TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Taiwan’s new independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen tread carefully around the thorny issue of relations with China in her inaugural address Friday, emphasizing the importance of two decades of growing exchanges without mentioning the one-China principle fundamental to Beijing.
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Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has traditionally favored independence, won parliamentary and presidential elections by a landslide in January on a voter backlash against creeping dependence on China.
As Tsai, who was elected after strongly opposing Beijing friendly policy of outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou, took over power concerns rose in China about future course attempts to normalise cross straits relations.
However, Tsai made no explicit mention of the concept that Taiwan is a part of China.
Communists say they rule all of China, including Taiwan, while nationalists maintain Taipei is the ruler.
“If “independence” is pursued, it will be impossible to have peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits”, the Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement after Tsai was sworn in.
Tsai’s inauguration was warmly received by Washington, but less so by Beijing.
As a crucial market for Taiwan’s products, China could also exert added stress on Taiwan’s ailing economy.
Tsai further called for Beijing to continue to engage in positive dialogue with Taipei. The two sides “through communication and negotiations, arrived at various joint acknowledgments and understandings”.
She said Taiwan would play a responsible role and be a “staunch guardian of peace”, which was important to build regional peace and collective security. However, Taiwanese public opinion is strongly against any sort of political union, instead favoring the status of de facto independence and robust social and economic interactions.
In a sign of a deteriorating economy, Taiwan’s export orders fell more than expected in April, their 13th straight month of decline, according to data released on Friday, as demand in China and other global markets remained weak.
China is wary of the DPP, which envisages the creation of “a sovereign and independent republic of Taiwan”, something Beijing will never tolerate as it considers Taiwan part of China.
China maintains that Taiwan must unify with the mainland eventually, by force if necessary.
Her campaign emphasised the island’s unique identity, and in her speech she promised to raise its profile in the worldwide community, an idea that has long met with stiff resistance from Beijing, which has spent enormous political and financial capital opposing such efforts, whittling away the number of countries that recognise Taipei diplomatically.
With tensions rising in the South China Sea, Beijing is keen for Taiwan to be its ally rather than be aligned with rival claimants to the disputed islets in the sea.
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Lin Por-fong (林伯豐), chairman of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (工商協進會), said later that Tsai appeared determined to enact reform but that her address was “a bit slogan-heavy”.
