Taiwan's chief China policymaker would visit the United States in January to brief the new administration in Washington on Taipei's stance regarding ties with Beijing, it was reported Monday.
Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council, would urge Washington to uphold its principle that Taiwan's future should be decided by the island's people, the United Evening News said.
The trip by Tsai, President Chen Shui-bian's right-hand person in handling relations with the mainland, was to make sure that US president-elect George W. Bush would not lean toward Beijing when making China policy, the newspaper said.
Washington, the island's largest arms supplier, plays a key role in ties between Taiwan and China, split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
The US switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.
Taiwan and China are still technically at war despite the commencement of civil contacts in the late 1980s -- TAIPEI (AFP)
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