View source for Southern Democratic Alliance

{{Infobox Political party
|name =Southern Democratic Alliance
|native_name = {{noitalics|{{nobold|南方民主同盟}}}}
|logo =Southern Democratic Alliance.jpg
|colorcode = #000000
|country = Hong Kong
|leader1_title  =Chairman
|leader1_name   =[[James Lung]]
|foundation     =1 February 2004
|headquarters   =1305, 13/F Fu Lee Commercial Bldg.<br />14-20 Pilkem Street<br />[[Tsim Sha Tsui]],<br />[[Hong Kong]]
|affiliation1_title = Regional affiliation
|affiliation1 = [[Pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong|Pan-democracy camp]]
|website        =[https://web.archive.org/web/20091027065104/http://hk.geocities.com/lwmlung/SDA.html Website]
}}

The '''Southern Democratic Alliance''' ({{zh|t=南方民主同盟}}) is a pro-democracy [[political organization]] in [[Hong Kong]]. The Alliance was founded on February 1, 2004.<ref name="sda-yahoo">[https://web.archive.org/web/20060112020930/http://hk.geocities.com/lwmlung/SDA.html Southern Democratic Alliance] (Internet Archive Wayback Machine link). Snapshot taken January 12, 2006.</ref>

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."<ref name="lung-360">James Lung's Blog. [http://au.blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-qnbeL2Q9bKt9Ii_KqZgz?p=72 "Please vote for James Lung 龍緯汶 and Bantawa Sukra!"]. Accessed September 21, 2008.</ref>

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]]. The two groups cosponsored a peace rally on July 1, 2007, which organizers claim drew more than 100 attendees.<ref name="july1">[http://www.boxun.com/hero/2007/longyim/61_1.shtml July First Peace Rally: Heavenly Path and Southern Democratic Alliance]. Accessed September 21, 2008</ref>

The party's support for peace and reconciliation, including between [[People's Republic of China|mainland China]] and [[Taiwan]],<ref name="july1" /> 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]] 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 of China|Communist Party]].<ref name="rsf">Reporters without Borders, August 7, 2008. [https://archive.today/20130415234512/http://en.rsf.org/china-wikipedia-style-online-07-08-2006,18487.html "Wikipedia-style online encyclopedia closes under government pressure"] Accessed September 21, 2008.</ref> 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.<ref>Southern Democratic Alliance, James Lung Wai Man. (June 9, 2009). [http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr08-09/english/hc/sub_leg/sc64/papers/sc640612cb2-1835-1-e.pdf Fax to the Subcommittee on Race Discrimination]. Accessed November 12, 2009.</ref>

The Southern Democratic Alliance first fielded candidates in the [[2008 Hong Kong legislative election|2008 Legislative Council elections]], in the [[Kowloon West (1998 constituency)|Kowloon West]] district. Its nominees were party chairman James Lung and Heavenly Path spiritual leader Sukra Bantawa, an ethnic [[People of Nepal|Nepali]].<ref name="2008noms">Hong Kong Legislative Council Elections 2008. [http://www.elections.gov.hk/legco2008/pdf/GC_Nomination_Eng.txt "Nominations for Geographical Constituencies"]. Accessed September 21, 2008.</ref> In the September 7, 2008 election, the Alliance received only 591 votes, out of 206,583 cast, or 0.3%.<ref name="elec2008-results">Hong Kong Legislative Council Elections 2008. [http://www.elections.gov.hk/legco2008/eng/result/rs_gc_LC2.html "Election Results"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222030432/http://www.elections.gov.hk/legco2008/eng/result/rs_gc_LC2.html |date=2012-02-22 }} Accessed September 21, 2008.</ref>

{{Politics of Hong Kong}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041024003646/http://hk.groups.yahoo.com/group/lwmlung/ Website of Southern Democratic Alliance]
{{Hong Kong political parties}}

[[Category:Political parties established in 2004]]
[[Category:Political parties in Hong Kong]]