Ban appointed B. Lynn Pascoe as undersecretary general for political affairs, replacing Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria who served under former secretary general Kofi Annan. Ban took over the U.N. leadership on Jan. 1 and has been forming his own new team since.

Pascoe has served as U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, held posts in European and Euro-Asian affairs at the U.S. State Department and was former director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de-facto U.S. embassy in Taipei.

Pascoe served from 1993-96 as the head of the American Institute in Taiwan on the island. During that time he met with the Taiwanese president in his office — the first such meeting by an American official in 15 years — to say Washington was widening contacts with its trading partner, despite having no formal ties.

China, which regards self-governing Taiwan as Chinese territory, was outraged.

Richard Vuylsteke, now executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, remembered Pascoe as a savvy political operator with much personal magnetism.

“He had a very good reputation,” Vuylsteke said. “He was the kind of person you like to have dinner with — a straight-shooter, a very gracious person.”

As a political affairs adviser, Pascoe will guide the U.N. in various areas dealing with world politics.

The most important posts in the U.N. system have gone to the five U.N. Security Council permanent members — the U.S., Russia, France, Britain and China — and countries that contribute the most to the U.N.