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ChinaPolitics

KMT’s Eric Chu names former labour minister as running mate in Taiwan’s presidential election

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Wang Ju-hsuan (second from right), joins hands with her presidential elections counterpart Eric Chu (second from left), chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) at the KMT headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday. Photo: CNA
Nectar Gan

The presidential candidates of Taiwan’s Kuomintang and People First Party announced their running mates on Wednesday, completing the field for the island’s presidential race in January.

Eric Chu, KMT chairman and presidential candidate, named former labour minister Wang Ju-hsuan as his running mate at a party meeting.

Wang, 54, was a human rights and labour rights lawyer before taking up the ministerial job in 2008 as part of Ma Ying-jeou’s administration, Central News Agency reported.

READ MORE: Taiwan’s election 2016: how politicians could blow it all with a handkerchief

While in office, Wang proposed raising Taiwan’s minimum wage, resulting in a political uproar that led to her resignation in 2012.

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James Soong Chu-yu, PFP chairman and presidential candidate, tapped Minkuotang chairwoman Hsu Hsin-ying to join him on the party’s ticket.

Taiwanese opposition party leader and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen poses with her running mate Chen Chien-jen. Photo: Kyodo
Taiwanese opposition party leader and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen poses with her running mate Chen Chien-jen. Photo: Kyodo
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“I chose Hsu because I want to form a coalition government. This is not for the interest of one party or one people, but to really put aside partisan struggles and find our common ideals again,” Soong said.

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