Beijing seeks ouster of envoy

The State Department is planning to replace the head of the unofficial U.S. government office in charge of Taiwan after receiving complaints from Beijing, The Washington Times has learned.

Chinese government officials for months have been pressing the department to remove Therese Shaheen, Washington director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto U.S. embassy, Bush administration officials said.

Mrs. Shaheen is viewed by the Chinese as pro-Taipei and publicly has said the Chinese government’s claims that the U.S. opposes Taiwan’s independence are inaccurate.

Mrs. Shaheen was criticized in public and private by senior Chinese leaders during the past several months as part of Beijing’s diplomacy on Taiwan, which it views as a breakaway province and not a separate country.

Two U.S. officials said yesterday that Mrs. Shaheen has not resigned but that senior State Department officials are considering her replacement.

In the past, she has clashed with another AIT official, Douglas Paal, the U.S. diplomatic representative based in Taipei who has been criticized for his pro-Beijing views. Mrs. Shaheen is based in Washington.

Asked if Mrs. Shaheen will be replaced, a senior State Department official familiar with Asian affairs declined to comment.

One official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Chinese government has made several official protests to both the State Department and the White House National Security Council staff claiming Mrs. Shaheen is pro-Taiwan.

Mrs. Shaheen also was a topic of discussion during Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo’s visit to Washington on March 9.

Mr. Dai asked the Bush administration to provide China with a “demonstration or symbol of good faith by having Therese removed from her position,” the official said.

“Apparently, senior people at State and NSC are on the verge of moving her out of her position as a gesture of good faith and to move the relationship with Beijing forward,” the official said.

A second official said senior Chinese government officials, including Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, have complained to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell several times since September about Mrs. Shaheen.

“She is the first real target of the PRC,” said this official, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China. “They have collected intelligence on her very carefully since she briefed Bush and debated Paal in front of Bush last fall.”

The second official said Taiwan “no longer has the lobbying power” it had 20 years ago to influence U.S. policy debates.

China, on the other hand, now “knows more about U.S. policy processes and people and this is their first test case to boldly try and destroy a pro-Taiwan official,” the official said.

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