The following is a letter I want to send to Theresa Shaheen Chairwoman
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) from the Overseas Americans in Taiwan.
I would particularly like to hear the opinions of my fellow Americans but any opinions are welcome.
Eric
What exactly is the point of sending her this letter?
As has been stated in the Chinese language and English language press here in Taiwan over the past few days, she has had, and up to the present time continues to have, zero input on any real policy decisions affecting Taiwan . . . . and (by extension) affecting the rights of American citizens in Taiwan . . . .
[quote]What exactly is the point of sending her this letter?
As has been stated in the Chinese language and English language press here in Taiwan over the past few days, she has had, and up to the present time continues to have, zero input on any real policy decisions affecting Taiwan . . . . and (by extension) affecting the rights of American citizens in Taiwan . . . .
[/quote]
The point is that a prominent American in Taiwan is being fired at the request of the PRC. She has done a great service not only for the Americans on Taiwan but the Taiwanese as well.
If she is so ineffectual why was she fired?
According to long-standing Chinese cultural tradition, women politicians are traitorous and evil.
Before you think of sending this, correct your grammar.
Ummm… call me crazy, but I thought she was in Washington DC.
Call me crazy but I thought Shaheen was the loud-mouthed lady-of-the-night … of the US proliferation establishment.
If she did jump the gun and issue congratulations to Chen before the state department, she deserves to be fired/asked to resign. She should be representing American foreign policy on Taiwan, not single-handedly defining it.
You know, I really like Therese Shaheen, and I agree with just about everything she’s said, but she has a habit of going off the reservation and saying things in public that are better left in private. Paal is a pathetic worm, and his poor judgement has been displayed by his love of sucking up to the KMT, but he has the diplomatic good sense not to make foolish statements in public.
Maybe so, but it was damn refreshing to have a blunt, straightforward diplomat for once. The same can be said for the former Labor PM of Israel, the late Yitzhak Rabin, when he was Ambassador to the U.S in the 70s. AT the time, he was notorious for his off-colored remarks, his candor, and his bluntness. He offended a lot of Democratic Party bigwigs and pissed off Jimmy Carter when he told him curtly that he did not want to listen to Amy play the piano. The state department didn’t have the highest regards for him, but the military brass at the Pentagon loved him. In my opinion, Shaheen was a breathe of fresh air in the often fake and phony diplomatic crowd in the US. I think she has done a tremendous job and the State Department has made a mistake on this one (nothing new there).
Chewy (hung-over 
)
[quote=“Chewycorns”]
blunt, straightforward diplomat
… blah blah …
Chewy (hung-over 
)[/quote]
Yeah, you are piss drunk. You forgot the point of diplomacy.
But maybe I am being a blunt and straightforward diplomat here.
What the hell is that? Do they demand nuclear weapons for everyone?
PS – Crack is whack.
That may well be the effect.
PS – Then stop smoking it.
She was tricked by the MOF into offering congratulatory remarks. It is an old strategy adopted by the MOF for many years and she should have been aware of it. All the same she was certainly shafted.
How was she tricked and when was this trick used before?
I take it from the replies that there are no real objections aside from my poor use of grammar.
What is the best way of taking this to the next step and getting the petition circulated?
Don’t forget that she was a political appointee, not a career diplomat. In other words, she can be appointed and fired for any or no reason.
I suspect you will find that the list of signatures is embarrasingly short.
Shaheen was not sacked by the PRC she was sacked for being an incompetant diplomat.
She had no respect in the American Business community here who are interested in a stable buiseness envirnment & improved links with China.
She contributed nothing to either of these goals.
Her comments when she spoke to Am Cham last year resulted in a lot of embarrassed shuffling & raising of eye brows.
She also had no respect from the local AIT people here with whom I heard she did not consult before making any of her statements leaving them completly in the dark.
This latest dimplomatic gaff was just the final straw . The fact that she has been fired should give us all hope that the American government can deal with a performance issue when it sees one.
However, She should never have been appointed to the position in the first place.The fact that she has now been dealt with reminds me of that old Churchill saying:
“You can always rely on the Americans to do the right thing…once they have explored all other alternatives”
How do you reach that conclusion? From what I read, most people feel Shaheen got what she deserved. As AmCham and AIT are probably a lot more representative of Americans in Taiwan than you are, it seems you’d be pissing off a lot of overseas Americans in Taiwan if you sent your letter.
Short of American business signatures maybe. Many business people I spoke with about this agreed with her point of view.
There are however large numbers of Americans in Taiwan that are not business people. We also intend to run a bi-lingual petition for the locals as well.