The United States sent envoys to both Beijing and Taipei in an attempt to keep the situation under control. The expectation was that the Chinese leadership would decide at the annual summer meeting in Beidaihe what action to take against Taiwan. But Beidaihe came and went and nothing happened. Now that a whole year has gone by, cross-strait relations have noticeably improved. Ships now sail directly between Taiwan-held Kinmen island and mainland ports.
Nobody believes any longer that war is imminent.
The Chinese, it is clear, realize that Chen is serious when he says he won't declare independence. In fact, they must now realize that no leader of Taiwan, no matter what his political leanings, can possibly declare independence, given the fact that the vast majority of Taiwan's people desire neither independence nor reunification but simply the continuation of the status quo. This should be reassuring to Beijing. Of course, the situation will change overnight if China takes military action. There are still fundamentalists in the DPP who support independence regardless of the consequences, but they are clearly in the minority.