Former US undersecretary of state Keith Krach has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, in part for his work protecting freedoms for Taiwan and Uighurs.
“Mr Krach has ... spoken out — loudly and consistently — in support of Taiwan and its drive for independence,” the New Architecture Foundation said in its letter submitting the nomination.
In Washington, Krach served as the top official for economic growth, energy and the environment under former US president Donald Trump, and still serves as a senior adviser for the administration of US President Joe Biden.
Photo: Presidential Office via AP
He made headlines in 2020 when he became the highest-ranking US Department of State official to visit Taiwan since the nations severed diplomatic ties in 1979.
During the September visit, he attended a memorial service for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), and spoke with officials and representatives from various sectors on bolstering economic and other partnerships.
Krach in May 2020 also brokered a US$12 billion plan for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) to build a 5-nanometer fab in Arizona, setting the stage for other chip producers to build their own “trusted” facilities in the US.
Photo: Reuters
Krach also played an instrumental role in leading the US to formally recognize Uighur internment camps as “state-sponsored genocide.”
The nominators highlighted Krach’s efforts to build the Clean Network, an alliance aiming to help democracies build secure network infrastructure in response to China’s ambitions to control 5G communications.
The alliance, launched in 2020, now boasts 60 nations comprising two-thirds of global GDP, as well as more than 200 telecoms.
It was formed on the basis of the “trust principle,” a “democratic and peaceful alternative to China’s power principle” that uses transparency, positive reinforcement and economic solidarity to achieve success, the nominators said.
“Peaceful partnership, not fear mongering. That is the stark choice that Keith Krach has enabled through his years-long campaign and mission to unify the world around a common, peaceful technology accord, formally recognized today as the Clean Network alliance,” the letter said.
Taiwan counts itself among the network’s ranks, creating the opportunity to recognize its sovereignty, it added.
“Keith Krach’s attendant efforts regarding human rights abuses by China and Taiwan’s quest for independence are, in many ways, just different colors in the same noble cause that Mr Krach pursues as a life purpose,” the nominators said. “The world truly is a better and safer place because of his courage and efforts.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
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