TAIPEI (AFP) — Taiwan's new president Ma Ying-jeou took the oath of office Tuesday and called for a resumption of high-level dialogue with China, underlining his top priority for his first four years in power.
In his inauguration address, Ma said both sides should "reconcile and cease fire" to mend their own fragile relations and bolster regional stability.
The Harvard-educated former mayor of Taipei succeeds Chen Shui-bian, whose pro-independence rhetoric during eight years in power irked not only Beijing but also the United States for the way it spiked regional tensions.
Chen, for his part, left office under a cloud, as a team of investigators opened a probe into his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal which has already ensnared his wife.
He had been named previously as a suspect in the case, which concerns the alleged misuse of 14.8 million dollars (450,000 US) of special expenses, but escaped prosecution due to his presidential immunity.
But Tuesday was all about Ma , whose presidency restores the China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party to power after eight years in the cold.
Having campaigned on a promise to beef up economic and tourism links with China, he said Beijing and Taipei should "make the best use of this historic chance to create a new chapter of peace and prosperity."
"Taiwan and China in 1992 reached a guideline for bilateral talks -- that each side can interpret the term 'One China' in its own way," Ma said in his inauguration address before some 15,000 people.
"I hope we can resume dialogue as soon as possible on the 1992 consensus," added Ma, who at 57 is only Taiwan's third democratically elected leader.
However, he reiterated a promise not to discuss reunification with China, saying both sides should instead "face reality, pioneer a new future, shelve disputes and pursue a win-win solution."
Taiwan's complex relationship with China has been its defining issue since it split from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war.
China still claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has threatened to invade if it proclaims its independence, leaving the self-ruled island in a limbo of de facto but undeclared nationhood.
The two sides held landmark talks in 1993 under a consensus which allowed them to meet while putting the sovereignty issue to one side.
However, China called off follow-up talks in protest at a 1995 US visit by Taiwan's then president, which Beijing saw as a move toward independence, and there have been no such contacts since.
"Seeking cross-strait peace and maintaining regional stability is our goal and Taiwan will strive to become a peacemaker in the world," Ma added.
He also expressed condolences to the victims of China's killer earthquake, offering help for relief and reconstruction efforts.
Ma swore the oath in the presidential office in Taipei earlier facing the national flag and a larger-than-life portrait of Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Republic of China which later became Taiwan.
His running mate Vincent Siew was sworn in as vice president, followed by the cabinet of Premier Liu Chao-shiuan.
Security was tight, with at least 8,000 police deployed in Taipei and the southern city of Kaohsiung, where Ma was due to hold an inaugural banquet for some 1,000 guests followed by a fireworks display.
Ma's friendlier rhetoric has already seen some signs of a thaw in relations with Beijing.
Siew has already held talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and next week KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung will become Taiwan's first ever ruling party chief to visit the mainland where he, too, will meet Hu.
Wu's agenda is set to focus on Taiwan's hopes of launching regular direct weekend charter flights to China from July 4 -- seen as a litmus test of Ma's ability to improve ties.
Despite their rivalry, China has become Taiwan's number one export market and biggest trading partner, and two-way trade last year reached a record 102 billion US dollars.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
