Below is an article published by MCIL Multimedia:


A top United States envoy on Tuesday [25 January 2011] reassured Taiwan that its interests had not been violated during last week's talks between President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao.

"We purposefully constructed a document that in no way violates any of Taiwan's interests," said
Raymond F. Burghardt, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), referring to a joint
statement between the two countries.

"We kept Taiwan in mind during the process of negotiating, and the result is a document that in no
way breaks any new ground on any issues that would be a concern to Taiwan," he said.

Taiwan carefully watched Hu's first state visit to the US, fearing the island's national interest could
be damaged as Washington seeks to improve ties with Beijing -- which claims Taiwan as its own.

The AIT has handled unofficial ties with Taiwan since Washington switched diplomatic recognition
from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, although the US has remained a leading arms supplier to the self-
ruled island.

Taiwanese authorities have been pushing a request to acquire upgraded F16 fighter jets from the
US, which Burghardt said "it's still an open question."

"We just don't talk about it until we do it... We look for the right time to do things," he told a media
briefing.

"This is an issue we do not discuss with Beijing... we make the decision based on the threat to
Taiwan."

China opposes any arms sales to Taiwan, which it considers a part of its territory awaiting
reunification, by force if necessary, even though the two sides split in 1949 after a civil war.