Taiwan opposition picks Ma to run for president

TAIPEI, May 2 (Reuters) Former Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou, seen as front-runner in Taiwan's 2008 presidential election despite facing trial on corruption charges, was nominated today as the main opposition National Party (KMT) candidate.

The party that ruled Taiwan from the 1940s until 2000 announced, as widely expected, that Ma would run for president next March against a ruling Democratic Progressive Party candidate yet to be chosen, but did not pick a running mate.

''This is an important point in history,'' party Chairman Wu Po-hsiung told a news conference today. ''But for the KMT, the election battle has just begun.'' The popular Ma, 56, is known in Taiwan and China for his conciliatory stance on cross-straits relations.

China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has vowed to bring the democracy of 23 million people back under mainland rule, by force if necessary.

Ma was charged in February with moving Taipei city funds into his personal bank account. He has rejected the charges.

Ma told reporters today that he wanted to raise Taiwan's global economic position and catch up with South Korea.

He also repeated that he wanted parliament speaker Wang Jin-pyng to be his running mate.

But Wang is doing ''grassroots'' surveys to see if he has support for an independent bid for the presidency, his secretary said.

Incumbent President Chen Shui-bian must step down next year after completing his second four-year term. His party will choose from four major candidates for the presidential nomination on May 12.

REUTERS ABM HT1440