Peter Brookes, one of Taiwan's most steadfast supporters in the George W. Bush administration, has resigned his position, in a development that took many China watchers in Washington by surprise.
Brookes, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia and the Pacific, will leave his position barely a year after he took the post on July 16 last year.
News of his resignation broke in a story Thursday in the Washington Times, and the resignation was confirmed by the Pentagon later in the day.
Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis said that Brookes decided to resign because it was "best for his family," a reason Brookes also gave others in Washington. "His intention was to remain in the job for about one year," Davis said.
While the resignation was confirmed privately to reporters Thursday morning after the Times article appeared, it was officially confirmed in an unusual way: in an e-mail Davis sent to reporters announcing the cancellation of a press briefing on US-East Asia policy that Brookes had scheduled for that day, at which he was to have discussed his resignation.
Brookes will continue his duties until he is replaced, but intends to leave sometime this summer, Davis said.
No replacement has been named, but early speculation centered on two National Security Council officials. One is Karen Brooks, a Southeast Asia expert who had been in the State Department under then assistant secretary for East Asia Stanley Roth during the Clinton era. She is a Democrat.
The other is Michael Green, a Japan specialist who has worked for the Defense Department and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Michael Pillsbury, a Mandarin-fluent China military expert who is a consultant and translator for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, has also been named as a possible replacement.
However, China-watchers in Washington speculate that Pillsbury is also a possible replacement for the State Department's assistant secretary for East Asia, James Kelly, who is said to be considering leaving soon.
Some sources say Brookes gave his one-month resignation notice to Douglas Feith, the under-secretary of defense for policy, last week. He announced his resignation to his staff last Friday.
However, word of his impending departure apparently began to surface at the beginning of the month.
Rumors of Brookes' departure have surfaced since last August, when the Washington Times, a newspaper that often reflects the views of the right wing in American foreign policy, ran an article saying that Brookes had lost the confidence of Rumsfeld, although Brookes was considered a steady conservative when it came to China.
Sources noted that Brookes failed to be included in a number of trips to China and other important visits to Asian countries in recent months, and was not included in Washington meetings such as that with China's Vice President Hu Jintao (
However, other observers note that Brookes has been responsible for improving military relations with Japan and the Philippines -- and devised and held a groundbreaking round of security talks with Indonesia.
Brookes is known to be extremely concerned over the Chinese missile buildup across the Strait from Taiwan -- and the threat this represents to Taiwan's existence. He also backs the most extensive US arms sales to Taiwan possible.
RSS