Ma Ying-jeou, nominee of the Kuomintang (KMT) in the 2008 Taiwan leader election, announced on Saturday he has chosen Vincent Siew as his running mate.

Siew is currently chairman of the "Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research". He was "premier" under former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui between 1997 and 2000.

Born in 1939, Siew was a native of Chiayi City in Taiwan.

Siew received a master's degree from the Graduate Institute of International Law and Diplomacy at Taiwan's "National Chengchi University" in 1965.

Ma, former chairman of the KMT, Taiwan's major opposition party, has been nominated by KMT's Central Standing Committee to represent the KMT in the 2008 Taiwan leader election. A KMT party congress on Sunday is expected to formally approve the nomination.

Ma had previously invited Wang Jin-pyng, leader of Taiwan's "Legislative Yuan", to be his running mate. Wang declined Ma's offer on May 31.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2007)