Taipei

TAIWAN'S new president urged China on Friday to "drop the baggage of history" in an otherwise conciliatory inauguration speech that Beijing's Communist Party rulers had been watching for any move towards independence.

President Tsai Ing-wen was sworn in with Taiwan's export-driven economy on the ropes and China, which views the self-ruled island as its own, looking across the Taiwan Strait for anti-Beijing sentiment that could further sour economic ties.