Taiwan, Obama delegates to meet: Foreign Minister

"Not only did we have contact and substantial dialogue with histhink tank before the election, both sides also agreed that if Obama won, a closed door meeting would be arranged before the inauguration," Ou said.

Ou made the remarks while delivering a report at the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee to urge the committee to unfreeze the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) budget for foreign visits and part of its international aid fund.

Ou told the Central News Agency that although the exact time, venue and format of the meeting are yet to be discussed, he would not exclude the possibility of Taiwan sending a special delegate to the U.S. for the meeting.

The meeting is aimed at discussing issues such as national security and allowing Taiwan to state its positions, he added.

Upon learning the U.S. election results, President Ma Ying-jeou immediately sent a handwritten congratulatory letter to Obama, extended his gratitude to the president-elect for his friendship to Taiwan and support of Taiwan-U.S. relations and Taiwan's new cross-strait policies.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) expressed concern that the election of Obama would change Taiwan-U.S. relations, saying that the Republican Party has viewed China as more of a threat, while the Democratic Party has tended to see China in more favorable terms.

The fact that many of Obama's foreign policy advisors served under former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who severed the diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979, has given rise to some concern in Taiwan, according to Lai Shyh-bao, a legislator of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT).

Saying that Obama's inauguration ceremony will be a huge event that will serve as the first indicator of the new U.S.-Taiwan relations, Lai asked the MOFA to work hard to obtain more places for Taiwan's congratulatory delegation at the inauguration.

Ou projected confidence about continued good bilateral relations between Taiwan and the U.S., saying that he believes Obama personally has no bias against Taiwan and citing several examples that he said were proof of warmer U.S.-Taiwan relations.

Not only did Obama send a personal letter to congratulate Ma on his May 20 inauguration and openly supported the U.S. government's recently approved sale of a weapons package to Taiwan, the Democratic Party also specified in its platform that it welcomed the efforts by Taiwan and China to improve cross-strait relations, Ou said.

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