Taiwan Quick Take: Soong still mulling bid

People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) will not decide whether to run for Taipei mayor until after the middle of next month, a PFP spokesman said yesterday. Hsieh Kung-pin (謝公秉), director of the party's Cultural and Publicity Department, told reporters that Soong had been holding a series of discussion sessions with residents in Taipei's electoral districts and would decide after the middle of next month whether to announce his candidacy for Taipei mayor. Soong was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2000 presidential election. He became the running mate of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) in 2004, but failed in his vice presidential bid. It is unclear whether the KMT and the PFP will cooperate to present a single candidate in the mayoral election.