| Huang Hua | |
| Native Name Lang: | zh |
| Birth Date: | 1939 8, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Kirun, Taihoku, Taiwan, Empire of Japan |
| Nationality: | Empire of Japan (until 1945) Republic of China (since 1945) |
| Party: | Democratic Progressive Party (until 2005) Taiwan Solidarity Union (after 2005) (since 2011) |
| Spouse: | Wu Pao-yu |
Huang Hua (; born 16 August 1939)[1] is a Taiwanese activist. He was repeatedly jailed for advocating Taiwanese independence and democratization. Huang spent over twenty years in prison and was named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
A native of Keelung born in 1939,[2] Huang worked with Lei Chen in 1960 to form a political party, the, with several others.[3] [4] As Taiwan was under martial law at the time, the pair's actions were illegal.[5] [6] Huang contested the Keelung City Council election of 1963, but was arrested before completing registration, and jailed for two and a half years.[2] [3] In 1967, Huang cofounded the Society to Promote the Unity of Taiwanese Youth, and was charged with sedition. Sentenced to ten years imprisonment, he was granted amnesty in 1975.[3] Huang then worked for and the tangwai publication Taiwan Political Review, run by Kang Ning-hsiang.[3] Though Kang asked him to carefully consider his involvement, Huang joined the Review in December 1975, as a deputy editor.[7] Soon after the Review was suspended, Huang opened a noodle shop with Chang Chun-hung.[8] In July 1976, Huang was arrested for his writings in the Review.[9] During his third prison term, Huang was designated a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.[10] [11] His mother died in February 1984,[3] and Huang was prohibited from leaving Green Island to attend her funeral, held the next month.[12] Huang began a hunger strike in April 1985, to show solidarity with fellow political prisoner Shih Ming-teh.[11] [13] [14] Though it was reported that Huang began eating in August, he chose to continue his protest in September.[15] Huang was moved to Jen-ai Prison in 1986.[16]
After Huang was paroled in 1987,[17] he joined the Association of Political Prisoners.[18] Later, Huang organized a nationwide march for independence in November 1988.[19] The following year, Huang formally founded the, linked to a movement of the same name.[20] [21] He was barred from contesting the 1989 legislative elections because limitations on his civil rights were still in effect.[22] For his association with the New Nation movement, Huang was convicted of sedition by the Taiwan High Court shortly after the elections were held.[23] Subsequently, backed by the Democratic Progressive Party,[24] [25] Huang Hua declared his candidacy for the presidency,[23] a symbolic move and violation of electoral law,[23] [26] as the president of the Republic of China was selected by the National Assembly, not directly elected by popular vote. President Lee Teng-hui fully restored Huang's civil rights in May 1990.[27] Despite Lee's action, Huang was arrested after attending the funeral of Liu Wen-hsiung in November.[28] Huang was sentenced to another ten years in prison,[25] and did not appeal.[29] He was not considered for amnesty in January 1991.[26] [29] His continued imprisonment was described by United States Senators Ted Kennedy, Claiborne Pell, Joe Lieberman, John Kerry, and Paul Wellstone as a "serious setback" to Taiwan's democratization in a letter to Lee Teng-hui.[30] Lin Tsung-kuang nominated Huang for the Nobel Peace Prize later that month, and a march protesting Huang's imprisonment was held in February.[30] By May, Huang had become Taiwan's final political prisoner.[26] After Huang's imprisonment came to international attention, the Legislative Yuan began discussing revisions to of the .[31] He remained in prison through the National Assembly elections held in December 1991.[32] After Article 100 of the Criminal Code was amended in May 1992, Huang was released.[33] [34]
Huang began fasting on 19 May 2019 in support of a petition advocating Taiwan independence. He called for small political parties and other political organizations to form a coalition and replace the Kuomintang as Taiwan's second major party.[35] [36] During his hunger strike, Huang's conversion to Christianity was overseen by a Presbyterian Church in Taiwan official.[37] Supporters of Huang's hunger strike included several former members of the Democratic Progressive Party, who called for a new political party advocating Taiwan independence to be established.[38] Huang ended his hunger strike after 52 days, and agreed to go to the hospital on 9 July 2019.[39]
Huang served in the presidential administration of Chen Shui-bian as a national policy adviser.[40] He also assumed the chairmanship of the Taiwan-Mongolia Exchange Association.[41] [42] In 2005, he left the Democratic Progressive Party for the Taiwan Solidarity Union.[43] Upon the founding of the in July 2011, Huang served as its first chairman.[44] [45] Under his leadership, the TNP nominated its founder Chang Mung-hsieh as presidential candidate for the 2012 elections,[46] and joined with other civic organizations to sue the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Panel.[47] Huang was succeeded by acting chairman Kao Chin-lang before Tsai Chin-lung took office in 2013.[48]
Huang's wife Wu Pao-yu served on the Taoyuan County Council.[25] [49]