Senior Ma aide poised to take up U.S. posting
US gives approval for King Pu-tsung to be Taiwan's unofficial envoy, as Ma pays more attention to relationship with Washington
The most trusted aide of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou will head to Washington in a few weeks to assume his post as the island's envoy to the United States.
The appointment of King Pu-tsung, 56, as Taiwan's representative in the absence of formal ties has been widely seen as showing Ma's desire to further consolidate Taipei's substantive relations with Washington.
The US officially notified Taiwan's Foreign Ministry on Friday its approval of King's appointment, seven weeks after he was named to the position.
Pundits said the choice of King - Ma's closest aide since helping him win the Taipei mayoral election in 1997 - has also helped defuse speculation the Ma administration has placed development of cross-strait relations ahead of US ties.
"By sending his most trusted aide to Washington, Ma actually hopes to head off the US doubt that he has focused too much on cross-strait relations at the expense of long-time friendly Taiwan-US ties," said Edward Chen I-hsin, professor of American studies at Tamkang University in Taipei.
Washington is believed to be concerned about the sharp improvement in cross-strait ties since Ma took office in 2008, as this could mean the diminishing of US influence in Taiwan. Washington has long been Taiwan's informal ally and major arms supplier despite the absence of formal ties.
Taiwan's pro-independence camp, led by the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, has also criticised Ma for leaning too much towards the mainland. It has described as unwise Ma's reluctance to increase the defence budget, given that Beijing is still aiming more than 1,300 missiles at the island.