News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Vietnam Ambassador-To-Be

Date: September 01, 2001

"Top U.S. Diplomat on Taiwan Wraps Up Two-Year Stint, Prepares for Job in Vietnam
By William Foreman Associated Press Writer

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - When Taiwan surprised the world by electing a president many feared would spark a war with China, Raymond Burghardt was key to calming nerves in Washington as the top U.S. representative to the island.

Now the seasoned diplomat - whose high-profile approach helped redefine the normally quiet Taiwan posting - is wrapping up his two-year stint here Saturday and is hoping to take over as the next ambassador to Vietnam.

Although Burghardt was the ambassador to Taiwan, no one could officially call him that. His real title was "director" of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. Embassy.

America had to downgrade relations with Taiwan and rename its embassy about 20 years ago when Washington switched diplomatic recognition to rival China. Part of the deal with Beijing was that U.S.-Taiwan relations would be unofficial - at least in name.

To avoid riling China, many of Burghardt's predecessors remained nearly invisible, avoiding journalists and rarely speaking at public events.

Burghardt, a New Yorker, has boldly strayed from that tradition, holding background briefings at the Taipei Foreign Correspondent Club and publicly sharing his personal views about the hotly debated China issue.

His biggest success here was his handling of U.S.-Taiwan relations after last year's upset victory by President Chen Shui-bian, according to U.S. and Taiwanese officials.

Few in Washington knew Chen and many believed he was a radical supporter of Taiwan independence who would call China's bluff about attacking if the island ever seeks a permanent split. This concerned America because U.S. troops would be Taiwan's most likely defender if China's massive military invaded.

After the election, Burghardt frequently visited Chen, explaining the U.S. concerns and relaying word to Washington that the new Taiwanese president wouldn't do anything rash.

"He played an invaluable role as our key interlocutor with Chen Shui-bian," said Susan Shirk, a former China expert at the U.S. State Department who is now research director at the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.

Some Taiwanese officials complain in private that Burghardt, 56, was too visible during that tense time and degraded the Taiwanese presidency by having too much influence. Others said Chen welcomed Burghardt's visits because they increased his credibility at home and in Washington.

Burghardt declined a request by The Associated Press for an interview before his departure.

Before joining the foreign service in 1969, Burghardt was a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia. He has never served as an official ambassador and has spent most of the last decade as a diplomat in Asia.

One of his most questionable decisions was made when he was a political counselor in Beijing during the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square democracy protests in 1989.

While Chinese troops were gunning people down in the streets and arresting democracy activists, a dissident on the top of China's most-wanted list, Fang Lizhi, took his wife and son to the U.S. Embassy and requested refuge inside.

Burghardt sent Fang back out on the street. When word got back to Washington, Burghardt was immediately instructed to bring him back. Fang spent more than a year in the embassy.

James Lilley, the U.S. ambassador to China at the time, defended Burghardt, saying he was only following orders.

When the U.S. Senate holds confirmation hearings for Burghardt's Vietnam appointment, Republicans should back him but there might be opposition from liberals, said Lilley.

Burghardt was a diplomat in Central America in the 1980s, and some senators might have problems with his involvement in the U.S. policy of arming Contra rebels who were fighting Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government.

"Enmities last. This is a vicious town," Lilley said. "