IT WAS inevitable that Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's second inauguration would get tossed about in Cold War rhetoric between the United States and China.

To Beijing's ire, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo congratulated Ms Tsai last week and hailed her "courage and wisdom". In turn, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang carefully omitted the usual "peaceful" qualifier in his routine affirmation of the importance of reunification with Taiwan at China's National Peoples Congress. The fact that Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga similarly called Taiwan an "important partner and precious friend" that shares basic values with his country seems not to have bothered too many officials in Beijing.

But Taiwan is more than its precarious status as an island locked in Cold War conflict. On its own, it would rank as a developed state. It plays host to many high-tech companies. In fact, Ms Tsai devoted a lot of her inaugural speech to issues such as her priorities for industrial and economic development. She promised to push along six core strategic industries, including 5G and other infocomm technologies, biotech, medicine, defence and renewable energy. As for governance, she wanted the legislative chamber to establish a consultative platform to enable it to reach a consensus on people's political rights. There was a proposal to lower the voting age from 20 to 18 years and another for reform of the judiciary with the possible appointment of lay judges. She outlined proposals to reform the superstructure of governance systems that hark back to Ming and Qing imperial times, and which manage the civil service and maintain oversight of the other limbs of government. Only then did she reiterate her party's longstanding position on the relationship with the mainland.