As US President Barack Obama reshuffles his top staff in preparation for next year’s presidential election, there could be substantial change in the administration’s Asia team with implications for US policy on Taiwan.
The White House doors are spinning with a series of major developments in the past week and more are expected in the weeks and months to come.
In the past few days, Wall Street executive William Daley has been appointed as the president’s new chief of staff; Gene Sperling, a counselor to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was given the top economic policy job; and press secretary Robert Gibbs, a close presidential confidant, stepped down to become an -outside -political adviser.
These big moves within the administration are thought certain to herald other changes further down the ladder, including within the Asia team.
“Several senior Obama administration Asia officials are set to either leave government or move to new jobs within the bureaucracy as the White House tries to hit the reset button on US-China relations,” Foreign Policy magazine reported.
A post on the magazine’s Web site, dealing with behind the scenes foreign policy developments in Washington, said that US Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg “has been rumored to be leaving State for a long time now, but still remains at his post and is very active on Asia policy.”
Sources have told Foreign -Policy magazine that Steinberg never intended to stay more than two years, “but has not yet found the right job to justify him leaving.”
However, the magazine added that Jeffrey Bader, the National Security Council senior director for Asia, will leave soon. Bader and US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell have been jointly responsible for driving current US-China policy.
According to insiders, Campbell — who could eventually get Steinberg’s job — is rather more sympathetic toward Taiwan than Bader, who is less hawkish on China.
Bader could also be replaced by Japan expert Daniel Russell, who currently works under Bader. In Bader’s position, Russell would likely push for a closer relationship with Tokyo, which in turn could benefit Taiwan.
Foreign Policy magazine also said that Campbell’s principal deputy Joe Donovan is being considered for an ambassadorship, possibly to South Korea or Cambodia. Another of Campbell’s deputies, David Shear, is to be the next US ambassador to Vietnam. Thus, there could be two vacancies in an area that is heavily involved in US-China-Taiwan relations.
On top of these developments, Newsweek has reported that US ambassador to China Jon Huntsman — a former governor of Utah — might resign this year to seek the Republican Party presidential nomination for next year.
Huntsman, who once served as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan, is widely praised for his work in Beijing and is believed to retain a strong interest in Taiwan.
If he was to win the Republican nomination to challenge Obama — something that is far from certain — he would be one of the most knowledgeable presidential candidates ever on Asian affairs in general and Taiwan policy in particular.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
‘FALLACY’: Xi’s assertions that Taiwan was given to the PRC after WWII confused right and wrong, and were contrary to the facts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) claim that China historically has sovereignty over Taiwan “deceptive” and “contrary to the facts.” In an article published on Wednesday in the Russian state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Xi said that this year not only marks 80 years since the end of World War II and the founding of the UN, but also “Taiwan’s restoration to China.” “A series of instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration have affirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan,” Xi wrote. “The historical and legal fact” of these documents, as well
RSS