By KUNA,
Tokyo : Ma Ying-jeou was sworn in as Taiwan’s new president Tuesday, amid high hopes that he will improve the island’s economy and relations with China, the Taipei-based Central News Agency reported.
Harvard-educated Ma, 57, a former Taipei mayor, became the sixth president of Taiwan, beginning a four-year term.
In a ceremony at the Presidential Office, Ma took the oath of office, pledging to follow the country’s constitution and to do his utmost to carry out his duties. He then signed decrees to appoint his top executive and national security officials and his chief of staff, and Liu Chao-shiuan was immediately sworn in as premier.
The inauguration, witnessed by his predecessor Chen Shui-bian, and hundreds of foreign dignities and senior government officials, marks the return to power of Ma’s party, the Kuomintang (KMT), after it was voted out in 2000.
Ma won the March 22 election by a wide margin, partly due to widespread public dissatisfaction with Chen’s hard-line tactics against China during his eight-year rule.
Voters were also unhappy with the inability of Chen and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to improve the economy, widely seen as having fallen behind mainland China, with growth slowing and wages stagnating in the past years.
During campaigning and after the election, Ma has pledged to improve ties with China by allowing direct weekend charter flights as early as July, opening up the island to Chinese tourists and investment and lifting restrictions against Taiwanese investment in China.
Taiwan’s relations with China have been strained in recent years, as Chen’s DPP has pushed to formalize Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Ma’s KMT officially supports eventual unification with China.
China and Taiwan separated after a civil war in 1949, but Beijing still sees Taiwan as part of its territory, and has threatened to use force if the island moves towards declaring independence.