Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Raymond Burghardt has said that the results of the recent municipal elections in Taiwan will not affect relations between the US and Taiwan. The AIT is the top organization in charge of relations with Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties between the two sides.
The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) suffered a major rout at the polls in last week’s elections, while the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) scored a number of major victories.
Speaking at an Ebola-prevention event on Friday, Burghardt said that one special characteristic of American foreign policy is that the US maintains good relationships with both ruling and opposition parties in other countries.
Burghardt said that he has known DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen for years and met with her most recently in October. He said that the US will communicate with Tsai privately as necessary. However, he also said that the US government continues to be in close contact with members of the President Ma Ying-jeou’s KMT administration as well.