New AIT chief welcome

President Obama was wise to make this appointment in a timely fashion.

When Obama's predecessor, Bush, took over the White House, it was nearly two years before he got around to making important personnel appointments at AIT.

Bush eventually appointed businesswoman Therese Shaheen, a campaign contributor, to the post of AIT chairwoman. Shaheen, unfortunately, lacked diplomatic experience and caused a large number of gaffes that brought Washington a string of embarrassments.

Shaheen also got personally involved in Taiwan's contentious political scene by openly siding with the then-ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) policies.

After only two years in the post, Shaheen was let go and Bush replaced her with Raymond Burghardt, a career diplomat who had himself previously headed AIT's Taipei Office.

Since his appointment, Burghardt has restored dignity to the office of AIT chairman and performed remarkably well, remaining low-key while maintaining close relationships with leaders here.

Bush had merely repeated the same mistake made by his predecessor, former President Bill Clinton, who appointed fellow Arkansas attorney James Wood to the post without giving much thought to the position.

When Clinton ran for re-election in 1996, Wood flew to Taiwan and allegedly attempted to solicit campaign donations on Clinton's behalf, causing severe embarrassment to the president that ultimately ended in Wood's resignation.

These two appointments show that while AIT may not be at the top of the U.S. president's priorities, a bad decision can have bad consequences for Washington's position in this part of the world.

Now, President Obama is widely expected to replace Burghardt as AIT chairman at any time, although nothing much has appeared in the media to suggest who might take Burghardt's place.

Judging by the appointment of Stanton, we expect Obama will avoid making the mistakes of his predecessors, Bush and Clinton, when it comes to making this important appointment.

Hopefully, Obama's advisors have learned the lessons of past administrations and will give careful thought before making any recommendations.

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