American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt yesterday reassured President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) that US policy on Taiwan remained unchanged, including its position on Taiwan’s sovereignty and commitment to help Taiwan meet its defense needs.

Burghardt’s visit comes a week after US President Barack Obama visited China. Since the US’ Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) was not mentioned in the US-China joint statement issued during Obama’s visit, the Democratic Progressive Party had expressed concern that the US might have backtracked on its commitment to Taiwan.