UPDATE 1-Investor Jim Rogers buys Taiwan assets

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By Faith Hung

TAIPEI, April 9 (Reuters) - Fund manager and investment author Jim Rogers said on Wednesday he is buying Taiwan's stocks and currency TWD=TP, two of Asia's top performers this year, amid optimism under a new president for reduced tensions with China.

"About six weeks ago, I started buying Taiwan stocks for the first time in my lifetime," Rogers, cofounder of the Quantum Fund with billionaire George Soros, told a business audience in Taipei.

He added that he was also buying the Chinese yuan CNY=CFXS, which has steadily risen against the dollar since July 2005 under heavy government management.

Taiwan held a presidential election on March 22 and the Nationalist Party (KMT), which favours closer trade ties with China, won by a landslide, lifting the island's financial markets on hopes for improved economic prospects and easing cross-strait tensions.

The election result also prompted Standard & Poor's to say last month that it was considering an upgrade of Taiwan's sovereign rating outlook to "stable" from "negative".

"The election opens up enormous opportunities for Taiwan and China," Rogers said. "We are very excited about what's going on. Maybe it's the first time in 60 years there's going to be peace."

Taiwan's financial markets enjoyed a boost this year after the Nationalist Party's decisive wins in legislative elections in January and the presidential election in March.

Taiwan has been Asia's best performing major market this year, with the main TAIEX index up about 2 percent, while many peers were in negative territory. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index .HSI dropped about 16 percent during the same period.

Rogers said he started buying exchange-traded funds (ETFs) targeting Taiwan stocks before the island's presidential election on expectations that cross-strait relations would improve.

In the foreign exchange market, the Taiwan dollar has risen more than 6 percent since the beginning of the year, making it the second-best performer in Asia, only behind Japan's yen JPY=.

Political tensions between Taiwan and China are likely to ease with the new administration of President-elect Ma Ying-jeou, who will take office on May 20.

Rogers said he also foresaw more upside in the Chinese yuan, which has gained about 4 percent this year, as Beijing would allow it to appreciate further. Rogers is also buying the yen and the Swiss franc CHF=. (US$1=T$30.5) (Additional reporting by Sheena Lee; Writing by Lee Chyen Yee; Editing by Doug Young and Edmund Klamann)