TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The opposition candidate in Taiwan's presidential election early next year has chosen a former Google executive as his running mate.

Cheng San-cheng is an engineer who received master's and doctoral degrees from Stanford and Cornell universities in the United States.

A political independent, Chang on Monday joined the ticket of China-friendly Nationalist Party presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu, who lags behind Democratic Progressive Party incumbent Tsai Ing-wen in most polls.

China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has sought to isolate Tsai for her independence-leaning positions.

Chang served briefly as Cabinet chief in the administration of Tsai's predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou, who was favored by Beijing for his policies promoting integration between the sides.

Chang worked as search engine Google's head of technology in Asia from 2010 to 2012.

The elections are scheduled for Jan. 11.