Taiwan Quick Take: Soong pondering China visit

James Soong (宋楚瑜), chairman of the People First Party (PFP), will decide within two weeks whether he will visit China this month to preside over a second "Cross-Taiwan Strait Elite Forum," PFP Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) said. Chang, director of the party's Policy Research Center, said that whether Soong would go to China to co-chair the meeting held jointly between the PFP and the Chinese Communist Party this month hinged on whether he decided to declare his candidacy for the Taipei mayoral election in December. Chang said Soong would make a decision within two weeks and that if he chose to run for Taipei mayor, he would make arrangements for someone else to lead a delegation to China at the end of the year or early next year. The first Cross-Strait Elite Forum was held in Shanghai in September last year between the PFP and the Chinese Communist Party, with the aim of promoting cross-strait economic exchanges and cooperation.