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, Taiwan. Established on March 27, 1996, FTV began broadcasting on June 11, 1997. Formosa Television is also the first free-to-air television station which was established witho ...

. Other members included

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...

, Huang Kuo-chang, Lee Teng-hui,

Yu Shyi-kun You Si-kun (; born 25 April 1948), also romanized Yu Shyi-kun, is a Taiwanese politician serving as a member and the president of the Legislative Yuan. He was one of the founding members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and is know ...

, and the

Taiwan Solidarity Union The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) 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 and is considered part of the Pan-G ...

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

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

independence Independence is a condition of a person, 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 statu ...

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 an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. 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, 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 Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 11 January 2020 along with the 10th Legislative Yuan election. Incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen and former premier William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the election, defeating K ...

, but that it would field ten candidates in the concurrent

2020 Taiwan legislative election The 2020 Taiwanese legislative election was held on 11 January 2020 for all 113 seats to the Legislative Yuan concurrently with the 15th presidential election in Taiwan. The term of the Legislative Yuan began on 1 February 2020. The Democrati ...

. 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. Ou told ''

Taiwan News ''Taiwan News'' (formerly ''China News'') is an English-language online newspaper in Taiwan. It is owned by foods company I-Mei Foods, which also publishes the Chinese-language news weekly of the same name. History ''China News'' was founded ...

'' that the Formosa Alliance had planned to back his legislative campaign in

New Taipei New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, b ...

, 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 Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...

announced that she and Peng Pai-hsien, 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