New president for Taiwan
Updated
Taiwan officially has a new president. Ma Ying-Jeou took the oath of office today two months after winning the election.
And top on his on foreign policy agenda, is to improve relations with China, including forging better transit and trade ties.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speakers: Professor Chi-Cheng Lo, chair in political science at Soo Chow University in Taipei.
LO: I think he has said during the campaign that his top priority will be to improve relations between Taiwan and China and apparently from what he is saying for the past few weeks after the election he has done all the things that he could to try to get the positive response from the other side of Taiwan Straits. So I'm expecting that he will make some remarks during the inauguration speech to again try to reduce tension in the Taiwan Straits.
LAM: The KMT of course is now back in office after an eight-year absence. What legacy did the DPP leave behind where China is concerned? Did they ruin the relationship irreparably?
LO: I don't think so but I think there has been a political stalemate between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. But on the other hand you can also see further economic exchanges and even integrations between the two sides, even with a political stalemate in the Taiwan Straits. So in the long run I think there will be further economic exchanges and further economic and social integration close to the Taiwan Straits regardless of political situation in the area.
LAM: Well as you said already Ma Ying-Jeou has set in motion things like greater communication links with China for instance. Do you think where the Taiwanese people are concerned that they're looking forward to this golden age in cross strait relations?
LO: Well on the top of Ma Ying-Jeou's policy agenda is the economy and I think the reason why the KMT to come back as the ruling party is because people in Taiwan were disappointed by the performance of the ruling DPP party in terms of economic development. So Ma Ying-Jeou will try to improve the cross strait economic exchanges hoping that could help Taiwan's economy. But on the other hand sometimes cross strait issues it is not the only solution to the economic problems that Taiwan is facing right now. Regional and global economic downturn could also hurt Taiwan's economy as well. So we just have to wait and see to what extent cross strait economic exchanges could help Taiwan's local economy.
LAM: And so would you say then that getting the economy on track is the biggest domestic challenge for Ma Ying-Jeou?
LO: That's right and he has promised the people in Taiwan that he will try to reach economic growth by six per cent GDP, but I don't think he can make that happen in the short period of time. So the expectation is quite high but that could also create a high disappointment for the people.
LAM: And Professor Lo tell us a bit more about Ma Ying-Jeou the man, what's his style like and what may we expect of his presidency?
LO: Well I think he's someone you know he used to be the mayor of Taipei City, so he is quite good in terms of communicating with the media and trying to be more presidential in front of the camera, in front of the media. So I think he gets the trust from the people and I also his party has the majority in the legislature, so that makes his more persuasive and also make him more capable of implementing his policies.
