Taiwan president Tsai calls for 'positive dialogue' with China

[Rob L 3,811]

Taiwan's new president Tsai Ing-wen called for "positive dialogue" with China in her much-anticipated inauguration speech Friday, striking a conciliatory tone in the face of an increasingly hostile Beijing.

Tsai took office as the island's first female president after winning a landslide victory in January to defeat the ruling Kuomintang, ending an eight-year rapprochement with Beijing under outgoing president Ma Ying-jeou.

Voters felt Ma had moved too close to China, which still sees self-ruling Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification.

Beijing-sceptic Tsai swept in with a campaign to restore Taiwanese pride, a message that resonated with a public tired of living in China's shadow.

However she sought to cast Taiwan as a force for peace in front of a cheering crowd of 20,000 at the presidential palace in Taipei, where she was sworn in earlier Friday.

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"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," she said.

Relations with Beijing have already cooled since she won the presidency with China putting growing pressure on Tsai to back its "one China" message -- the bedrock of the thaw under outgoing leader Ma Ying-jeou.

Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party have never recognised the concept.

While she showed no sign of backing down from that stance in her speech, Tsai emphasised the importance of cross-strait communication.

"Cross-strait relations have become an integral part of building regional peace and collective security," she said.