These are not happy days for Taiwan, nor for the self-governing island's new president, Ma Ying-jeou. He evidently felt compelled to address many of the troubling issues in a sort of State of the Union report two weeks ago.

President Ma told an extraordinary meeting of his Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party: "We must humbly engage in introspection. We must not forget the difficult times over the past eight years in opposition." Except from 2000 until May this year, the Kuomintang has rarely been out of power since it was founded by the revolutionary leader, Sun Yat-sen, in 1912.

In office for six months, Ma's approval ratings have been running under 30 percent. Ratings for Premier Liu Chao-shiuan, the cabinet and members of the legislature from the Kuomintang have been about the same. Disapproval ratings have been close to 60 percent all around.

Like other industrial nations, Taiwan's economy is limping with unemployment rising and inflation threatening. The repercussions are strong as Taiwan, along with South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore, has been among the Four Tigers that have enjoyed surging economic progress.

A political scandal has undermined Taiwan's fledgling democracy with former President Chen Shui-bian having been arrested on suspicion of corruption. Chen responded with a two-week hunger strike that landed him in the hospital and gave Taiwan a black eye.

Recent negotiations with China seem to have gone well and the Kuomintang's honorary chairman, Lien Chan, had a cordial meeting with President Hu Jintao of China at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru last month. But that brought strong protests from Taiwan-ese who accuse Ma of conceding too much to China.

Taiwanese who advocate independence for their island fear that Ma may be succumbing to the lures or demands of China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan and repeatedly has threatened to use force if Taiwan declared formal independence.

Politics in the U.S. make Taiwanese nervous. They see Chinese leaders urging President-elect Barack Obama to abide by what the Chinese define as the "one-China policy" and to cease arms sales to Taiwan. They also see the pro-China lobby of American liberals and business executives imploring Obama to adopt policies favoring China.

Ma sought to be reassuring on the economy: "We have encountered a financial crisis that has not been seen in a hundred years. We should not be afraid. Taiwan has experienced financial crises before, including two oil shocks and the Asian financial crisis, and we overcame all of them."

The president distanced himself from Chen's alleged corruption: "I will not interfere with the investigation and the justice system, but my determination to eliminate corruption from the government will never change."

On sovereignty, President Ma was direct: "As president, I have the responsibility to defend the sovereignty and dignity of the Republic of China," Taiwan's formal name. "The ROC is a sovereign country. The future of Taiwan shall be decided commonly by the 23 million people on Taiwan."

Speaking forcefully, Ma said: "Mainland China is, of course, a threat to Taiwan; 1,400 guided missiles are targeted at Taiwan." He reiterated his inaugural pledge that there would be no unification with mainland China, no formal declaration of independence, and no use of force during his administration. On that third point, China will decide whether force is to be used.

Unlike his predecessor, President Ma said he adopted a different approach on Taiwan's participation in the United Nations, which has been blocked by mainland China for 40 years. "We do not intend to join or return to the U.N. under any name," he said. "But we hope that the right of Taiwan to participate in the activities of the specialized agencies of the U.N. can be fully guaranteed."

He also said Taiwan would continue to buy arms from the United States to strengthen the island's national defense. The U.S., after seven years of off-and-on discussions, announced in October that it would sell Taiwan $6.5 billion worth of arms and equipment. China promptly declared that it would not engage in military exchanges with the U.S. until the deal was canceled.

On a philosophical note, President Ma urged the Taiwanese: "Please put your mind at ease as the Kuomintang administration will only appoint people with talent and virtue." He emphasized that "virtue is more important than talent."

Richard Halloran is a Honolulu-based journalist and former New York Times correspondent in Asia. His column appears weekly in Sunday's Focus section.