A visit to Taipei by a senior US official to commend Taiwan for its progress in fighting the global sex trade was blocked at the last minute by State Department officials in charge of Taiwan and China policy, sources told the Taipei Times.
Staff at the department's East Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau, furious after the official praised Taiwan for its improved role in blocking the smuggling of women, children and workers into the sex trade and labor slavery, prevented him from coming to Taipei next week, the sources said.
The official, Mark Lagon, who was recently tapped by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to be her senior adviser on human trafficking, was to leave the US this weekend on a five-nation trip to Asia.
While there was no objection to the other destinations -- Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore -- bureau officers managed to get the department to scotch the stop in Taiwan.
The bureau staff, who have long been considered anti-Taiwan and pro-China by many supporters of Taiwan in Washington, were annoyed by Lagon's comments last week when introducing the department's annual global human trafficking report.
In his comments, Lagon praised Taiwan for its role in breaking up a major ring smuggling women into the US and elsewhere for prostitution, and contrasted it with China's dismal record in the global sex trade.
"While China resisted joining the international community in upholding universal anti-trafficking standards, given a lack of rule of law, Taiwan's vibrant civil society and democratic character have helped it adopt significant reforms over the past year," Lagon said.
Lagon's trip to Taiwan had been finalized, and the American Institute in Taiwan and other organizations had prepared a schedule of meetings with top Taiwanese officials to reinforce the positive comments he had made in relation to Taiwan, sources said.
They also said that comments Rice made in singling out Taiwan when unveiling the report had been prompted by staffers who were working in Lagon's office.
That also served to irritate the bureau's China specialists, although they were powerless to do anything about it, sources said.
Status upgrade
The State Department report upgraded Taiwan's status from a negative "Tier 2 Watch list" to a more benign "Tier Two" status.
"Tier Two" status includes almost half of the countries that formerly had trafficking problems, but who have undertaken significant action to address them.
Taiwan's improvement was one of the "highlights" of the department's survey this year, a department official told the Taipei Times.
`Big disappointment'
The decision to prevent Lagon from making a visit to Taiwan was "a big disappointment for him," a source said.
Lagon has a long history of supporting Taiwan.
Lagon has been "a strong believer" in the country, one source said.
Ardent supporter
Lagon served as a senior-level staffer for former House of Representatives International Relations Committee chairman Jesse Helms during the years when Helms was Taiwan's most ardent supporter in the US Congress.
After Helms retired, Lagon worked at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, which is known for its pro-Taiwan position.
Department policy
He was then appointed to the post of deputy assistant secretary of state for the International Organizations Bureau, where he headed department policy on such things as membership in the UN.
In Taipei, Lagon was planning to meet a number of senior officials to discuss human trafficking and other topics, including relations between the US and Taiwan.
In his absence, he will be represented by his deputy, Mark Taylor.
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