Who speaks for U.S. on Asia policy?

Who speaks for U.S. on Asia policy?

By Edward Neilan

State, Treasury, Defense take turns but lack of single voice
heard from Washington during financial crisis sows confusion.

TOKYO (JP): The United States' failure to speak with a single
authoritative voice to articulate its policy in Asia at a time of
severe financial crisis is damaging America's image in the
region.

The mixed, confusing messages coming through have given Asians
reasons to question American motives and leadership. The
communications mishmash has deepened suspicions that the U.S.was
somehow behind the currency and banking collapse, and will
benefit unduly from the recovery.

And there is a new round of anti-American demonstrations in
newspaper editorials and, in some cases, in the streets.

Who speaks for U.S. policy in Asia?

Not the White House, which is consumed with efforts to
deflect effects of the current hints of scandal and other damage
control activitivies. The world is fortunate that none of
President Bill Clinton's favored interns turned out to be a
Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, Taiwan, Russian,
Iraqi, or Israeli spy. A national security dimension to the
current fuss would have been too much to bear.

Secretary of State Madeline Albright is too preoccupied with
the Middle East, including Iraq, to give Asia a tumble.

Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin at first acted as if he didn't
know where Thailand was, then began behaving like Henry
Kissinger, issuing cryptic instructions on survival to Indonesia
and South Korea.

Madame Albright called a joint press conference to insist
there was no turf warfare which was a dead giveaway that such was
the case, that she was bothered by Rubin's encroachment in the
diplomacy arena.

Clinton has said privately he didn't want a strong Secretary
of State to steal his own thunder as a foreign policymaker. He
gained a page in the history books by naming the first woman to
the post but if he becomes a hermit in the White House because of
the heat of scandal he may need a strong Secretary of State.

It is interesting that Clinton's two top defenders at home
(wife Hillary) and in the cabinet (Albright) are women.

If Clinton continues to display shyness in foreign affairs,
particularly]y Asian affairs, what will be his reception in China
in the fall and will the trip go ahead or be canceled? An image
of stability is at stake on that call.

Secretary of Defense William Cohen made a strong visit to the
region and told Asians, in effect, that the U.S. would stand by
them through thick and thin. Trouble is, the Cold War is over,
and the region is more interested in bailouts than bombers and in
loan-rollovers than Theater Missile Defense. Cohen's visit to a
previously top secret Chinese battle control center may have
helped Washington-Beijing ties but it didn't improve the bottom
line in Bangkok or credit ratings in Taipei.

In Tokyo, Cohen and new U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley
apologized for keeping residents awake with unannounced night
preparations for the carrier U.S.S. Independence heading for the
Middle East. But they glossed over the issue of an Okinawan
heliport which threatens the Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto
government.

Rubin, his deputy Lawrence Summers and U.S. Trade
Representative Charlene Barshefsky persist in telling the
Japanese to spur domestic demand, speaking from rostrums in
Davos, Switzerland, instead of in Asia.

Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Stuart Eisenstadt
said in Davos "We are still testing the waters."

Presumably, he was talking about the search for solutions to
the Asian financial crisis and not about U.S. Asian policy.

Adding to the gaggle of American voices, some of them
contradictory, are officials from the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank, both essentially American-directed institutions
in the eyes of most Asians.

Does the name Stanley Roth ring a bell? He is the assistant
secretary of state for Asia and Pacific but he is the loneliest
man in Washington because he can't get a word in edgeways on
Asian affairs. He is said to be waiting for his telephone to
ring.

The spectacle is reminiscent of the first Clinton
administration when then-Secretary of State Warren Christopher
logged some 30 stopovers in Damascus on Middle East diplomacy but
was a stranger in Asia.

Then-Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and Pacific Winston
Lord, former ambassador to China, went public with a memo to
Christopher saying, in effect, "Where are we?" and "What is our
policy in Asia?" Some improvement was noted thereafter.

Perhaps the Lord memo needs to be dusted off and reissued.