The pro-Taiwanese independence Formosa Alliance (喜樂島聯盟) yesterday started a new life as a political party and announced that it would take part in next year’s presidential and legislative elections.
The alliance was established in April last year to campaign for a Taiwanese independence referendum.
At a news conference in Taipei announcing its reorganization into a political party, the Reverend Lo Jen-kuei (羅仁貴) said the purpose of the party is not to sow division in the pan-green camp, but is for people who are dissatisfied with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and looking for “better options” in the elections on Jan. 11 next year.
Photo: CNA
The party plans to field at least 10 legislative candidates, Lo said, but added that it has not made any plans to nominate a presidential candidate.
Lo was elected chairman by alliance members, who also elected 15 executive members.
Lo appointed National Dong Hwa University professor Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) as the party’s deputy chairman.
Lo said that being a party chairman had not been part of his life plan, but he decided to “go all-out” because of the ideals he shared with the late reverend Kao Chun-ming (高俊明) of the Presbyterian Church.
As one of the signatories of the Human Rights Declaration issued by the church in 1977, Kao, who passed away in February, believed that Taiwan’s future should be decided by all Taiwanese, Lo said.
“Taiwanese have expectations from us to make Taiwan a nation with statehood, human rights and dignity — a normalized country, and the party will not let them down,” Lo said.
Expressing concern that the DPP would not fare well in the elections, he said that if the pan-blue camp obtains a legislative majority, it would be “Taiwan’s greatest disaster yet.”
He called on people who “detest the DPP” and those who “truly love Taiwan” to vote for the Formosa Alliance, so that the party could provide checks and balances at the Legislative Yuan.
Asked if the party would support President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) re-election bid if she ran on a joint ticket with former premier William Lai (賴清德), Lo said it would welcome a Tsai-Lai ticket if it could get them elected, as it would be beneficial for Taiwanese.
However, the Formosa Alliance would only lend its support to Tsai if her vision aligned with that of the party, he said, adding that if she continues to “oppress and limit those who truly care about Taiwan,” it might not back her.
Citing the DPP’s indifference toward a referendum last year that asked people if they agreed that the national team should compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under the name “Taiwan” rather than “Chinese Taipei,” Shih dismissed the DPP as a “lousy agent” for Taiwanese independence that exploits the brand, but is not doing anything to achieve the goal.
It was “outrageous” for the DPP to change the rules for its presidential primary and pass amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) decoupling referendums from national elections, he added.
Separately, former premier Yu Shyi-kun of the DPP said pro-independence parties should act in the nation’s best interests and work toward making Taiwan a normalized country.
Taiwan’s fate hinges on next year’s presidential election and he hopes the Formosa Alliance will not act in a way that runs counter to its vision, he added.
Additional reporting by Huang Hsin-po and Peng Wan-hsin
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats