Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan, who will lead the island over the next four years, resorted to rhetorical ambiguity in Friday's inauguration speech.

Tsai is yet to give a forthright answer on the 1992 Consensus that both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China, which has served as the political foundation for the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations. Instead, she said in her speech that she "respected" the fact that "several political agreements were reached by both sides in 1992", but stopped short of mentioning the 1992 Consensus.

However, she said she wants to prolong the peaceful exchanges that have been established, and promised that the island will be "a staunch peacekeeper" in regional security affairs, in which cross-Straits ties serve as a "key link". And Tsai did pledge to address cross-Straits affairs in line with the "Regulations on Relations between People in the Taiwan and Mainland Areas" and other relevant laws.