“That was a very positive thing for him to do in terms of maintaining a stable situation,” said visiting American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) chairman Raymond Burghardt. The AIT acts as an unofficial U.S. embassy in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

Chen on Thursday in a meeting with Burghardt repeated four promises he made in his inaugural addresses in 2000 and 2004.

The president promised that, provided that China had no intention of using military force, he would not declare independence, change the name of the nation, push to have Taiwan described as a “state” in the constitution or hold a referendum on Taiwan independence. Chen said both domestic and foreign pressures would not force him to change his commitment to these promises.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in Washington also said the U.S. was pleased to hear Chen reaffirm these promises and hear his reassurance that these promises would stay in place during his remaining two years in office.

“The U.S. attaches profound importance to these pledges, which are a cornerstone of cross-strait peace and stability,” McCormack said.

“We urge Beijing to take parallel steps to fulfill its obligations for regional peace and stability, including by reaching out to Taiwan’s duly elected leaders,” McCormack said.

Burghardt downplayed what many analysts see as a political crisis in Taiwan that has been sparked by the arrest of the president’s son-in-law on suspicions of insider trading. Opposition parties are currently calling for Chen’s recall.

“I have full confidence that Taiwan will be able to deal with this domestic political issue in a peaceful way... and will go on as an efficient government,” Burghardt told journalists at a tea party yesterday.

“I seem to remember there was a recall attempt when I was here in the year 2000 and that drama came and went,” he said.

“I don’t have a high sense of anxiety about the political situation here and I would certainly say that to people in Washington,” he said.

Burghardt also said there was “not a high level of anxiety” in Washington about Taiwan’s relations with China over the next few years.

Some former American officials visiting Taiwan have said Washington policy makers are nervous that Chen’s plans to reform Taiwan’s constitution .

But Burghardt said the situation in the Taiwan Strait was more stable than it was in November 2004, when he last visited Taiwan.

Chen’s promises made in his 2004 and 2000 inaugural speeches known as the “five noes” policy originally included a promise not to abolish the National Unification Council (NUC) and its accompanying National Unification Guidelines. Analysts say the U.S., which does not want to get caught up in a conflict between Taiwan and China, views the “five noes” policy as assurances from Chen that he will not try to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

In an apparent violation of this promise, Chen scrapped the NUC and its guidelines in February, despite repeated urging from Washington not to do so. This effectively reduced the “five noes” policy to a “four noes” policy, which Chen repeated on Thursday.

But Burghardt said the U.S. at the time said it was satisfied with this move and now the NUC was a dead issue.

“Americans don’t tend to dwell on old problems,” Burghardt said. “The subject never came up in the meetings I have had (with Taiwanese political figures) so far.”

He also said during discussions he had with Chen in 2000 on how to formulate China policy, the four promises Chen repeated on Thursday were viewed as most important and the NUC “was something that seemed to come up later and be added to the list.”