Formosa Alliance

喜樂 島 聯盟 Formosa Alliance Formosa Alliance
Party leader	Lo Jen-kuei (2019)
founding	April 7, 2019 (Allianz) July 20, 2019 (political party)
Place of foundation	Kaohsiung , Taiwan
Alignment	pan-green direction, Taiwan independence
Colours)	turquoise
Parliament seats	0/113
Website	www.formosaparty.org

The Formosa Alliance ( Chinese  喜樂 島 聯盟 , Pinyin Xǐlè Dǎo Liánméng , English Formosa Alliance , Pe̍h-ōe-jī Hí-lo̍k-tó Liân-bêng ) is a political party in the Republic of China in Taiwan .

history

On February 28, 2018, Kuo Pei-hung (高俊明), Presbyterian pastor and chairman of Formosa Television (FTV, 民 視), publicly announced his intention to set up an advocacy group to promote Taiwan's independence. He named the former presidents Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian , as well as the former vice-president Annette Lu , as supporters .

On April 6, 2018, the day prior to the actual establishment, various organizations of Taiwanese abroad placed a full-page advertisement in the Liberty Times , in which 1,350 people signed their support for a referendum on the independence of Taiwan and for the admission of Taiwan to the United Nations stated. The actual founding of the Formosa Alliance took place the following day at a rally in Kaohsiung . The founding day was deliberately chosen to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the death of the democracy activist Cheng Nan-jung , who set himself on fire on April 7, 1989 in protest against the political bondage at the time. In the alliance, various groups and people who advocated full independence for Taiwan joined together. These included the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and individual politicians from the ranks of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the New Power Party (NPP). Participants in the founding event repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction with the previous policy of President Tsai Ing-wen, who has been in office for two years . At the founding event, 95-year-old Lee Teng-hui gave a speech in which he called on the people of Taiwan to take their future into their own hands and on the other hand, called on the People's Republic of China to abandon its one-China policy . The declared goal of the alliance was to hold a referendum to vote on the question of whether the Republic of China should rename itself "Taiwan" and apply under this name for membership in the United Nations. Legal experts were skeptical about the planned change of the state name from "Republic of China" to "Taiwan". This would require a constitutional amendment that would require a 4/5 majority in the legislative yuan . Referendums on constitutional changes are also not possible due to the legal situation.

In the referendum that was held on November 24, 2018, the Alliance voted for a future application by the Republic of China (which so far can only participate in international sporting events under the name Chinese Taipei ) under the name "Taiwan". Despite the unpopularity of "Chinese Taipei", a majority of the voters voted against the proposal because it was feared that the People's Republic of China would then block Taiwan's further participation in international sporting events.

On April 7, 2019, the Formosa Alliance, which increasingly behaved like a political party, declared its separation from the DPP. She chose turquoise as her color to distinguish herself from the green of the DPP. Allianz held its first meeting on June 16, 2018 in Taichung . The alliance called for an amendment to the referendum law so that constitutional amendments could also be voted on. On July 20, 2019, the alliance officially transformed into a political party and announced its participation in the election of the Legislative Yuan next year. Lo Jen-kuei (羅仁貴) - also a Presbyterian pastor - was elected first party leader.

Officially, the Formosa Alliance did not nominate a candidate for the 2020 presidential election . However, several people have expressed their interest, including Professor Ou Chong-jing (歐 崇敬), who is active in the Internet media. Annette Lu - formally still a DPP member - also registered her candidacy, hoping for the support of the Formosa Alliance, but later withdrew it.

For the election of the Legislative Yuan 2020, the Formosa Alliance put up 6 candidates for the national list election and 12 candidates in the constituencies (constituencies 4, 6 and 8 of Taipei, one candidate each for the aboriginal residences of the lowlands and the mountainous regions, constituency 2 in Yunlin , constituency 3 in Taichung , selector circuits 1 and 2 in Chiayi county , constituency 3 and 6 of Kaohsiung , constituency Penghu ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lee Hsin-fang, Sherry Hsiao: International groups lend support for independence. Taipei Times, April 7, 2018, accessed November 16, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Kensaku Ihara: Pro-independence forces in Taiwan align to push referendum. Nikkei Asian review, April 9, 2018, accessed November 16, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Duncan DeAeth: Pro-Taiwan Independence Alliance Announces group Formosa split from DPP. Taiwan News, April 7, 2019, accessed November 16, 2019 . 
4. ^ Su Mu-chun, Ko Lin: Alliance holds first meeting, calls for independence referendum. Focus Taiwan, June 16, 2018, accessed November 16, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Sean Lin: Formosa Alliance enters political arena. Taipei Times, July 21, 2019, accessed November 16, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Ko Lai: Formosa Alliance member Ou Chong-jing wants to run for president of Taiwan: Ou will need to collect 280,000 signatures. Taiwan News, September 10, 2019, accessed November 16, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Paul Huang: Taiwan's 2020 Presidential Race: Who Is Annette Lu and Why Is She Running for Taiwan's President? The New Lens, September 19, 2019, accessed November 16, 2019 . 
8. ↑ 2020 不 分區 立法 委員 喜樂 島 聯盟 政黨 提名 6 位 不 分區 名單. Formosa Alliance website, accessed December 8, 2019 (traditional Chinese). 
9. ↑ 2020 區域 立法 委員 喜樂 島 聯盟 政黨 提名 12 位 參選 人. Formosa Alliance website, accessed December 8, 2019 (traditional Chinese).