William Stanton, former deputy chief of mission to the US embassy in Seoul, South Korea, has been appointed new director of the Taipei office of the American Institute in Taiwan.
Stanton is one of the most controversial figures ever to get the job and his appointment may lead to new legislation being introduced in Congress demanding that all future candidates for AIT director go through a Senate confirmation like ambassadors do.
The State Department is authorized under the Taiwan Relations Act to make the appointment without oversight.
Stanton’s name first surfaced months ago at the top of the list of potential candidates to take over from outgoing AIT Director Stephen Young, who is retiring.
Congressional sources said that complaints had been made against Stanton when he was a senior official at the Beijing embassy for being overly pro-Chinese, saying that he blocked reports that reflected badly on China from being sent to Washington.
In April, Stanton was alleged to have made highly insensitive comments about two US journalists — Taiwanese-American Laura Ling (凌志美) and Korean-American Euna Lee — who were arrested by North Korean authorities on charges they illegally entered the country.
A memorandum that circulated around the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee said Stanton told a group of young congressional staff members visiting the embassy in Seoul that the women were “stupid” and that their case was “distracting from bigger issues.”
Last month, both women were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor and US President Barack Obama has become personally involved in trying to win their freedom.
Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has since said that she favors Senate confirmation for the position of director of the American Institute in Taiwan and is expected to introduce such legislation in the near future. She was not available for comment on Wednesday.
But in a clear reference to Stanton she said last month: “Not only has there been controversy about certain past directors, but my understanding is that the current leading candidate for that position made insensitive remarks about our two US citizens in North Korea sentenced only yesterday to years in the North Korean gulag, referring to them as ‘stupid.’ Is this the kind of representation we want in such a critical posting as Taipei?”
Following Ros-Lehtinen’s remarks, the Taipei Times was told that Stanton was no longer at the top of the list to be the new director and it seems that a final decision was not made until the last minute.
As recently as last Friday, it was reported that Young had very strongly indicated that no final decision had yet been made on his replacement.
The Central News Agency reported that Young said the authorities were “very close” to picking his successor and that when a decision was made it would be announced from Washington.
The formal announcement of Stanton’s appointment said he would take over in Taipei next month.
Born in New Jersey, Stanton was educated at Fordham University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Prior to his job in Seoul, he served both as charge d’affaires ad interim and as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Canberra, Australia.
Stanton is married to Foreign Service Officer Karen Clark Stanton and they have two daughters.
Commenting on Stanton’s appointment yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it welcomed the appointment and it believed the new AIT director would fully reflect the Obama administration’s support for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policies.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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