James Soong - Political Ideology

Political Ideology

In the middle of the SARS endemic in May 2003, he bashed the administration for not being able to participate in the WHO which lead to the danger in public health. However, it is China that has steadfastly opposed Taiwan's participation in the WHO. Subsequently, he promised to the public that if elected, he will push for participation in WHO under the principle Under the Roof of One China. Under this principle, he will not challenge the One China policy set by PRC, he added. However, this proposal enhanced the public perception of "selling out" Taiwan toward him and his opponents questioned how he can protect Taiwan's sovereignty and accept that Taiwan be a part of China at the same time. In order to quelch this negative image, Soong and his running mate Lien made an unexpected change of direction in their cross strait policy by announcing that they would drop unification as the ultimate goal in their cross strait policy in an international press conference during the 2004 presidential election race. They further explained that they would not exclude the possibility of final independence of Taiwan. However, his opponents still cast a suspicious eye on Soong's true intentions. His mainland origins also plagued him in the 2004 election.

Soong has been a staunch opponent of Taiwan independence. He publicly opposed Taiwanese language education in his early political life and criticized that multi-lingual education would lead to "Lebanonization of languages" and create communication chaos in the nation. He also criticized President Chen for staging a referendum. He strongly opposed the major military weapon procurement from the US and actively participated in the anti-weapon-purchase protests. He maintained the purchase would be part of a military race across the strait and would not enhance Taiwan's ability in self-defense. He made these claims while the US government encouraged Taiwan to procure the weapons for self-defense.

His base of support includes strong supporters of Chinese reunification, some rural voters (particularly in northern and eastern Taiwan, who were grateful for the selective economic development undertaken while he was governor) and some urban middle class voters who see him as a cleaner alternative to the KMT. Soong is well known for using his body language, publicly kneeling and shedding tears, as a gesture to plead for constituency support. Though many criticize it as false and histrionic, most of Soong's supporters see it to be candid and sincere. Among his critics, Soong is widely seen as a competent administrator with a sure popular touch, but lacking in any serious political ideology and completely self-serving and corrupt.