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Ma Ying-jeou will be inaugurated as Taiwan's president today  with a pledge to engage the mainland and end the eight years of confrontational policies towards Beijing  of his predecessor.
But analysts said that even with improved ties with the mainland, the next four years would be rough for Mr Ma internally and externally.
He was expected to make a 20-minute speech during his inauguration, and Kuomintang sources  said he would  offer an olive branch  to the mainland.
'Ma  will extend a high degree of goodwill towards the mainland during his inaugural speech, hoping the two sides can swiftly resume talks and improve ties,' a senior KMT official said.
The official said that unlike with Mr Ma's predecessor, Chen Shui-bian,  who had to show his inaugural speech to the US before his  swearing-in, Washington did not ask for a preview of Mr Ma's speech.
Mr Chen, of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, revealed that he had sent the text of his speech to the US before his inauguration in 2000.  Washington reportedly asked that Mr Chen refrain from making any pro-independence statement that could escalate cross-strait tension.
This resulted in Mr Chen making a 'four-no's' pledge of not declaring Taiwan's independence, altering Taiwan's official title, instituting a new constitution  or changing the cross-strait status quo, in order to reassure Beijing as long as the latter  did not use force against Taiwan.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte  said  in Washington on Friday  that Mr Ma had no such restrictions in his speech.
Compared with Mr Chen, whose confrontational rhetoric and moves in promoting Taiwan's self-rule kept Washington on its guard, the US has more trust in Mr Ma, a 57-year-old Harvard graduate, because of his more moderate stance towards the mainland.
Throughout the presidential campaign, Mr Ma had vowed to seek cross-strait economic prosperity and to sign a peace pact with  Beijing.
He has also pledged to launch weekend charter flights and open the island to mainland tourists as soon as July 4, as the first stage in normalising economic relations across the  strait.
That promise has been welcomed by many Taiwanese, who believe it could help reinvigorate the local economy. But analysts said it was too risky for Mr Ma to issue such a deadline, given that Beijing was still adopting a  wait-and-see attitude because of Mr Ma's previous critical comments  about the mainland over its crackdown on Tibet  and the pro- democracy movement.
'If this cheque cannot be cashed as scheduled, it will make Ma Ying-jeou look bad, and people will question his governing ability,' said mainland expert Chen Yu-chun,  a professor at Chinese Culture University.
Edward Chen I-hsin, a professor at Tamkang University, said Mr Ma must first establish mutual trust with the mainland through economic co-operation and exchanges. He said without mutual trust, it would be difficult for the mainland to allow Taiwan to develop international ties.
Mr Ma has called for a diplomatic truce between the two sides  across the Taiwan Strait.
Domestically, he is expected to face criticism  from the public due to his government's plan to raise petrol and electricity prices.
'Given that the salaries of most people have remained unchanged for years, such a price hike definitely would create problems and disappoint the general public,' said Chiu Yi,  a KMT legislator.
The new government has said there is a need to raise petrol  and electricity prices in line with international increases.



Ma likely to face four tough years even if he improves cross-strait ties