TAIPEI - Eric Chu, chairman of Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, announced that his running mate for the 2016 leader's election would be Wang Ju-hsuan, a former senior official with labor department and female activist, on Wednesday.

Wang, born in 1961, has served as chief of the island's labor department. She studied law at Taiwan University and Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan and received a PhD from the People's University of China in the mainland.

Also on Wednesday, James Soong of People First Party, announced his running mate would be Hsu Hsin-ying, also female and chair of the Minkuotang, a smaller party in Taiwan.

Chu's other rival Tsai Ing-wen, chair of the Democratic Progressive Party, announced her running mate, Chen Chien-jen, an epidemiologist, on Monday.

The three pairs of candidates are all male-female teams.

The Taiwan election is scheduled for Jan. 16.