Soong Chu-yu (Chinese: 宋楚瑜; pinyin: Sòng Chǔyú; born 30 April 1942), also known by his English name James Soong, is a Taiwanese political scientist and politician who is the founder and chairman of the People First Party. Soong was the first and only elected governor of Taiwan Province from 1994 and 1998, after which he became a perennial candidate in Taiwanese politics.

Born in China to a Kuomintang military family, Soong graduated from National Chengchi University and earned his doctorate from Georgetown University in political science in 1974. He began his political career as a secretary to Premier Chiang Ching-kuo and rose to prominence as director-general of the Government Information Office (GIO) from 1979 to 1984. Upon Chiang's death, Soong was instrumental in silencing conservatives in the KMT from blocking the ascendancy of Lee Teng-hui as KMT leader. From 1994 to 1998, he was the only elected governor of Taiwan Province.

After failing to gain the KMT nomination, Soong ran as an independent in the 2000 presidential election. Though he placed second, his candidacy split the pan-Blue vote between himself and the KMT candidate, Vice President Lien Chan, leading to the victory of DPP candidate Chen Shui-bian. In the 2004 presidential election, he ran as vice president on the ticket of Lien Chan; they narrowly lost to Chen Shui-bian. Soong ran again as a candidate in the 2012 presidential race, garnering 2.77% of popular support. Soong's third presidential campaign in 2016 formed a split ticket with Minkuotang chairwoman Hsu Hsin-ying and won 12.84% of the vote. His 2020 campaign with running mate Sandra Yu finished last, with 4.2% of the vote.

Soong was born in China on April 30, 1942, in Xiangtan, Hunan, province. His father, Soong Ta [zh], was a career military officer under Chiang Kai-shek who was an enlisted sailor who rose to the rank of major general in the National Revolutionary Army. Ta had left Hunan to join the Kuomintang army at age 14 and was a close aide to Chiang and his son, Chiang Ching-kuo.

Soong's mother and two younger sisters were Protestant Christians while his father was a Buddhist. He was his father's first son and his childhood was largely defined by the Chinese Civil War. After the Kuomintang (KMT) defeat in the Chinese Civil War, the family fled to Taiwan in 1949 during the Retreat of the government of the Republic of China. Soong then began his early schooling in Taipei, where classmates remembered him as a "taciturn boy who stayed out of most of the usual social activities" and was "buried in his books."

In 1964, Soong graduated first in his class from National Chengchi University with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree specializing in diplomacy. He then went to complete graduate studies in the United States, where he earned a Master of Arts (M.A.) in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1967, then a Master of Science (M.S.) in library and information science from the Catholic University of America in 1971. He remained in Washington, D.C., to study for his doctorate and earned his Ph.D. in political science from Georgetown University in 1974. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "An Elite Perspective On Developmental Crisis: China's Experiences in Inner Mongolia." During his time studying in the U.S., Soong acquired "a near-perfect command of English."

As he was finishing his doctoral studies, Government Information Office (GIO) Director Fredrick Chien recommended Soong to be the English secretary of then-premier Chiang Ching-kuo. Soong served as secretary to the premier from 1974 to 1977 and with Chiang Ching-kuo's accession to the presidency, the personal secretary to the president from 1978 to 1981 and 1984 to 1989. Soong gained his public fame on December 16, 1978, when he addressed the nation following the decision of the administration of U.S. president Jimmy Carter to break ties with the ROC in order to switch ties to the People's Republic of China.

Soon afterwards, President Chiang promoted Soong to become the youngest director-general of the GIO, in which he served from 1979 to 1984.