Taiwan swears-in Tsai Ing-wen as first female President

Taiwan has sworn-in Tsai Ing-wen as the first female president of that country, with the new leader calling on Taipei and Beijing to “set aside the baggage of history”.

But this was not accepted by China which said regardless of what internal changes take place within Taiwan, “China will oppose Taiwanese independence.”

Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won parliamentary and presidential elections by a landslide in January on a voter backlash against creeping dependence on China.

The DPP, which has traditionally favoured independence from China, takes over after eight years under China-friendly Nationalist Ma Ying-jeou.

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The new president did not mention the One-China policy in her televised inaugural address on Friday in a move likely to anger Beijing, which claims the self-governing island as its own territory.

Tsai said in her speech that she respected the “joint acknowledgements and understandings” reached between the sides at a landmark 1992 meeting seen by China as underpinning all subsequent contacts and agreements.

However, Tsai made no explicit mention of the concept that Taiwan is a part of China, which Beijing says is crucial to the entire relationship.

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