Taiwan’s Kuomintang faces an identity test in the age of Trump

TAIPEI — The Kuomintang’s “Blue Sky with White Sun” flags outside its headquarters in Taipei echo the flag of the Republic of China in a reminder of how the organization was once synonymous with power in Taiwan. The gray building, however, is a marked downgrade from the home of the KMT until 2006 — an imposing structure across from the presidential palace that was sold under a cloud of controversy over ill-gotten gains during the party’s authoritarian rule.

Now, as the KMT celebrates 130 years since its precursor organization on Sunday, it faces not another physical relocation, but perhaps a philosophical one. Many see a challenge to redefine the space the largest opposition party occupies in modern Taiwan, not only in the face of Chinese threats but also in the age of Donald Trump.