Soong: China does not want me to run

TAIPEI (AP) ― A China-friendly Taiwanese presidential candidate has been quoted as saying Beijing opposes his candidacy because it fears it could dig into support for President Ma Ying-jeou, Beijing’s widely presumed favorite.

The statement was attributed to veteran Taiwanese politician James Soong, and published Monday in an interview with Next Magazine, one of Taiwan’s most influential publications. Soong spokesman Wu Kun-yu confirmed that Beijing “disagreed with Soong’s candidacy” but would not elaborate.

Soong announced his candidacy for the Jan. 14 election last week but conditioned it on his collecting 1 million signatures, far more than the 250,000 he would need to qualify under prevailing electoral rules.

The discrepancy has fed skepticism about Soong’s true motives, with many observers suggesting he is trying to pressure Ma into providing a number of safe legislative seats for Soong’s political allies, and has no real intention of following through on his run for the presidency.

Soong left Ma’s Nationalist Party to run as an independent in the presidential elections in 2000. The split cost the Nationalists the election and thrust a pro-independence figure into power ― much to Beijing’s chagrin.

In the Next magazine interview, Soong was quoted as saying that Beijing was worried his candidacy would hurt Ma’s chances against main opposition candidate Tsai Ing-wen, and that in recent conversations, it put great pressure on him to withdraw.

“It is absurd to think that Beijing is not concerned with Taiwan elections,” Soong reportedly said. “We have communicated about this issue ... and certainly we have different opinions on (my candidacy).”