New AIT chief welcome

According to an announcement just made by the AIT, the current AIT Taipei office director Stephen M. Young will be replaced next month by William A. Stanton, the current deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea.

Stanton, who will take over as America's de facto ambassador in Taipei, following a month of consultation in Washington, possesses valuable experience in this region, and his appointment is welcomed.

According to news reports, Stanton has formerly served in a variety of posts including deputy director of the State Department's Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs and the Special Assistant for East Asia and Pacific Affairs for the State Department's undersecretary for political affairs.

Stanton studied Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan in 1986 and 1987 and is highly knowledgeable about Taiwan affairs and cross-Taiwan Strait relations.

Stanton's job will include preparatory work for moving AIT's Taipei headquarters from its present location on Xinyi Road — which used to house a military advisory office and is now considered a security threat due to its proximity to the street — to a brand new location in the suburb of Neihu.

AIT's move will symbolize the permanency of close ties between Taipei and Washington, even though they remain “unofficial” due to the lack of formal diplomatic relations.

Over recent weeks, news reports had suggested that Stanton's appointment by U.S. President Barack Obama had somehow been stymied by comments he purportedly made to congressional staff members visiting the embassy in Korea.

According to the reports, Stanton allegedly said that U.S. television journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling were “stupid” for illegally entering North Korea, where they were arrested and sentenced to hard labor by Pyongyang.

Experience shows that whenever there is a succession at AIT's Taipei office, vicious rumors start circulating in Washington about the director-to-be in the hopes of shooting down the appointment.

When Douglas Paal was nominated by former U.S. President George W. Bush to take over AIT's Taipei office in 2002, rumors began circulating around Washington suggesting that President Bush was furious about an interview Paal granted to the news media in which Paal said Bush had “misspoke” when he promised to do “all it took” to defend Taiwan against an attack from mainland China.

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