 Although President Ma Ying-jeou takes pride in acting as a peacemaker among Taiwan, China and the U.S., the recent dispute with the U.S. over beef imports is shadowing two-way ties. Good Taiwan-U.S. relations are the cornerstone of Taiwan's diplomacy and offer a guarantee for Taiwan's national identity and its democratic lifestyle. But his administration's lack of heed toward Taiwan's relations with Japan and the U.S. is obvious. Former President Lee Teng-hui's lobbying efforts in the U.S. helped Taiwan win backers from the U.S. Congress and the academic sector, and influential figures of this kind have helped safeguard Taiwan's security over the past 60 years. We realize why the Ma administration prioritizes a pro-China strategy, but it also has to attach the same degree of importance to Taiwan's links with Japan and the U.S. to prevent the stakes from rising. The government has apparently done nothing in this regard. If the government forswears efforts to forge better ties with the two countries, fewer and fewer U.S. elite will be concerned about Taiwan, leaving room for China to lobby the U.S. to scrap the Taiwan Relations Act. Taiwan must further improve its links with the U.S. to offset the danger of leaning too much toward China and to assuage the misgivings of the people of Taiwan about the pro-China stance of the Ma administration. Former U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a long-term supporter of Taiwan, will arrive in Taiwan Jan. 10 with a group of pro-Taiwan figures, including chairman of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council. Ma must not give the cold-shoulder to them just to please China because China will not treat Taiwan the same way if the U.S. alienates Taiwan. 