Therese Shaheen, a former Taiwan-based businesswoman and major George W. Bush election campaign contributor, has been named the head of the American Institute in Taiwan's (AIT's) Washington headquarters.
Shaheen, whose official title will be chairman of the board and managing director of AIT, replaces Richard Bush, who left AIT earlier this year to become director of the Center for Northeast Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, an influential Washington think tank.
Taipei yesterday welcomed the appointment, saying it would enhance Taipei-Washington relations.
"Shaheen, with her rich, related work experience and understanding of cross-strait affairs, is well suited for the position," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release stated yesterday.
"Our government believes that Shaheen will faithfully reflect the George W. Bush administration's current policy toward Taiwan after taking up her post, in such a way as to enhance substantive bilateral ties based upon the existing sound foundation of mutual trust," the statement said.
Before joining AIT, Shaheen was president of the US-Asia Commercial Development Corp, a Washington-based firm with a major presence in Taiwan.
The company specializes in Asian market entry, international joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, capital investment and technology development. The firm's focus was in cellular-phone markets, telecommunications, submarine cables, long-distance telecommunication and semiconductors, primarily in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.
Shaheen comes to AIT well connected with the Bush administration. Her husband, Lawrence Di Rita, is Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's chief of staff, and her former partner in US-Asia Commercial Development, Richard Lawless, was recently appointed the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia and Pacific affairs.
Lawless, who founded US-Asia Commercial Development with Shaheen in 1987, was previously a close confidant and business partner of President Bush's brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, with whom he conducted millions of dollars in real-estate and import-export business between 1989 and 1993.
The new AIT chairman contributed US$200,000 to Bush's presidential campaign in 2000. According to the campaign watchdog The Center for Responsive Politics, she initially donated US$200,000, but Bush, under a self-imposed US$100,000 limit, returned half of the money.
Shaheen's appointment comes at a time when the role of the Washington headquarters of AIT has been reduced under the Bush administration. Many Taiwan observers in Washington say this is because of the increased access Taiwan enjoys to officials in Washington.
Not only does the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office have enhanced access to administration officials, but the number of Taiwanese officials and legislators coming to Washington for talks with administration officials has risen sharply over the past couple of years.
Recent visits include those by the first lady, Wu Shu-chen (
Observers note that Shaheen has no government experience, in contrast with earlier AIT heads, who included Richard Bush, who was a senior policy official in the Bill Clinton administration, and Nat Bellocchi, who had ambassadorial rank when he took up the post.
But Shaheen, who has long coveted the AIT post, has written extensively in favor of greater US support for Taiwan. In a Washington Times article published in March 2001, for instance, Shaheen argued for closer US-Taiwan military ties and an "integrated defensive alliance" to repel any Chinese attack.
"It is plain to all that Taiwan is incapable of defending itself against a determined attack from the PRC," she wrote.
"Certainly the United States would have to become directly involved, and soon, if we were to save the island," she said.
Many Taiwan-watchers note that Shaheen's connections will stand her in good stead, despite the lesser official role of the office and her lack of government experience.
In this, they say, she will be able to parry the greater recent influence of the institute's Taiwan representative Douglas Paal, who is said to have the solid backing of the State Department, especially Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs James Kelly.
Additional reporting by Sandy Huang
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