The Green Party Taiwan and Social Democratic Party (SDP) yesterday said they would register a “Green-SDP Alliance” party with the Ministry of the Interior to field a joint slate of at-large candidates in January’s legislative elections.
Green Party conveners Lee Ken-cheng (李根政) and Chang Yu-ching (張育憬) shook hands with SDP convener Fan Yun (范雲) at a press conference in Taipei after signing a memorandum of understanding.
Legislative candidates from the two parties stood together promising to “fight together to win for the people.”
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
“Compatriots must stand together, because true strength is found in solidarity,” Lee and Fan Yun both said in their speeches at the event, quoting Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水).
“Taiwan needs a new political force aside from two main political parties, which are both biased towards corporations — a political force that would always stand up to defend land, the weak and human rights,” Lee said. “The Green-SDP Alliance will act as a watchdog and an opposition party.”
While negotiating cooperation had been “difficult,” requiring six months of talks, solidarity was important to both sides, he said.
Fan said the alliance would work to “eliminate” the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) while “balancing” the Democratic Progressive Party by striving to become the “crucial minority” in the Legislative Yuan.
She urged other “progressive social forces” to stand with them in the legislative elections, saying the alliance’s current membership was “insufficient.”
The Green Party Taiwan was founded in 1996 and won two county and city councilor seats in last year’s local elections.
The Social Democratic Party was founded by members of the civic group Taiwan Citizen’s Union (TCU) in March, following disagreements with TCU members who had launched the New Power Party earlier in the year.
Efforts by the Green Party and New Power Party aimed at collaboration failed.
Lee said that while he remained open to “cooperation” with the New Power Party, registration deadlines would make it difficult to include that party in the alliance’s slate of at-large candidates after they officially register the ticket with the interior ministry.
Any cooperation would likely be limited to harmonizing candidates for legislative districts, he said.
“This is a temporary alliance created to participate in the elections,” said Ku Yu-ling (顧玉玲), a former secretary-general of the Taiwan International Workers’ Association, who was invited to witness the signing of the memorandum. “Exactly where they compromise and how they define the basis for their cooperation is very interesting and important.”
While the memorandum calls for joint campaigning and splitting any campaign contributions and subsidies, the two parties have not drafted a common platform or even drawn up a list of candidates.
Parties must attract 5 percent of the national vote to be eligible for an at-large legislative seat.
A report by the Chinese-language Storm Media on opinion polls released last week placed support for the New Power Party at 5.6 percent of respondents, the Green Party at 2.6 percent and the SDP at less than 1 percent.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan