A group of Taiwanese independence supporters are on Aug. 18 to form a new political party whose Chinese-language name (一邊一國行動黨) roughly translates to “One Side One Country Action Party.”
While former premier Yu Shyi-kun, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member, has refused to head the new party, he has agreed to be its “most senior adviser,” a source said yesterday.
Former National Taipei University of the Arts president Yang Chyi-wen (楊其文) is most likely to be the party’s chairman, the source added.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
Yang declined to comment, saying that he was only a founding member of the party and that any decision on its chairperson would have to wait until its inception ceremony in Taipei on Aug. 18.
Other founding members include Taipei Hospital vice president Kuo Chang-feng (郭長豐), retired physician Kuo Cheng-deng (郭正典) and Janice Chen (陳昭姿), a member of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) volunteer civilian medical team.
Janice Chen said that the party’s platform is clear: Taiwan and China are sovereign nations.
The party would nominate individuals for next year’s legislative elections, she added.
Kuo Cheng-deng said that Yu had turned down the offer, because he did not wish to antagonize the DPP.
Chen Shui-bian, noted for saying in 2002 during his presidency that there is “one country on either side” (一邊一國) of the Taiwan Strait, on Saturday last week expressed support on Facebook for the idea of forming the new party.
While he has denied founding the party or being its spiritual leader, many within the new party perceive him as such, sources said.
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