DILI, May 20 (Xinhuanet by Ye Zaiqi  Mai Tangyuan) -- East Timor Monday celebrated its
formal independence from hundreds of years of foreign occupation
with a grand ceremony marked with full world support behind it,
but the euphoric gala can hardly negate huge challenges in its way
toward national reconstruction.
   The celebrations were preluded Sunday evening with an open air
mass attended by nearly 2,000 East Timorese under the auspices of
East Timor's 1996 Nobel peace laureate and Bishop Carlos Felipe
Ximenes Belo.
   The celebrations and mass were held in Taci Tolo near Dili, a
site of public massacres and a mass grave of many East Timorese
killed during past foreign occupation.
   The choice of this venue -- an amphitheater framed by mountains
with plains gently sloping toward lakes -- is meant to dedicate
the site as a national peace park to commemorate the tragic past.
   At midnight Sunday, Speaker of the National Assembly Francisco
Guterres (Lu Olo) proclaimed East Timor independence after U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan handed over the power of the U.N.
Transitional Administration in East Timor.
   The power transfer indicated an end to two and a half years' U.
N. authority of transitional administration in East Timor and the
birth of the first new nation in the new millenium.
   The East Timor independence was witnessed by the whole world,
either by representatives of more than 90 countries present on the
occasion or through live broadcast by world media.
   U.N. chief Annan hailed the determination of the East Timorese
as having ensured the success of their cause of freedom and
independence.
   East Timor's new president Xanana Gusmao told a 200,000-strong
audience Monday that he is committed to alleviate poverty and
suffering of his people to create a better livelihood for them.
  The supreme objective of East Timor after its political
independence will be comprehensive development of "all aspects of
the life of our people, from the cultural to the scientific, from
the social to the economic."
   The overnight celebrations involved more than 3,000 East
Timorese artists and performers who staged a gala of folk songs
and dances, drum-beating and music shows dedicated to their two-
hour independence corroboree.
   An array of fireworks display that ended the celebrations lit
up the night sky of Dili, to the outbursts of cheering from the
exuberant crowd. The fireworks donated by China exploded into
gleaming and bright sparkles in the sky.
   On Monday morning, President Gusmao swore in the 14-member new
government of East Timor, which immediately took office from the
authority transferred from the U.N. transitional administration in
East Timor.
   He then inspected the armed forces of East Timor, which consist
of 650 soldiers in camouflage uniforms from the army and navy, as
well as a 60-man team of underground fighters during the campaign
for independence of East Timor.
   A spectacular parade composed of U.N.-trained East Timorese
military men and women, each holding an automatic rifle on their
right shoulders, passed by the podium in goose steps, saluting to
Gusmao on the stage to pay tribute to their new head of state.
   Led by a 60-man drum-beating band, thousands of East Timorese,
including veteran fighters, police, volunteers, students, scout
boys, and even kindergarten kids in floats, braved the scorching
sun to participate in their Independent Day parade on Monday.
   Shortly after the demonstrations, the new government headed by
Chief Minister Mari Alkatiri held the first cabinet meeting and
approved the first diplomatic document that made China the first
country to have established diplomatic ties with East Timor since
it declared independence less than 10 hours ago.
   However, despite the spectacular celebrations, much lies ahead
for both East Timorese leaders and their people on their path
toward reconstruction and rehabilitation of their country.
   The 800,000-population East Timor is one of the poorest country
in the world. According to U.N. statistics, the average per capita
annual income of East Timorese is only 278 U.S. dollars, or less
than one dollar for each day. About 40 percent of its people are
living under the poverty line.
   A political independence is not an end. It's just a beginning
of a long march toward economic recovery and revitalization, as it
posed a huge challenge for the resource-rich but violence-battered
East Timor to rebuild its economy from scratch and build a self-
sustaining country.
   "As you now set out to shape your own destiny, you will face
trials and challenges," U.N. chief Annan said.  Enditem