US President George W. Bush and his security team are re-evaluating Washington's policy towards Taiwan and China, the visiting head of an American think-tank said yesterday.
Dr Edwin J. Feulner, president of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, was speaking in Taipei as he started a three-day visit.
He said Mr Bush's team of advisers was eager to end the years of wavering on the China issue that marked the term of former president Bill Clinton.
His remarks were taken seriously by the Taiwan media, as the conservative Heritage Foundation is believed to hold considerable influence over Republican politicians who now control both executive and legislative branches of the US Government.
While several former senior US officials have passed through Taiwan in recent months, Dr Feulner, who is a frequent visitor to the island, was the first major academic with strong Republican connections to arrive since Mr Bush was sworn into office a month ago.
'In terms of policy toward mainland China and Taiwan, that is to say cross-strait relations, our new Government hopes to be clearer, more predictable and responsible,' Dr Feulner was quoted by Taiwan media reports as saying.
'In the future, there will not be policies that take both sides by surprise. And I think that among the policies that took people by surprise were Clinton's remarks in Shanghai.'