The huge cache of confidential US diplomatic cables that is being released by whistleblower Web site WikiLeaks is believed to include large numbers of secret memos exchanged between Taiwanese and US diplomatic officials, perhaps giving the public a firsthand look at the fragile relationship.

WikiLeaks currently holds a set of more than 250,000 documents from between December 1966 and February this year, but has only made 278 available to the public. None of the documents originating from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties, has been released.