Faced with pressure from China, Taiwan’s new President Tsai Ing-wen struck a conciliatory tone in her inauguration speech, calling for both sides to “set aside the baggage of history” and engage in “positive dialogue”.

But Ms Tsai, 59, who was sworn into office yesterday, stopped short of mentioning the 1992 Consensus, a tacit agreement between the two sides recognising that there is one China but with each side having its own interpretation of what it means. Beijing insists it must be the basis for stable cross-strait ties.

Instead, Ms Tsai merely alluded to it, saying: “I respect this historical fact.” She acknowledged that talks between both sides took place in 1992 at which there was “joint acknowledgement of setting aside differences to seek common ground”.

But she made a small concession, saying cross-strait affairs will be handled in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of China – Taiwan’s official name – which states that Taiwan and the mainland are both part of “one China”, and other relevant legislation.

Responding to Ms Tsai’s remarks China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said they were an “incomplete answer” on the nature of relations between the two sides.

It warned that China sees any push for Taiwan’s independence as “the biggest menace to peace across the Taiwan Strait”, reported Xinhua news agency.

Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province, is deeply suspicious of Ms Tsai and her independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party and has been piling on the pressure for her. Among other things, it has formalised ties with the Gambia, which had earlier severed ties with Taiwan.

Still, observers like Academia Sinica’s Professor Wu Yu-shan thought Beijing’s response “will be measured”, given that she did not mention the pursuit of independence.

Taiwanese markets reacted calmly yesterday, with the island’s main index closing 0.4 per cent higher.

Dressed in a cream jacket over a white top, and black pants – neutral, non-partisan colours – Ms Tsai also spoke about the need for transitional justice so that the historical past does not continue to divide Taiwanese society. She was alluding to the White Terror era of suppression of political dissidents from 1947 to 1987.

A good part of her 30-minute speech was on reforms to boost a moribund economy, improve the social safety net and better prepare Taiwan’s youth for the future.

Acknowledging that “the path forward is not a smooth one”, Ms Tsai appealed to the Taiwanese people to work together with her.

Ms Tsai is Taiwan’s fourth directly elected president and its first woman president.

Some 27,000 people attended the inauguration and millions more watched it live on TV.

“I hope she will be able to deliver what she promised during the elections and make our lives better,” said schoolteacher Lin Kai-xi, 38, who took part in the celebrations.

This article was first published on May 21, 2016.
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SEOUL – The brutal murder of a woman in Seoul’s upmarket Gangnam district has triggered a public outcry and a debate over what some see as a growing streak of violent misogyny in South Korea.

Hundreds attended a candlelight vigil overnight on Thursday (May 19) in front of Gangnam subway station for the 23-year-old who was stabbed to death by a stranger the previous night in a nearby public bathroom.

The police said the 34-year-old man, identified only by his surname Kim, had told them he carried out the attack because he felt “belittled by women”. Although they also noted the suspect had been diagnosed with acute schizophrenia, the remark went viral with a tweet that said society should respond to hate crimes against women and not let the incident “be forgotten”.

The subway station exit has since been turned into a mini-shrine by thousands of mostly young South Koreans leaving piles of flowers and covering its outer walls with messages written on post-it notes.

“In our next life, let’s meet in a world where we can be happy even as a woman,” read one.

“I’m sorry. I survived once again in this hellish world just because I’m a man,” said another.

High-profile politicians, including Seoul Mayor Park Won Soon, have visited the site to pay their condolences.

“I’ll try to heal the world into a place where there will be no more hate crimes,” Mr Park said on his official Twitter feed.

The murder and public reaction have received wide media coverage, with the mass circulation JoongAng Daily running an editorial Friday titled “Women at Risk”.

While noting the murder may have been a random act by a mentally unstable young man, the newspaper said it had lifted the lid on simmering anger and concern over gender violence.

“The government must study crimes against women and come up with realistic measures so that women won’t have to be fearful for their safety,” the editorial said.

South Korea generally has a low violent crime rate, but cases of sexual assault have increased in recent years and women’s groups argue that entrenched gender discrimination – rooted in a strong Confucian tradition – is a prime cause.

Abusive Korean men, they say, don’t even see their actions as criminal, while women are extremely wary of being victimised again if they report assault.

“There is growing violence and hatred against women and other minority groups in our society,” the Korean Women’s Association United said in a statement after the murder.

Another rights group Womenlink said the Gangnam murder was a “tragic case that showed how the discrimination against women can lead to an extreme crime”.

Activist groups also point to a growth in online Korean forums dominated by unmoderated, misogynist comments, including repeated threats of violence against women.

In 2013, President Park Geun Hye directed the police to focus on combating four “social evils” – the first two being sexual violence and domestic violence.

Experts say a sharp rise in youth unemployment and growing income disparities in a highly competitive and status-conscious society have stoked feelings of inadequacy and created new tensions.

Professor Chun Sang Chin, a professor of Sociology at Sogang University in Seoul, said South Korea was an “extremely patriarchal” society whose rules and values had never really been challenged before.

“Now, people’s lives have become quite unstable and insecure,” Prof Chun told AFP.

“People feel weak… and they are turning to those that are weaker to let out their anger. In such cases, the usual targets are women or ethnic minority groups,” he added.

A luxury night club in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, was raided on Thursday night for providing sex services.

The Red Club Karaoke, pitching itself as a “five-star resort club in Henan province”, opened about two years ago and occupies an area of more than 10,000 square meters.

Pictures of the raid posted online on Friday by Dahe Daily, a local newspaper affiliated to Henan Daily Press Group, showed that police used six buses to transport the suspects caught at the scene.

Police could not be reached for comment and more details of the case were not available.

The incident attracted public attention as it is the second high-profile case involving prostitution in the province in recent years.

In March, two leaders of a gambling and prostitution ring were sentenced to life in prison and another 85 members given jail sentences after Royal No 1 Nightclub in Zhengzhou – involving 300 million yuan ($46 million) of illicit money – was busted.

More than 2,900 women had provided sex services at the club before it was raided and forced to close in November 2013.

A total of 152 police officers were punished for covering up the ring and more than eight million yuan in bribes were seized.

Three prosecutors were also found guilty for covering up the ring.

Zhou Tingxin, former deputy police chief in Zhengzhou, was the most senior police officer punished in the case. Police officers involved in the case were either awarded stock shares of the club or given money.

Wang Xiaohong, who was then the police chief in Henan province and was in charge of the Royal No 1 Nightclub case, was appointed vice-minister of public security on Friday.

Wang was head of the Public Security Bureau in Henan from August 2013 to March 2015 and then was appointed police chief in Beijing and stayed at the position for a little more than one year.

Contact the writers at zhang_yi@chinadaily.com.cn