The Formosa Alliance () is a political coalition founded in Taiwan on 7 April 2018. The organization reformed as a political party on 20 July 2019.

Goals

The Formosa Alliance was established on 7 April 2018. Its founding leader was , at the time also chairman of

Formosa Television Formosa Television () is a television station based in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Established on March 27, 1996, FTV began broadcasting on June 11, 1997 as the first free-to-air television station established without direct relationship to a p ...

. Other members included

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian ( zh, t=陳水扁; born 12 October 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progres ...

, Huang Kuo-chang,

Lee Teng-hui Lee Teng-hui (; pinyin: ''Lǐ Dēnghuī''; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese politician and agricultural scientist who served as the fourth president of the Republic of China, president of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan) unde ...

Yu Shyi-kun You Si-kun (; born 25 April 1948), also romanized Yu Shyi-kun, is a Taiwanese politician. He was one of the founding members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and is known to be a strong advocate of Taiwan independence. He led the DPP ...

, and the

Taiwan Solidarity Union The Taiwan Solidarity Party (TSP) is a political party in Taiwan which advocates Taiwan independence, and is affiliated with the Taiwanese localization movement. It was officially founded on 12 August 2001 as the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU ...

, as well as several overseas Taiwanese organizations. The organization intended to hold a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

on 6 April 2019, though this did not occur. Other goals included advocating a change in the island's name from the Republic of China to Taiwan, and to apply for membership in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. The alliance's first full meeting was held on 16 June 2018. In April 2019, the Formosa Alliance announced a split between it and the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

, as well as a new color scheme emphasizing turquoise, a representation of the land of Taiwan and the ocean. The alliance rebranded as a political party, and expanded its platform. Alongside support for the independence referendum and admittance to the United Nations, the Formosa Alliance sought to draft a new constitution, introduce a new national anthem, adopt a new flag, and normalize diplomatic relations with other nations. Compared with the Democratic Progressive Party, from which it split, the Formosa Alliance is more socially conservative. On 20 July 2019, the Formosa Alliance was reconstituted as a political party, with

Presbyterian Church in Taiwan The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT; ) is the largest Protestant Christian denomination based in Taiwan. The PCT is a member of the World Council of Churches, and its flag features a "burning bush", which signifies the concept of burning y ...

minister as its first chairman. Lo named as the party's deputy chairman. Party officials stated that it would not nominate a candidate to contest the 2020 Taiwan presidential election, but that it would field ten candidates in the concurrent 2020 Taiwan legislative election. On 10 September 2019, Formosa Alliance executive committee member Ou Chong-jing stated that he would obtain registration forms for the 2020 presidential election from the

Central Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

. Ou told '' Taiwan News'' that the Formosa Alliance had planned to back his legislative campaign in

New Taipei New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

, but subsequently announced that a presidential candidate would be named without a primary. Ou then acquired the petition required of independent presidential candidacies, without the party's support, though he stated that he would wait until the deadline to register presidential bids, 17 September 2019, for the Formosa Alliance's decision. On 17 September 2019,

Annette Lu Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944), also known by her English name Annette, is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 1990, and was elected to the Legis ...

announced that she and

Peng Pai-hsien Peng Pai-hsien (; born 14 June 1949) is a Taiwanese politician. Political career He served in the Legislative Yuan from 1990 to 1997 as a member of the Democratic Progressive Party. Peng was a member of the DPP's Justice Alliance faction until ...

, via petition, would form the Formosa Alliance ticket for the presidential election, though Lu remained a member of the Democratic Progressive Party. Lu and Peng ended their campaign on 2 November 2019.

References

{{Taiwanese political parties 2018 establishments in Taiwan Taiwan independence movement Taiwan under Republic of China rule Secessionist organizations in Asia Political parties established in 2018 Political organizations based in Taiwan