Jeffrey Bader, senior director for Asian Affairs with the US’ National Security Council (NSC) and US President Barack Obama’s top adviser on China, will leave his job at the end of this week.
He is the third member of the president’s vitally important China team to announce his resignation in the last two months.
The exit of Bader, US deputy secretary of state James Steinberg and US ambassador to China Jon Huntsman is almost certain to have an impact on Obama’s China policy, but is unlikely to affect Taiwan in any substantive way.
It could lead to a slightly harder line on China, with more criticism and pressure on such issues as human rights.
However, policy decisions on major Taiwan issues, such as arms sales, are not expected to change.
Bader and Steinberg were brought into the administration in the first place to strengthen ties throughout Asia, but most particularly to cultivate relations with Beijing — relations that are now cooling.
While Bader, Steinberg and Hunstman are thought to have been successful in many ways, the White House and the US Department of State are worried about China’s increasingly autocratic policies and military buildup.
As a result, more attention is being paid to developing relations with Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia and this attention could increase.
The New York Times reports that the loss of the three “most prominent players on China policy” signals an Obama administration shake-up that could reinforce efforts to “counterbalance” Beijing.
Bader, a veteran China-hand, is returning to the influential Washington-based think tank, the Brookings Institution, and will be replaced by his deputy Daniel Russel, a Japan expert.
Steinberg’s departure is thought likely to increase the power of US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Kurt -Campbell, who also has extensive Japan experience.
Huntsman, returning to Washington to seek the Republican presidential nomination and challenge Obama in next year’s White House race, is being replaced by the lower-profile trade expert and current US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
A friend of Bader, who asked not to be named, told the Taipei Times that the stress and strain of the NSC had taken a toll on Bader and that Steinberg’s decision to leave had also influenced his decision.
Russel speaks Japanese and has worked at the UN and in Europe.
US foreign policy officials were reluctant to speculate on the degree of change that could result from the personnel moves.
They said that while the advice reaching the top might change in subtle ways, Obama, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon would continue to make the final decisions.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS