The US plans a sharp cutback in funding for the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) next year, reversing what have been steady annual increases in funding for the organization's work in Taipei and Washington in recent years.
The US government's budget for fiscal year 2007, which begins Oct. 1, slashes AIT funding by 19 percent, or US$3.7 million.
The budget, released in Washington on Monday, calls for AIT funding of US$15.8 million for next year, compared with more than US$19.4 million this year.
The figures exclude the amount that the US plans to spend on work toward the planning and construction of the new AIT headquarters, which is to be built on 2.6 hectares of land off Jinhu Road in Neihu. That building is expected to cost US$160 million.
There was no reason given in the budget documents for the drop in spending.
However, one government source contended that the budget envisions that AIT will be able to provide "basically the same level of service" as this year with the new budget.
He said the budget reflects the fact that the AIT receives a large amount of income from visa and other services. The budget calculation reflects the money expected to be generated next year.
In the current year, the AIT was expected to generate US$30 million from services it performs, including the US$18 visa processing fee. The estimates of those figures for next year were not immediately available.
It was not clear how much of the drop is related to reported plans by the administration of US President George W. Bush to downgrade the job of AIT chairman from full-time to part-time, although one government official said it "did not have anything to do with that."
Raymond Burghardt, the man tipped to be the next chairman, told the Taipei Times last month that he understands the job will become part-time.
He expects to continue to be based in Honolulu, where he is director of East-West Seminars at the East-West Center, and travel to Washington and Taiwan for special occasions, if selected for the post.
He said the decision to downgrade the position was the idea of the State Department, and reflected the greater contacts in recent years between the US government and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington.
For this year, the administration had originally requested a budget of US$19.8 million for the AIT, up from the US$19.2 million spent last year. Most of that increase was related to spending on anti-terrorist activity, and went toward boosting container security in Kaohsiung. As part of that effort, the US Customs and Border Protection office was to have hired 15 container security inspectors at the port to keep an eye on containers heading toward the US.
In related news, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed Washington has informed Taipei about the appointment for the new director of the AIT, Stephen Young, who is currently awaiting the official announcement from the State Department.
Ministry Spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said yesterday that the notification is part of the administrative procedure. The US first consults Taipei for approval of the candidate before making the official announcement.
AIT officials had recently confirmed that Young had been selected to be the new AIT director, but declined to comment on the exact timing of Young's arrival.
"Before the official announcement, Congress needs to be consulted. We are working on that right now," an AIT official told the Taipei Times in a recent telephone interview.
Additional reporting by Chang Yun-ping
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