Taiwan opposition leader declares for president

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's opposition leader has formally announced she will stand for president.

Tsai Ing-wen says President Ma Ying-jeou's China-friendly policy is a threat to Taiwanese democracy.

She says Taiwan's youth "cannot understand why (our) democracy ... is being undermined because of exchanges with China."

Friday's announcement comes a year before presidential elections.

The fifty-four-year-old Tsai is Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman. She is expected to be challenged by DPP veteran Su Tseng-chang in a primary process slated to end in May.

Ma will almost certainly be the presidential candidate of the ruling Nationalists. Under his leadership Taiwan has substantially improved relations with China.

The two sides split amid civil war in 1949.