James Soong was born in 1942. He holds a Ph.D. from Georgetown University, and has occupied several important posts, including personal secretary to the ROC president, Director-General of the GIO and Government Spokesman, and Taiwan Provincial Governor. He was recently expelled from the KMT for presuming to run against the party's official candidate, Vice President Lien Chan.
FCR: What is the most important issue facing you when it comes to Taiwan's internal affairs, and how do you plan to address it?
James Soong: Various opinion polls conducted in the recent past show that what people are most concerned about is not the issues that normally preoccupy political figures, but social order and economic problems--things that are closely related to their everyday lives. People should be free from fear. But in recent years, the island's deteriorating social order has cast a dark shadow over a populace that has steadily been getting more prosperous. Therefore, the most serious internal problem stands out as deteriorating social order.
Then again, Taiwan's economic development has met with unprecedented challenges, due to crises in the international arena and the government's conservative mindset when dealing with economic problems. Furthermore, our future hopes depend on our young people. But shifting values in society and the degrading of educational ideals have made the teenage problem more serious. So this is also an important issue that needs to be addressed.
In addition, I think that the ever-increasing influence of black-and-gold [gangster-and-corruption] power in politics has eroded the foundations of our democracy. This has been a grave problem for a long time, and it has to be rooted out.
What is your policy on cross-strait relations, and how would you cope with pressure from mainland China?
Our mainland policy should be based on the principle of maintaining cross-strait peace. But that is subject to important conditions: we must safeguard our national dignity, respect the willingness of the Taiwanese people to have the two sides move toward co-existence, and aim to stimulate a relationship of joint prosperity rather than opposition. We cannot accept mainland China's attempts to downgrade Taiwan to the status of a local government, but nor will we undertake unnecessarily provocative actions that would put our country and people at a disadvantage. I hope to initiate peace talks with the mainland on the basis of a "special relationship," one not involving subordination of either side.
How about the ROC's national defense policy?
Taiwan's national defense and foreign policy are of course closely linked to cross-strait relations. In the present phase, we should start by participating in peripheral, non-official, or semi-official international organizations as a means of gradually enlarging our influence, and we should seek to replace "dollar diplomacy" with "humanitarian diplomacy." Winning entry to the United Nations is still our ultimate objective. As regards foreign affairs, we should strive to develop substantive relations with other countries based on our real capabilities.
As to national defense, we are faced with mainland China, which ranks third in the world in terms of military strength. As such, we have to maintain a defensive capability that is small in size but sophisticated in quality. We don't have to drag ourselves into an arms race, but we do need to gradually build up a strong national defense that is beholden to nobody, all the while strengthening our "second strike" military capabilities.
In the recent past, there has been a lot of talk about the establishment of a theater missile defense system, and the people should be educated about why that might be needed. But at present what we need to do is immediately build up an effective "low-tier" defense system to ensure Taiwan's security.
What distinguishes you from the other candidates?
As a country's leader, a person must be able to transcend party lines and barriers in such a way that he can execute the duties and exercise the rights of his office disinterestedly. So how do the other party candidates, put up by the ruling KMT and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party [DPP], measure up? The first is tainted from top to bottom with black-and-gold, and thus powerless to launch reform. Its nominated candidate [Lien Chan] cannot hope to meet the demands of public opinion, and people are reluctant to vote for him. The DPP candidate [Chen Shui-bian], on the other hand, seems sunk in gloom all day long and advocates Taiwan independence with no regard for the nation's security. People don't feel safe voting for him.
As for me, I try to adopt a position above the political fray which carries no baggage and doesn't content itself with making a vain appeal to ideological standpoints. That's the main thing that distinguishes me from the other candidates. In addition, while I was in charge of handling the affairs of the Taiwan Provincial Government, I visited numerous cities and counties across the island. I made a lot of friends, but I also saw the sufferings of the people that other candidates failed to see. This kind of ability to sense what the people want is my greatest advantage, the one that will ultimately make them turn out to vote for me.
What motivates you to run for election? What will you see as your mission if you become the ROC's leader?
A president should be able to listen to the voice of the people and sort out political chaos with breadth of view and decisiveness. He should also be able to safeguard the people. Over the past year, I've heard too much dissatisfaction ex pressed. I've found that a lot of voters have high expectations of me. That's what spurred me to run for election.
As president, a man's personal sense of mission is not that important. What's important is how to help people lead better lives and allocate national resources fairly and reasonably. Only that way can he live up to the public's expectations.