Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said during her inauguration speech on Friday that she will seek peaceful ties with China while resisting pressure from Beijing to acknowledge the idea that they are part of a single nation.
Tsai said she would seek common ground with China and pledged to keep the peace as she was sworn in as the island’s first female leader at the head of an independence-leaning party.
In 1992, the two sides “through communication and negotiations, arrived at various joint acknowledgments and understandings. It was done in a spirit of mutual understanding and a political attitude of seeking common ground while setting aside differences,” she said. I respect this historical fact.”
Ma Ying-jeou, outgoing Taiwan’s president (left), waves as Tsai Ing-wen, incoming Taiwan’s president (second left), looks on during Tsai’s inauguration ceremony
Tsai, whose Democratic Progressive Party also won control of the legislature, said that Taiwan and China need to cast off the burdens of history and seek a relationship based on peace and stability. Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex index rose 0.5 percent as of 1.15pm in Taipei trading.
Beijing had been stepping up pressure on Tsai to openly endorse the “one-China” principle, the understanding that both sides belong to one China, even if they have different ideas about what that means. Tsai acknowledged the historic 1992 talks between the two sides, which she said should form the foundation for future ties with China.
“The inauguration speech’s call for peaceful cross-strait relations points to some stability in the immediate future,” Marie Diron, senior vice president at Moody’s Investors Service said in an e-mailed statement “However, Taiwan will remain vulnerable to negative shocks to confidence related to changes, perceived or real, to Taiwan’s relationships with China. Such confidence shocks from periodic increases in tensions could hamper foreign direct investment.” MDT/Bloomberg
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