Governorship
In 1994 Soong became the only directly elected Governor of Taiwan Province. He was widely perceived to be an excellent campaigner and his excellent showing in the governorship ended hopes by the DPP of a "Yeltsin effect", by which an elected governor would have more legitimacy than the national government.
Despite his Mainlander background, Soong proved to be a popular politician among all ethnic groups on Taiwan, in part because he was one of the first KMT politicians to attempt to use the Taiwanese language in political and formal occasions.
After Premier Lien Chan was elected vice president in 1996, the premiership was to be vacated. Soong felt that as Governor of Taiwan, he was the natural successor to Lien, but Lee believed that Soong should serve out his term. Lee appointed Vincent Siew, whom Soong considered a subordinate, and this act led to the split between Soong and Lee.
The position of Governor of Taiwan was eliminated in 1998 following a National Development Council meeting in 1996, when it suggested that the administrative structure of the Taiwanese government be streamlined. Soong and his supporters believe this to have been a political move by Lee to cut off Soong's power base, but proponents of the downsizing called it a pragmatic move to eliminate contradictory administrative territory. Soong tendered his resignation on December 31 of the same year, but Lee did not accept it.
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