Green Party of Taiwan Supporting Indigenous People and Taiwanese Autonomy

Kavitha Chandrashekeran, International Development Committee, Australian Greens

On a recent holiday to visit family overseas I had the privilege of meeting up with two highly accomplished Taiwanese Greens members Rita Jhang and Joyance Wang.

Did you know that the Green Party of Taiwan was the first Taiwanese party to nominate openly gay candidates and to advocate for marriage equality with Taiwan becoming the first ASEAN country to legalise same sex marriage in 2019 and  that Taiwan has signed a treaty with their indigenous peoples?

We hear a lot about Taiwan (Republic of China) being under threat from the People's Republic of China but through the Australian’s Greens connection with the Green Party Taiwan (GPT) we  know that their leaders have been at the forefront of Taiwan’s environmental campaigns and played a central role in the anti-nuclear movement. 

Established in 1996 the Green Party Taiwan GPT was one of the earliest third parties that was created following Taiwan’s full-fledged democratization and is a member of the Asia Pacific Greens Federation and participates in the Global Greens.

The Green Party averages around 3% of total votes cast in metropolitan urban areas, with support in rural areas, such as Orchid Island the home of nuclear waste storage, as high as 35.8%. And as far back as 1996 they elected a member to their National Assembly and two seats in local elections. 

While the People’s Republic of China has never exercised control over Taiwan, it claims that the island is an inalienable part of China that must be reunified with the mainland. Such a narrative ignores the 15000 year history of Taiwanese indigenous peoples, also known as Formosans, Native Taiwanese or Austronesian Taiwanese numbering about 3% of the island's population.  Taiwan even has designated electoral districts and legislative seats for Indigenous Peoples.

Taiwan's indigenous population has experienced discrimination throughout the centuries leading to economic and social inequality but have spearheaded and are closely linked with ecological awareness and conservation issues such as campaigning against the logging of the Chilan Formosan Cypress and storage of nuclear waste on Orchid Island. 

In fact it was in Orchid Island that a treaty like New Partnership between the Indigenous Peoples and the Government of Taiwan was signed recognizing the inherent sovereignty of Taiwan's Indigenous Peoples in 1999. In 2016, the then President delivered a National Apology on behalf of the government and introduced a Spatial Planning Act which  acknowledges and protects Indigenous people’s land rights and ecological knowledge. 

The six core values of the Global Green Charter aligns well with the inclusive, multicultural and civic nationalism of the GPT ‘s gentle pro-independence stance against China. 

Prior to lifting martial law in 1987 and transition to democracy, Taiwan experienced three decades of rapid industrialization with significant impact on the environment. 

Recent environmental campaigns supported by the GPT include the unsuccessful campaign against the building of the Taoyuan LNG Terminal and a successful campaign where a majority of voters rejected the possibility of restarting construction of two mothballed nuclear reactors. 

The 2024 National Legislative Council elections saw the GPT run an all women’s ticket and whilst the Greens are one of the largest non-parliamentary parties they are working hard to break through the 5% required to take a seat.