By Amber WANG
It has been a turbulent first year in power for Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen as relations with Beijing have soured and her approval ratings have plummeted.
And in the face of an intransigent China and warming ties between Beijing and the United States -- Taiwan's most powerful ally -- observers say there is more trouble ahead.
Tsai was inaugurated as the island's first female leader on May 20 last year, defeating the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party by a landslide.
Her victory spelled the end of eight years of cross-strait rapprochement as she refused to acknowledge the concept that Taiwan is part of "one China", unlike her predecessor Ma Ying-jeou.
Beijing still sees self-ruled democratic Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified, and is deeply suspicious of Tsai.
Her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is traditionally pro-independence and there is little hope of finding middle ground.
Tsai has said she feels Taipei has shown "good will" towards China and she has repeatedly urged Beijing to break with its "old thinking" on cross-strait dealings.
But the message has fallen on deaf ears -- Beijing has cut off all official communication with Taipei and upped its military drills.
Read the full story at SinoDaily