American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt is in town this week on one of his periodic vacations from the rigors of life in Hawaii. While here he will also take time out to glad-hand the victors of last month’s election and catch up with what’s going on politically in post-election Taiwan.

Trouble is, Ray may have a hard time getting a complete view of what’s going down this time around, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is still in a major hissy fit with the US over its perceived interference in the election.

The dust of the January 2012 elections has barely settled and Taiwan's president Ma Ying-jeou has already found himself in trouble. The nagging issue of US beef is back on the burner. When the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt spoke in Taiwan in 2011, he pooh-poohed the idea that the beef issue was a major problem between the USA and the Ma administration's failure to deliver on its promises. After all he explained, the amount of money involved was negligible in view of the total amount of money involved in all the transactions between the two countries. Further the USA would certainly be happy with Ma's re-election. Other pundits tried to join the chorus. But if it was all so negligible, why then right after the election, is Burghardt all of a sudden back on Ma's doorstep saying it is time to settle our bill?

Although it is unlikely that Taiwan, under the leadership of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), will ever support Tibetan independence, Taipei could give a real boost to the beleaguered forces fighting for Tibetan human rights in China with one simple and long--overdue move — dropping the Republic of China’s (ROC) claim to Tibet.

The ROC Constitution is an anachronistic document that claims more territory than even the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which has at least dropped its claim to Mongolia, an independent country with a seat in the UN.