World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI) was formed on Jan. 1, 1970, by five Taiwanese independence organizations in Japan, the US, Canada, Europe and Taiwan. They were later joined by an organization from South America. This event symbolized the coming together of Taiwanese at home and overseas, and it created quite a sensation.
The Taiwanese independence movement faced different pressures here and abroad. Overseas, it was referred to as an independence movement rather than a democratic movement, while in Taiwan, it was referred to as a democratic movement.
Increasing Taiwanese consciousness is a principle common to the movement in Taiwan and abroad. Freedom, democracy and human rights are values respected and upheld by the alliance. Regardless of whether the movement was viewed as an independence or a democratic movement, they shared the same resistance to the invasion of Taiwan by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
However, slogans like “overthrow the alien regime in the Republic of China [ROC] and establish an independent Republic of Taiwan” were a lot louder abroad than in Taiwan.
In the past, the Taiwanese independence movement was based on Taiwanese nationalism and the view that Taiwanese consciousness had to be raised to the level of Taiwanese nationalism to be able to resist Chinese nationalism.
As for the view that the ROC government was an alien regime, the democratization of Taiwan and the government’s move toward localization weakened the calls for overturning the ROC system and were replaced by calls for ending the ROC. Electoral participation increased the number of independence and democracy activists in the government, which became a problem for the independence movement, which was trying to determine how to deal with the “ROC system.” Opinions differed on whether Taiwan was sovereign or whether its sovereignty remained undetermined.
Maybe a new slogan aimed at reinforcing unity could be “Taiwanese working together for Taiwanese sovereignty.”
In 1991, following the lifting of the government’s black list, WUFI moved its headquarters to Taiwan. Following the move, WUFI decided on a “scissors theory” combining mass movements with electoral activities. While this strategy does not seem to have been successful and cracks are beginning to appear, it has had a positive influence on integration and cooperation with other social groups.
In 1987, WUFI changed its Chinese name from the “alliance for Taiwanese independence” (台灣獨立聯盟) to the “alliance for Taiwanese independence and nation building” (台灣獨立建國聯盟). When WUFI was just established, it — like several other independence movements — made the founding of a new and independent Taiwanese republic its goal.
The Republic of Taiwan does not seek to inherit the ROC system, nor does it seek independence from the PRC. WUFI has always strived for the foundation of a new nation, the Republic of Taiwan.
Participating in public elections under the ROC framework, politicians can easily become integrated in the ROC system and work for the continued existence of the ROC. Concern for the future of Taiwan demands that we stress that the newly founded Taiwanese state would not be a continuation of China’s, nor would it mean separating from China. This is the only way to build a completely new and safe position for Taiwan.
Ng Chiau-tong is chairman of the World United Formosans for Independence.
Translated by Drew Cameron and Perry Svensson
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017