Print

Mail

wiki links

American envoy's visit raises complex protocol question

The planned visit of a US envoy today raises a question about America's complex relationship with the Taiwanese: Who is the highest-ranking US diplomat in the country?

Washington has two key diplomats handling Taiwanese relations, but US and Taiwanese officials wouldn't say which person is more important -- a rare event in the diplomatic world, where rank is usually clearly spelled out.

The rare two-headed diplomatic approach was created in 1979 after the US cut official relations with Taiwan and recognized China. The solution was to create the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), with offices here and in Washington. On paper, the institute is described as a nonprofit, private corporation -- mostly funded by the US State Department. In practice, it operates like an embassy.

The Washington office was supposed to serve as an extra layer of bureaucracy that kept Taiwanese diplomats from having direct contact with the State Department and White House. To avoid ruffling China, the Taiwan-ese were supposed to use AIT in Washington as a go-between for the two governments.

The envoy arriving today for a routine five-day visit is Therese Shaheen, the chair and managing director of AIT in Washington. She was appointed last year. Her counterpart is Douglas Paal, the Taipei-based director of AIT.

One thing that was never clearly stated when AIT was founded was which AIT diplomat was more senior, the one in Washington or Taipei.

When reporters asked Taipei-based AIT spokesman Judith Mudd-Krijgelmans, she declined to answer the question and passed it on to the State Department. After three days, Washington had yet to respond.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Richard Shih (石瑞琦) also declined to comment after a brief chuckle.

"It's no problem for us to communicate with the US government through various channels," he said.
This story has been viewed 1713 times.