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Tsai faces challenge of resetting Beijing’s expectations, WSJ

Tsai faces challenge of resetting Beijing’s expectations, WSJ

Tsai faces a challenge of resetting Beijing’s expectations, WSJ

Tsai Ing-wen will be sworn in as the President of Taiwan on May 20, while several international news media are watching how she is going to nail down a cross-Strait stand during her inaugural speech for the years to come. The Wall Street Journal on Monday published a commentary saying it is "politically impossible" for Tsai to play the same note of eventual unification.

Tsai's Kuomintang predecessor Ma Ying-jeou established closer ties with China, including a free trade agreement, on the basis of the 1992 Consensus, which in the KMT's explanation means "one China and separate interpretations."

The commentary named a few noteworthy incidents taking place between Tsai's landslide election in mid-January and May 20, including Gambia's resumption of diplomatic ties with China which left Taiwan with 21 diplomatic allies, the unexpected problems of attending World Health Assembly and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development meetings, and Kenya's deportation of 45 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China.

One thing that the commentary had yet to mention is a rumor of the unspoken hurdle raised by the Chinese authorities to limit the number of Chinese tourists visiting the island, leaving a potentially huge impact on Taiwan's tourism over the months.

Tsai has advocated "maintaining the status quo" with China while encountering pressure from hardliners within her party. According to the commentary, Tsai "faces a challenge of resetting Beijing's expectations." One way to do so, according to the WSJ, is to present herself as a mediator between Chinese leaders and increasingly nationalistic Taiwanese citizens.