in 1925. The China Zhi Gong Party derives from the overseas
Hung Society organization "Hung Society Zhigong Hall" or "
Chee Kung Tong", based in
San Francisco, United States. This organization was one of the key supporters of
Sun Yat-sen in his revolutionary efforts to overthrow the
Qing dynasty. The party was founded on 10 October 1925 in San Francisco, and was led by
Chen Jiongming and
Tang Jiyao, two ex-
Kuomintang warlords that went into opposition. Their first platform was
federalism and
multi-party democracy. The party moved its headquarters to the then-British colony of
Hong Kong in 1926. After the
Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 it began engaging in anti-Japanese propaganda and boycotts. The party was nearly wiped out during the
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. The party turned to the left during its third party congress in 1947. On 21 September 1949, just before the
proclamation of the People's Republic of China, representatives of the CZGP attended the
first plenary Session of the CPPCC at the invitation of the CCP. They participated in drawing up the
Common Program and electing the
Central People's Government. As part of the CCP's reorganization of the minor aligned parties, the CZGP was designated as the party of returned
overseas Chinese, their relatives, and noted figures and scholars who have overseas ties. The Zhi Gong Party is sometimes used as an intermediary for contacts with certain foreign interests. For example, when a delegation of
Paraguayan politicians visited Beijing in 2001 and met
Li Peng (despite Paraguay having diplomatic relations not with PRC but
with ROC in Taiwan), it was invited not by the PRC government or the CCP, but by the Zhi Gong Party. In April 2007,
Wan Gang, Deputy Chair of the Zhi Gong Party Central Committee, was appointed
Ministry of Science and Technology. This was the first non-CCP ministerial appointment in China in 35 years. == Organization ==