In recent weeks she has been branded everything from "scum of the nation" to "sinner for 1,000 years".

It's quite an honour to be singled out in such an extensive propaganda

Annette Lu

Ms Lu, a former political dissident known for her outspoken pro-independence views, is the woman Beijing loves to hate.

China's press has called her a "lunatic", "traitor" and "extremist" since her election victory in March.

She came in for particular criticism after her reported remarks that the people on either side of the Taiwan Strait were "distant relatives and close neighbours".

Beijing, which considers the island a renegade province, has threatened to invade if it declares independence.

Honour

Ms Lu, 56, admits she has been painted as "the number one criminal using the world's foulest language".

But she is not angered by such attacks. "It's quite an honour to be singled out in such an extensive propaganda," she adds.

Ms Lu's views have angered Beijing

Analysts say Chinese attacks on Ms Lu are a warning to her boss, President-elect Chen Shui-bian, not to return to his pre-election pro-independence leanings.

Unlike many other Asian female leaders, Ms Lu did not follow a famous husband or father into politics.

She rose to prominence the hard way - marching in the streets.

In 1980 she was sentenced to 12 years for helping organise Taiwan's first unauthorised mass demonstration in the southern city of Kaohsiung.

Her new boss, Mr Chen, who trained as a lawyer, represented one of her co-defendants at the trial.

Prison

Ms Lu, who was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, was paroled in 1985.

Undaunted, she continued her campaign for greater democracy under the ruling KMT party, which banned all other political parties until 1988.

After her release, Ms Chen helped form the then-illegal Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) with Mr Chen.

They both became vigorous critics of what they saw as the KMT's corrupt and self-serving administration.

Mahjong ban

Ms Lu will be Taiwan's first woman vice president.

But she has already complained that male politicians expect her to remain "voiceless", or a "flower vase" as she puts it.

The former magistrate has repeatedly shown that she can be tough with her adversaries.

But she can also be strict with her own colleagues.

At a weekend session for the new cabinet, she urged ministers not to smoke, drink, or play golf or mahjong in order to win the trust and support of the people.