DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen may not be the only female candidate in the race to the highest office next year. Former national policy advisor, Ellen Huang, announced her presidential bid yesterday morning.

And the major theme of her campaign is to push for a referendum on the independence of Taiwan.

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Huang is a long time supporter of the Taiwan independence movement, and a staunch advocate of the release of former president Chen Shui-bian, who gave his blessing to Huang's decision but will still support DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen in the election.

Huang said her relationship with Tsai is as close as sisters, and she will withdraw from the race if future opinion polls show that Tsai has a greater chance of winning.

When asked about her potential running mate, Huang said she would like to invite Takeshi Kaneshiro to join her ticket, but she was afraid the movie star may not be interested.