The de facto US ambassador in Taiwan delivered a most undiplomatic ultimatum to the island's opposition parties last Thursday: increase Taiwanese defence spending now. Stephen Young also made other comments widely interpreted as interference in the island's domestic politics.
He implicitly criticised protests against President Chen Shui-bian's administration over the past two months as setting back the progress of democracy. He pointedly underlined America's commitment to working with the Chen administration until the end of its term. Further, he bluntly warned Kuomintang chairman Ma Ying-jeou that 'the United States is watching closely and will judge those who take responsible positions on this, as well as those who play politics'.
Mr Young, who is widely seen as pro-Taiwan, was careful to say that these were not his personal views, but a message directly from Washington to the people of Taiwan.
The bluntness of that message is widely being taken on the island as a clear signal that the US has lost its patience with the KMT-led opposition coalition in Taiwan's legislature. That coalition has used its majority to vote down 61 times, over the past five years, a multibillion-dollar supplementary spending bill to purchase advanced weaponry from the United States.
The US is said to be especially annoyed with Mr Ma. He promised high-ranking Bush administration officials last March that he would act on the arms budget. But since then he has stalled.
Severely embarrassed, Mr Ma characterised Mr Young's remarks as undiplomatic and unrestrained, suggesting that their timing was not helping a cause that Mr Ma in fact supports. Mr Ma is not alone in holding these views. Taiwanese in general are sensitive to any appearance that the US is meddling in the island's internal affairs.
The instinctive raising of Taiwanese hackles in the short term should allow Mr Ma to work out a face-saving compromise - by which he initially resists US demands for immediate action on the arms purchase bill. One possible solution being floated is to vote down the bill at least once more before passing selected dribbles. That way he can tell the US he has kept his promise while delaying across-the-board increases in defence spending until sometime in the future.