On March 22, Taiwan held a presidential election. Ma Ying-Jeou of the Nationalist Party defeated the Democratic Progressive Party candidate. It was Taiwan's second peaceful transfer of party power through democratic elections, an excellent sign of a healthy and maturing democracy

Commenting on Ma's election, Sen. Barack Obama stated that the U.S. should respond by "rebuilding a relationship of trust and support" with democratic Taiwan. "The U.S. should reopen blocked channels of communication with Taiwan officials," Obama said.

This would actually be a hugely significant step towards recognizing the obvious -- that Taiwan is a sovereign and democratic nation deserving of formal relations with the United States. It would also be a step that would undoubtedly annoy Communist China, Taiwan's thuggish and bullying neighbor.

So does Obama mean it?

When Obama touched on "America's promise abroad" during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, the candidate mentioned both protecting Israel and standing up for Georgia. And indeed, the U.S. has a long history of both supporting emerging democracies and standing by existing democracies under threat from hostile neighbors. Taiwan certainly fits this bill.

Problem is that the Chinese communists in Beijing claim sovereignty over democratic Taiwan -- even though it is obvious that Taiwan functions as an independent state.

Unfortunately, the U.S. continues to appease Beijing's claim over Taiwan through recognition of "one China," a weak and outdated policy that goes back to a 1972 "joint communiqué" issued by President Nixon and Chinese dictator Mao Tse-Tung.

Since then Taiwan has transformed itself from an authoritarian regime and into a representative democracy with a dynamic market economy -- precisely the kind of country whose representatives should be able to communicate directly with Washington, D.C.

In October 2007, Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 48, which, among other things, called for a lifting of travel restrictions to the U.S. by "high level and elected officials of Taiwan, including the president of Taiwan" and for "direct cabinet-level exchanges in order to strengthen a policy dialogue with Taiwan."

Yet missing from the very short list of co-sponsors for the resolution was Obama (to be fair, Sen. John McCain, along with the majority of the rest of the U.S. Senate, was also absent as a co-sponsor).

So months before Obama stated that the U.S. "should reopen blocked channels of communications with Taiwan officials," he had an opportunity to both co-sponsor and help push through his committee a resolution advocating for just such a re-opening of communication with Taiwan.

Actions speak louder than words. And Obama's failure to take action -- even such symbolic action as a concurrent resolution -- to "reopen" blocked communication with democratic Taiwan makes his statement about "rebuilding a relationship of trust and support" with Taiwan seem like little more than campaign rhetoric.

Mike Krause is a senior fellow at the Independence Institute in Golden. He blogs about China at www.regimewatch.com