Official mainland Chinese news outlets largely snubbed the inauguration of Taiwan’s Beijing-skeptic new president Tsai Ing-wen on Friday, while searches for her name and “Taiwan” were blocked on social media.
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But in her speech, no mention of the 'one China' policy that Beijing has been pushing for.
The Taipei Times reported on Chinese military drills earlier this week, which it claims “were aimed at threatening Taiwan ahead of today’s presidential inauguration”.
“Tsai Ing-wen is the first woman president in Taiwan’s history so I want to witness this sacred moment”, said teacher Chen Su-mei, 48, who joined the celebrations.
After Tsai’s election, China established formal diplomatic ties with the small African nation of Gambia, which had severed ties with Taiwan in 2013, ending an undeclared diplomatic truce between the sides that lasted nearly eight years.
Tsai, a soft-spoken US and UK-educated lawyer, is viewed as a pragmatic leader but will have her work cut out balancing the interests of China, which is the island’s biggest trading partner, the United States, its key ally, and the diverse demands of the island’s 23 million residents.
Tsai is the head of the Democratic Progressive Party, which has in the past advocated for Taiwan to separate from the mainland, a goal that Beijing has firmly and consistently rejected. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, which it has threatened to take back by force if necessary.
“If there is a cross-strait deadlock, or a crisis emerges, the person who changed the current situation should bear responsibility”, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a news conference last week.
It takes over after eight years under China-friendly Nationalist Ma Ying-jeou.
Yang said she expects that the Chinese authorities will watch closely both the actions and statements of Taiwan’s new government, especially how a proposed amendment to the Referendum Act is handled.
At home, Tsai will have to focus on how she will revive a moribund economy – a key concern of many of her supporters.
By taking a hard line, the Chinese government risks further alienating the Taiwanese public, who already feel bullied by China and deprived of their due place in worldwide society.
She called on both sides to “set aside the baggage of history, and engage in positive dialogue, for the benefit of the people on both sides”. Under Mr Ma, trade and contacts with China expanded, but voters in Taiwan grew concerned about the mainland’s growing influence over the island.
Beijing wants Tsai to publicly acknowledge its message that there is only “one China”, a concept enshrined in a tacit agreement with the KMT known as the “1992 consensus”.
The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, but is also Taiwan’s biggest ally and arms supplier.
Tsai ended her inaugural speech with a pledge to “safeguard democracy, freedom, and this country”, a line some pundits say will cause tempers to flare in Beijing.
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China may also block Taiwanese observers from attending the U.N. World Health Organization’s annual World Health Assembly in Geneva next week.
