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Top two AIT jobs to become one, no word on appointee

The US government will "lump together" the appointment of American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) managing director and AIT Taipei office director to achieve smoother operations, David Lee (李大維), Taiwan's representative to the US, said on Thursday.

Lee made the remarks when asked why the appointment of AIT managing director has been stalled for so long.

The post has been vacant for 19 months, ever since Therese Shaheen resigned in April of last year.

Reports had said that the US State Department would ask Raymond Burghardt, who served as the AIT Taipei office director from 1999 to 2001, to head the AIT, and that his appointment would be announced prior to President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) visit to Central America in September.

After ending his AIT Taipei office director tenure in 2001, Burghardt took over as US ambassador to Vietnam, serving in that post until last year.

He assumed his current post as a department chief at the East-West Center in Hawaii early this year.

Lee said senior US officials did tell him that the new AIT managing director would be announced prior to Chen's visit, but he learned later that the appointment was shelved.

The reasons for shelving the appointment could be attributed to post-Hurricane Katrina relief efforts as well as differences over whether the AIT managing director should be a political appointee or a career diplomat.

"The original planned candidate" has not been changed, Lee said.

As for who will succeed AIT Director Douglas Paal, whose term expires at the end of this year, Lee said the US State Department has tentatively chosen someone, but the US has not yet consulted with Taiwan on the candidate.
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