Taiwan Inter-School Communist Union” include the CKCP Communist Party, Yung Chun Communist Party, Chenggong Communist Party, Banchung Communist Party, and the “Taiwan Anonymous Committee,” with similar communist party organizations present in schools like Lishan and Danshui. The “Taiwan Inter-School Communist Union” holds regular meetings during summer and winter breaks and opens membership application forms. It is suspected that such organizations are widespread in schools across Taiwan.
On the morning of the 21st, netizens posted discussions about this account on the Threads social platform. A review by reporters from Epoch Times found that the account last posted in 2023.
Shen Mingshi, a researcher at the Taiwan Institute for National Defense Studies, told Epoch Times that students organizing communist activities may have been incited by someone, with unidentified organizations orchestrating behind the scenes. If not properly addressed, once their fantasy and fixation with communism solidify or deepen, it could easily develop into what is known as the “Fifth Column” of the Chinese Communist Party infiltrating Taiwan. For example, after graduation, they could be recruited by the CCP to become part of an underground party organization in Taiwan, leading to serious consequences.
“Nowadays, Taiwan also has political parties with names related to communism, and they are encouraged by the Taiwan Affairs Office or the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party to participate in elections. We cannot exclude the possibility that after these student associations are connected, they could expand to universities in the future,” he said.
Deputy Minister and spokesperson of the Mainland Affairs Council, Liang Wenjie, stated on the 21st that Article 2 of the People’s Organization Act originally prohibited the advocacy of communism; however, this provision was declared unconstitutional by the Grand Justices in 2008, allowing political parties to register with the Ministry of the Interior using the name of the Communist Party. Historically, there have been five political parties registered with the name of the Communist Party in Taiwan.
The author of the book “The Great History of the Communist World” released in May, Lu Zhengli, is an interdisciplinary historian. During an interview with Epoch Times, he mentioned that the spontaneity of students forming communist party clubs is highly unlikely. He believes that there is incitement and temptation from underground CCP organizations behind this, which is part of the CCP’s united front against Taiwan and should not be taken lightly.
In response to the external controversy, the inactive account “CKCP Communist Party of Chien Kuo High School,” which has not posted in two years, suddenly made a post on the 21st afternoon to dispel rumors, emphasizing that it is “unrelated to the Chinese Communist Party” and stating that the CCP is a communist party disguised in authoritarian capitalism, persecuting even domestic communists, while the CKCP Communist Party “firmly opposes the aggression of the CCP in the Republic of China (Taiwan).” They mentioned that due to the small number of members, most have graduated, and the organization is no longer operational.
Regarding the appearance of communist party organizations in Taiwanese schools, Feng Chongyi, Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, stated that this is related to the rise of some leftist movements worldwide. In the later stages of Kuomintang rule and the early stages of democratization, the leftists in Taiwan’s academic community were very active. Originally, within the Three Principles of the People, there was populism, later translated into socialism, harboring socialist ideologies critical of capitalism, indicating that both China and Taiwan should not adopt capitalism. Leftists in Taiwanese campuses aligned themselves with Western leftist movements.
“After the 1960s, due to the suppression of revolutions in Hungary and Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union, Stalin’s sins were exposed, and the West became aware. It was ugly, and they couldn’t follow Stalinism. They changed socialism into a new guise by advocating anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism, avoiding class struggle and instead targeting Western civilization, declaring the entire West criminal, branding capitalist systems as derived from colonial looting. This narrative found a strong market within Western academia and media.”
Feng Chongyi remarked that it is quite absurd for students in some Taiwanese schools to establish communist party organizations.
Deputy Minister and spokesperson of the Mainland Affairs Council, Liang Wenjie, stated yesterday that communism carries strong humanitarian and utopian characteristics, and it is not uncommon for young people to idealize communism. However, there is a significant gap between theory and reality. Liang suggested that young people should gain a deeper understanding of how communism leads to dictatorship and tyranny, especially examining how the terror rule of former Soviet leader Stalin and former Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong came into being.
Feng Chongyi believes that communism itself should not be mistakenly portrayed as having so-called humanistic and utopian qualities. The over 100-year turbulent history of the communist movements in the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Cambodia, and Venezuela demonstrates that they primarily bring about war, poverty, bloodshed, dictatorship, and economic collapse, far from any idealism.
Shen Mingshi further stated that government officials should be prepared for potential threats and investigate the motivations behind such incidents, checking for any CCP involvement. Particularly, the widespread use of TikTok among youth can lead to issues. Authorities could even consider whether to ban TikTok from circulating in Taiwan if problems arise since that would be tackling the issue at its root.
Lu Zhengli also remarked that Taiwan’s education system lacks sufficient anti-communist education, with students having limited understanding of communism. He suggested that facing CCP infiltration and propaganda, media literacy should be strengthened using easily understandable methods like short videos. He also urged policymakers to address the existing loopholes in Taiwan’s national security arising from this incident by studying and amending relevant laws to prevent the CCP’s expansion and infiltration in Taiwan.
The Taipei City Department of Education stated that this organization is not an official school club and will not interfere with individual student freedom as long as no laws are violated. Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo Junior High Scho…