Top US defense policymaker for Asia Richard Lawless has quit at a critical time for the administration of President George W. Bush, which is under pressure to devise a strategy to counter China's military ambitions.
Lawless, the deputy under secretary of defense for Asia and Pacific security affairs, "has elected to retire from the US government in July 2007 after four-and-a-half years of distinguished service" in the Pentagon, the Defense Department said in a statement.
Aside from dealing with China, Lawless had been a key figure in handling the US security alliances with Japan and South Korea, particularly in talks over the future of military bases in two Asian allies.
"I appreciate the opportunity to serve the nation in a time of war in the face of multiple challenges, and to have been able to do so in the company of truly selfless patriots," Lawless said in a brief statement.
Although Lawless, who had serious back problems and underwent surgery, resigned because of personal reasons, his absence would be felt, especially as the Pentagon considers strategies to cope with an expanding Chinese military, experts said.
The Pentagon is soon expected to submit its annual report to Congress on China's military power.
Lawless's departure "is an extraordinary loss," said Daniel Blumenthal, the Pentagon's senior director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia until November 2004.
"He does not see Asia through Sino-centric lenses like so many in the administration. He is committed to a Japan and allies-first policy in Asia, where others think that what is good for China is good for America," Bluementhal said.
"He is the rare policymaker with both a strategic vision and operational capabilities," he added.
Richard Bush, an Asian expert at Washington-based Brookings Institution, cautioned against "overreading the departure of one person," and said he did not expect a big shift in policy and direction in favor of China.
"This is happening at the same time when Congress is exerting some pressure on the economic side of our relationship with China and underlying all this is the reality of the situation and reality of certain interests," he said.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS