James Soong

James Soong (Chinese宋楚瑜, Pinyin Song Chǔyú, born March 16, 1942 in Xiangtan / Hunan ) is a Taiwanese politician and chairman of the party was founded in 2000 Qinmindang.

Life

Soong was born in 1942 in the Chinese province of Hunan. His father was an officer in the Armed Forces of the Republic of China. At the age of seven, he fled with his family together with the defeated in the Chinese Civil War ruling party Kuomintang to Taiwan, where he grew up and in 1964 a study of the subject International Relations, graduating at the National Chengchi University. After his military service Soong went to study in the United States, where he earned master's degree at the University of California ( Political Science ) and at the Catholic University of America ( Library Science ) and in 1974 a Ph.D. in political science at Georgetown University.

Political career

Early career

Soong was joined as a student of the Kuomintang and made after his return from the United States as Secretary of the Prime Minister and later President of the Republic of China Chiang Ching- kuo career. From 1979 to 1984 he also directed the Government Information Office of the Republic of China. After the death of Chiang in 1988, Soong made ​​strong within the dictatorial ruling Kuomintang for themselves favored by Chiang 's successor and then Vice-President Lee Teng- hui as the new president. This was so far controversial, when Soong thus existing against the majority of mainlanders ( Waishengren ) party elite presented that faced the coming of the island of Taiwan Lee suspicious.

Governor and Präsidendschaftskandidat

Following the appointment of Lee Soong was appointed by the new President as governor of Taiwan Province. In the first and only democratic gubernatorial election in 1994, Soong was confirmed in this office, and practiced it out until 1998. The then popular among the population Soong intended to run as a candidate of the Kuomintang in the presidential election in 2000, but could not prevail against the incumbent Vice President Lien Chan within the party. As Soong announced to stand still, he was expelled from the party. He ran as an independent candidate, as he finished behind the election winner Chen Shui -bian (Democratic People's Party) in second place.

Soong founded his own party, the Qinmindang, and joined the 2004 presidential election in the so-called Pan - blue coalition on the side of the new Kuomintang candidate Lien Chan as a candidate for the office of Vice President of. The election was almost lost.

After the electoral defeat of the Pan - Blue Coalition pursued the strategy of rapprochement with the People's Republic of China ( short consecutive China visits Lien Chan and Soong in 2005), but was the Qinmindang in this effort too much in the shadow of the Kuomintang and lost politically increasingly important. In the election for Mayor of Taipei in 2006, Soong failed with only 4.14% of the vote. Despite speculation about his retirement from politics and a possible association of his party with the Kuomintang Soong joined the 2012 presidential election again as a candidate for president, but won only 2.77% of the vote.