Top US liaison for Taiwan hopes for better mainland relations after elections

Raymond Burghardt, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, told reporters in Taipei that the poll offers a good chance for a new beginning in relations between communist China and democratic Taiwan, separated by a 160-kilometer-wide (100-mile-wide) strait.

"No matter who wins, it will present a good opportunity for an improvement in cross-strait relations," Burghardt said.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, and China has repeatedly threatened war if Taiwan tries to formalize its de facto independence. The United States supports a "One China" policy, it is obliged by law to help Taiwan defend itself in case of an attack.

In Taiwan's 2008 election, Ma Ying-jeou of the main opposition Nationalists will face Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP.

During the seven-year administration of incumbent President Chen Shui-bian of the DPP, Taipei-Beijing relations have foundered amid Chen's support for formal Taiwanese independence.

Ma and the Nationalists favor eventual unification with the mainland, while the DPP supports a deepening of Taiwan's separate status.

Burghardt said Washington looks forward to working with whichever Taiwanese candidate is elected.

"I know both Ma and Hsieh," he said. "We would be confident that U.S.-Taiwan relations would be in good hands with the Taiwan side if either won."

The institution Burghardt heads was established after the U.S. transferred its official diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. The American Institute in Taiwan office in Taipei functions as the de facto U.S. Embassy in the Taiwanese capital.

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