As Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan’s president, slowly makes his way home from a global tour that has upset China, the Bush administration’s snub that obliged him to scrap a diplomatically significant transit through the US may have lasting ramifications for US-Taiwan relations.

But analysts are also questioning whether the US is getting a good deal from China on key issues such as Iran and North Korea by bowing to Chinese sensitivities and squeezing Mr Chen.