The Southern Democratic Alliance () is a pro-democracy political organization in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. The Alliance was founded on February 1, 2004.Southern Democratic Alliance
(Internet Archive Wayback Machine link). Snapshot taken January 12, 2006. Its stated mission is to unite South Asians with local Chinese to build up a colorful Hong Kong. According to the party's chair, James Lung, local media have termed the Alliance the "Rising Sun of South Asians in the city."James Lung's Blog
"Please vote for James Lung 龍緯汶 and Bantawa Sukra!"
Accessed September 21, 2008. Specifically emphasizing the need for stronger anti-discrimination legislation, the Alliance has focused on the desires of South Asians, specifically the Nepalese population in Hong Kong. One ally of the party has been the Nepalese spiritual group

Heavenly Path Heavenly may refer to: * Pertaining to Heaven Music Bands * Heavenly (British band), an English pop band * Heavenly (French band), a French heavy metal band Albums * ''Heavenly'' (Johnny Mathis album), 1959 * ''Heavenly'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel al ...

. The two groups cosponsored a peace rally on July 1, 2007, which organizers claim drew more than 100 attendees.July First Peace Rally: Heavenly Path and Southern Democratic Alliance
Accessed September 21, 2008 The party's support for peace and reconciliation, including between

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, is at odds with official policy. This and other disagreement may have led to the August 4, 2008 closure of ''e-Wiki'', a collaborative

wiki A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pu ...

website that hosted articles linking party chairman James Lung to the banned Falun Gong movement and which described his criticism of China's

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

.Reporters without Borders, August 7, 2008
"Wikipedia-style online encyclopedia closes under government pressure"
Accessed September 21, 2008. More recently, the Alliance has petitioned for the accommodation of English-dominant minority groups in Hong Kong, asking the Subcommittee on Race Discrimination to make English-language job postings available from the labor department.Southern Democratic Alliance, James Lung Wai Man. (June 9, 2009)
Fax to the Subcommittee on Race Discrimination
Accessed November 12, 2009. The Southern Democratic Alliance first fielded candidates in the 2008 Legislative Council elections, in the

Kowloon West Kowloon West is the western part of Kowloon, covering the Yau Tsim Mong and Sham Shui Po District, with Kowloon City District occasionally included. History The boundary of Kowloon West is not strictly defined and hence varies. While traditio ...

district. Its nominees were party chairman James Lung and Heavenly Path spiritual leader Sukra Bantawa, an ethnic

Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...

.Hong Kong Legislative Council Elections 2008
"Nominations for Geographical Constituencies"
Accessed September 21, 2008. In the September 7, 2008 election, the Alliance received only 591 votes, out of 206,583 cast, or 0.3%.Hong Kong Legislative Council Elections 2008

Accessed September 21, 2008.

References

External links

Website of Southern Democratic Alliance
{{Hong Kong political parties Political parties established in 2004 Political parties in Hong Kong