The KMT and its allies have apparently won the parliamentary elections.

Taiwan opposition wins parliamentary poll

An opposition alliance which favours friendly ties with China defeated a pro-independence grouping in Taiwan's parliamentary election according to official vote count figures quoted by Eastern TV.

As long as Chen is still President it's unlikely the Chinese will loosen up on their refusal to talk with Taiwan. But since the elections were viewed by both sides as a referendum on whether to proceed with amending the Taiwanese constitution, this will hopefully reduce the amount of delicate navigating the US is forced to do.

For an interesting view of the problem for the US, which argues that Taiwan and others, such as Israel and Georgia, can't be allowed to hijack US foreign policy, see Wagging the Dog, by Nikolas K. Gvosdev & Travis Tanner in in the Fall 2004 issue of The National Interest (sub req'd unfortunately).