- Title: New Taiwan president urges China to drop historical baggage
- Date: 20th May 2016
- Summary: VARIOUS OF MARCHING BAND PERFORMING GUESTS SEATED ON STAGE VARIOUS OF MILITARY POLICE PERFORMING RIFLE DRILLS FLAG OF REPUBLIC OF CHINA VARIOUS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE DANCING VARIOUS OF PERFORMERS DANCING ON STAGE
- Embargoed: 4th June 2016 07:18
- Keywords: Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou Tsai Ing-wen China female woman
- Location: TAIPEI, TAIWAN
- City: TAIPEI, TAIWAN
- Country: Taiwan
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA0044IM2UDH
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Taiwan's new president urged China on Friday (May 20) to "drop the baggage of history" in an otherwise conciliatory inauguration speech that Beijing's Communist Party rulers had been watching for any move towards independence.
President Tsai Ing-wen was sworn in with Taiwan's export-driven economy on the ropes and giant neighbour China looking across the Taiwan Strait for signs of creeping independence or anti-Beijing sentiment that could further sour economic ties.
Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has traditionally favoured independence from China, won parliamentary and presidential elections by a landslide in January and takes over after eight years under China-friendly Nationalist Ma Ying-jeou.
Tsai, Taiwan's first female president, pledged to abide by the constitution of the Republic of China, Taiwan's formal name, and promised to safeguard the island's sovereignty and territory.
She also mentioned the East China and South China Seas, where an increasingly muscular China has been at odds over territorial claims with its neighbours.
"I was elected president in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan), it is therefore my responsibility to safeguard the sovereignty and territory of the Republic of China; regarding problems arising in the East China Sea and South China Sea, we propose setting aside disputes so as to enable joint development," she said.
"The new government will conduct Cross-Strait affairs in accordance with the Republic of China Constitution, the Act Governing Relations between the People of Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, and other relevant legislation. The two governing parties across the Strait must set aside the baggage of history, and engage in positive dialogue, for the benefit of the people on both sides," Tsai added.
There was no immediate reaction to Tsai's speech from China, which has never renounced force to take back an island it regards as a renegade province. Beijing said earlier this month the new Taiwan government would be to blame for any crisis that might erupt.
China is deeply distrustful of Tsai's DPP, whose charter includes a clause promoting "a sovereign and independent Republic of Taiwan".
Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war to the Communists in China in 1949. China has pressured the new Taiwan government to stick to the "one-China" principle agreed with the Nationalists.
That allows each side to interpret what "one China" means.
Voted in by a Taiwanese public distrustful of growing economic dependence on China, the DPP also champions Taiwan's own history. There were massive protests in 2014 that stalled a trade pact with China and were a key element of the DPP's rise. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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