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Paal appointment remains on track, AIT official says

Despite mounting speculation over the appointment of Douglas Paal to lead the Taipei office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), an AIT spokesperson yesterday said the appointment process is still going on, while officials admitted Paal is frustrated by the less-than-smooth procedure.

"The process of appointing a new director for the Taipei office of the AIT is in train. The announcement will be made as soon as the selection process is completed," AIT spokesperson Judith Mudd-Krijgelmans, told the Taipei Times.

Mudd-Krijgelmans declined to comment on reports that have called into question Paal's appointment to the AIT, saying only: "We have no further comment until the decision is announced."

But an insider within the government, who has had close ties with Paal, offered his observation.

"Paal has been very neutral on some issues, and that has irritated the blue team," the insider said.

The "blue team" in the US refers to those who are relatively pro-Taiwan and have reservations about China.

"Paal has been `very frustrated' by the less-than-smooth procedure leading up to the formal announcement of his appointment," the insider told the Taipei Times last week.

Another high-ranking official said the "blue team" has expressed dissatisfaction with Paal's pro-China stance, "and they have tried every possible way to sabotage his appointment."

The New Republic, a US political weekly, published an article on Thursday once again calling Paal's appointment into question.

According to a Taipei Times report on Jan. 21, congressional conservatives were critical of Paal's nomination because of what they saw as his "unfriendly" statements towards Taiwan, as well as the dubious source of funding for his think tank, the Asia Pacific Policy Center (APPC).

Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) told the press on Sunday that it's the US' decision whether and when Paal would be formally announced as the head of the AIT in Taipei, and that Taiwan had no place to interfere or comment on the matter.

But the high-ranking official admitted that some members of the DPP government have in private expressed their "displeasure" with Paal in the wake of his previous public statements on Taiwan.

Over a year ago, Paal, a former East Asia and China policy advisor to former US president George Bush, publicly lambasted President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for what he saw as a litany of failures, according to The New Republic article.

In a column in the International Herald Tribune, Paal focused on Chen's inability to "assemble a working coalition," saying such a development "had left him floundering for a strategy to rebuild his authority."

But the high-ranking official remained optimistic about Paal's prospects for leading the AIT in Taipei as the de facto US ambassador to Taiwan.

"Even though some are dissatisfied with him, his work here will be fine, not to the extent of causing any trouble for Taiwan," the official said.

"After all, any institution will change one's interest. The institutional purpose of the AIT is to promote US-Taiwan relations. His job here is to do this. If he really hates Taiwan from the bottom of his heart, he would not have agreed to the offer," the official said.

The US informed Taiwan last year of Paal's appointment. Paal was special assistant to former US president George Bush for national security affairs and senior director for Asian Affairs on the National Security Council, where he also served in the Reagan administration.

Paal has worked in the US State Department with the Policy Planning Staff and as a senior analyst for the CIA. He also served at US embassies in Beijing and Singapore.

Paal was a student of Vice Foreign Minister Michael Kao (高英茂) at Brown University more than 30 years ago.
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