Taiwan appoints first female president

Standing beneath a portrait of modern China’s founding father Sun Yat-sen, Taiwan’s new President Tsai Ing-wen was sworn into office Friday, following her landslide victory in January elections that threatens to drive a wedge between the ever more independence-minded island and an increasingly hawkish Beijing. Almost 700 dignitaries from 59 countries — some in flamboyant national dress — watched Tsai, leader of the Beijing-skeptic Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), take the oath at Taipei’s Ching-kuo Hall. The 59-year-old former law professor takes over from outgoing Kuomintang (KMT, or Nationalist Party) President Ma Ying-jeou, who was ineligible for reelection after two four-year terms.
The 59-year-old opposition party leader, who can often be seen on the campaign trail with her two beloved cats, first came to Taiwanese politics as an outsider.
Called "Little Ying" by local media, Tsai grew up in Fenggang, a village in southern Taiwan, before moving to Taipei as a teenager. A lawyer by training, she first studied at National Taiwan University, where she once reportedlyfailed a criminal law class.
Nonetheless, she kept furthering her law studies with a masters from Cornell University and a Ph.D from the London School of Economics, teaching the subject for some time. She's speaks English fluently and is regarded as the most internationally-minded leader the island has seen so far.
It wasn't until 2004 that Tsai joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). By 2008 she was made the party's chairwoman but it wasn't always smooth sailing.
She lost her first bid for the presidency to the incumbent Ma Ying-jeou in 2012 and resigned as DPP chairwoman after the defeat. It wasn't until 2014 that she resumed the position and made her second, this time successful, attempt at the presidency.