Tsai Ing-wen sworn in as Taiwan's first woman president

Tsai, 59, began her four-year term as president after an inaugural ceremony at the Presidential Office during which the national anthem was sung.
The DPP chairwoman and former vice premier scored a convincing victory in the election on January 16. She took over from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who has served two four-year terms since May 2008.
In her inaugural speech, she is to focus on her plans for "building a better country for young people" in her inaugural speech Friday, according to a close aide.
Tsai wrote much of her own speech and the text was not finalized until Thursday afternoon, said Huang Chung-yen (黃重諺), who will be the spokesman of the Presidential Office after Tsai and her government are sworn in during the day.
Tsai is due to begin her 30-minute speech in front of the Presidential Office building at 11 a.m. after being sworn in at 9 a.m. to become Taiwan's first woman head of state.
A main goal of her government is to build a better country for the young, Huang said. Tsai wants to hand over to the next generation a country that is in a better state, he added.
She hopes to achieve that by gradually adjusting political, social and economic structures that are unfriendly to today's young people, said Huang.
He spoke of five main topics that Tsai will cover in her speech: transformation of Taiwan's economic structure, improvement of the social safety net, fairness and justice, peaceful and stable development in the region and relations across the Taiwan Strait, and diplomacy and Taiwan's role in the world.
On the fourth point, Huang said that Taiwan under Tsai will seek to more actively participate in international affairs, including trying not to be absent from the efforts to build regional peace and collective security. Taiwan will also seek to strengthen dialogue and communication, he added.
How Tsai will handle relations with China in the next few years has been a topic of much speculation but Huang did not offer any clue as to what she will say in her speech. "Let's just wait and see," he said.
On Taiwan's diplomacy, Huang said that Tsai will underscore the fact that Taiwan is a member of the world community and wishes to shoulder its responsibility as such.
In her conclusion, Tsai will emphasize the importance of the latest transition of power as well as the importance of democracy for Taiwan, Huang said.