Speaking at an election campaign rally in Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan, Tsai said while meeting American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond F. Burghardt the previous day in Taipei, she questioned whether there had been a possible change in U.S. policy on Taiwan. She said that she expressed concerns over the joint statement issued by U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao last week, which stated that the principle of respect for each other's sovereignty and territory is at the core of the three U.S. -China joint comuniques which guide U.S.- China relations.

The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) , which regulates unofficial relations between the U. S. and Taiwan and requires the U.S. to sell defensive arms to Taiwan, was not mentioned in the statement, raising worries and wide discussions in Taiwan that this might signal a U.S.

retreat from its support for Taiwan, Tsai told Burghardt.

"The DPP stance is that the U.S. should openly clarify that there has been no "backing off" in U.S. policy towards Taiwan if it's not the case," Tsai said.

William Stanton, director of the AIT's Taipei Office, however, earkier in the day insisted when speaking to reporters that there has been no change in U.S. policy toward Taiwan, explaining that the TRA could not be mentioned in the joint statement, otherwise there would not be a U.S.-China joint statement.

Tsai said she also told the top U.S. official in charge of dealing with Taiwan in the absence of official ties between the two sides that the DPP could not agree to Burghardt's remarks that the controversy surrounding Taiwan's recent move to widen its imports of beef products from the U.S. was a "phony issue" which had arisen because of the upcoming local elections of Taiwan.

Burghardt told reporters after a meeting with Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng Sunday that the issue on Taiwan's beef imports from the U.S. has been "politicized" ahead of Taiwan's Dec. 5 local elections, and is basically a "phony" issue.

Tsai said she told the AIT chief that the beef imports is an issue deeply related to the lives and health of local people, and has drawn grave concerns not only from the DPP, but also from many lawmakers and local government chiefs of the ruling Kuomintang.

Taiwan earlier this month lifted a ban on U.S. bone-in beef, ground beef and beef offal from cattle younger than 30 months.

The market opening measure has drawn heavy criticism, with opposition politicians and consumer rights activists launching a referendum campaign aimed at forcing the government to re-negotiate the bilateral beef trade protocol signed with Washington in late October.

Critics fear the entry of products such as ground beef and beef offal could put Taiwanese consumers at higher risk of catching bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

Burghardt arrived in Taipei Sunday for a four-day visit.

( By Worthy Chen & Bear Lee)