FACTBOX: Key facts on Taiwan's Frank Hsieh

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Frank Hsieh is running for Taiwan president on March 22 as an advocate of cautious negotiations with political rival China.

Here are key facts on Hsieh, whose ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost legislative elections in January:

* Hsieh was born in 1946 and studied law at National Taiwan University. He received a masters degree in law from Kyoto University in Japan.

* His work as a defense lawyer for political dissidents in 1980, considered a turning point for Taiwan's pro-democracy groups under Nationalist Party (KMT) rule, saw Hsieh shoot to political prominence.

* Hsieh was a politically active city council member in Taipei for two terms, from 1981-1988. In 1986 he was involved in the formation of Taiwan's first opposition party, the DPP, by drafting its constitution.

* After serving as a legislator in the early 1990s, Hsieh was elected mayor of Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second largest city, from 1998 to 2005.

* Hsieh was premier under current President Chen Shui-bian from February 2005 to January 2006, when he became the fourth cabinet head to resign since Chen took office in 2000.

* In December 2006, Hsieh lost the mayoral election in Taipei to Hau Lung-bin of the KMT.

* Hsieh's top campaign issues include the environment, the underprivileged and Taiwan's identity. He is more moderate towards China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province under its "one China" policy, but hopes to accelerate Taiwan's quest to become a country distinct from China.