Taipei  - Taiwan's incoming interior minister, Liao Feng-teh, was feared dead after being found unconscious on a mountain path in Taipei on Saturday, police said.

Emergency medical personnel were called to the scene and accompanied the body of the man identified as Liao to Wanfang Hospital. Doctors at the hospital confirmed that Liao present, but declined to say whether he had died.

It was not immediately known whether Liao was alone while climbing the mountain.

Liao, handpicked by incoming President Ma Ying-jeou as the interior minister, had a history of heart problems. Last month, he was reported to have suffered from altitude sickness during a sightseeing trip in Sichuan in China.

Liao, a member of the Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT) and regarded as an election expert, had helped his party win eight elections in the past several years.

Ma won the presidential election in March, allowing the KMT to return to power after losing the presidency to the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party in 2000. He and his new government will be inaugurated on May 20. (dpa)