Taiwan's Chen sworn in as president

TAIPEI - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian was sworn in for a second term on Thursday after weeks of political turmoil over a disputed election and talk of war from China if Chen declares independence.

But China, which regards the island as a wayward province that must return to the fold, by force if necessary, has offered Taipei economic, diplomatic and other benefits if Chen agreed Taiwan and the mainland were part of "one China."

Taiwan's top judicial official, Weng Yueh-sheng, administered the oath at the presidential palace in Taipei with top government officials and foreign dignitaries in attendance.

Chen will begin his second four-year term with a pledge to reform the constitution, instead of adopting a new one, to appease Beijing and Washington, the island's main ally, Taiwan's mass circulation China Times said.

"President Chen's closely watched inauguration speech will extend goodwill and use 'constitutional reform' to replace... a 'referendum on a new constitution'," Taiwan's mass circulation China Times quoted unidentified sources as saying.

Taiwan's main opposition Nationalist Party hung a banner reading: "No truth, no president" on the facade of its Taipei headquarters facing the presidential palace, where Chen is scheduled to deliver his speech at an outdoor ceremony at around 10 am.

Flag-waving and horn-tooting protesters wearing uniform yellow raincoats sang patriotic songs and chanted slogans in front of the Nationalist headquarters.

China warned Chen on Monday to pull back from a "dangerous lurch toward independence" or be crushed "firmly and thoroughly at any cost."

Beijing is convinced a new constitution would be tantamount to formally declaring the self-ruled democratic island independent and has warned of war.

Beijing and Taipei have been diplomatic and military rivals since their split at the end of a civil war in 1949, but trade, investment and tourism have blossomed since the late 1980s.

Chen's toned down rhetoric could disappoint pro-independence die-hards, who have threatened to walk out if Chen repeated a pledge in his 2000 inauguration speech not to declare the island independent.

Chen, wearing a dark suit and a red tie, and Vice President Annette Lu took their oath before the red-white-and-blue national flag and a portrait of Sun Yat-sen, a revolutionary who overthrew China's last dynasty in 1911 and founded the Republic of China.


The Republic of China government relocated to Taiwan in 1949 after Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists lost a civil war to Mao Zedong's Communists. More than five decades of Nationalist rule in Taiwan ended in 2000 when Chen won the presidential elections.

Security was unprecedentedly tight in and around the presidential palace. Chen will wear a bulletproof vest when he delivers his inauguration speech after suffering light wound in a mysterious election-eve assassination attempt.

Chen defeated Nationalist leader Lien Chan by a margin of 0.2 per cent in the March 20 election. Lien has refused to concede saying the shooting may have been staged to win sympathy votes and has filed two lawsuits to overturn Chen's victory and seek a new election.

A nine-day recount ended on Tuesday, but the courts have yet to rule on an election recount demanded by the opposition which produced about 40,000 questionable ballots.

- REUTERS