The United States welcomed Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's inauguration speech as "responsible and constructive" for avoiding an immediate showdown with China, but Beijing and the island's opposition have lingering doubts.
Chen ruled out any immediate steps toward independence as he began a second four-year term on Thursday, calling for better ties with China in an inaugural speech aimed at placating the island's giant communist neighbour and key ally the United States.
"Chen Shui-bian's address creates an opportunity for Taipei and Beijing to restore dialogue across the Strait," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in a statement.
McClellan praised Chen for "making clear his administration's commitment not to take steps that would unilaterally change the status quo, underscoring its openness to seeking accord with Beijing, and reaffirming previous commitments on cross-Strait relations".
Washington, which switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 but remains the island's main arms supplier, also urged the rivals "to seek creative means to build mutual trust and goodwill".
China's official Xinhua news agency later quoted foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao as saying on Friday that the United States should not be deceived by Taiwan.
Washington "should realise the vital threat for cross-Straits peace and stability, which may be brought about by 'Taiwan independence' activities," Xinhua reported in English, citing Liu. The report did not elaborate further.
Chen paid his respects on Friday to Sun Yat-sen, the revered revolutionary who overthrew China's last dynasty in 1911 and founded the Republic of China, in an apparent attempt to dilute his pro-independence colours.
But the island's main opposition Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), founded by Sun, was unimpressed.
"The truth of the shooting incident is still out of reach, the arrogance of power is increasing and the dictatorial and populistic tendencies of ... President Chen have deepened," Nationalist leader Lien Chan said in a statement. "All these developments are terrible things for our democracy."
The Nationalists formed a joint presidential ticket with a splinter party, but failed to unseat Chen who won by fewer than 30,000 votes after a mysterious election-eve assassination attempt lightly wounded him and the vice president in March.
The KMT suspects the shooting was staged to win sympathy votes. A nine-day election recount ended on Tuesday, but court rulings on about 40,000 questionable ballots could take weeks.
In a peace overture, Chen pledged in his speech that planned constitutional reform would not touch on the explosive issue of sovereignty and he said Taiwan was open to any form of future ties with China.
But Chinese state media denounced Chen as a "slippery politician" whose goodwill gesture was nothing but a sham.
"In his speech, Chen Shui-bianv painstakingly dodged the one-China question and it was impossible to see any sincerity toward improving relations across the Taiwan Strait," the Beijing News said, referring to Beijing's cherished dogma that both the island and the mainland are part of a single nation.
"Rather, it used flowery language and played word games, concealing his 'Taiwan independence' splittist position. Cross-Strait relations in the next four years will remain in crisis," the newspaper said.
Since their split at the end of a civil war in 1949, Beijing has viewed Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be returned to the fold, by force if necessary.
The China Daily said: "Chen Shui-bian's latest offer of 'goodwill' turns out to be another sham."
China's policymaking Taiwan Affairs Office offered no official reaction to Chen's speech.
China warned Chen on Monday to pull back from a "dangerous lurch toward independence" or be crushed "firmly and thoroughly at any cost".
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