CLINTON NOMINEE FOR ASIAN AFFAIRS HEAD SEEN AS PRAGMATIC
Singapore, June 6 (CNA) Stanley Roth can bring a certain pragmatic balance
to US thinking on Asia and may well succeed in having US President Bill Clinton's ear if he procures the job of top policy-maker on Asia in the US State Department, The Straits Times reported Friday in a feature story filed from Washington.
Last Friday, Roth was named to the influential position of Assistant
Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, replacing Winston Lord, who had steered the Clinton Administration's Asia policy until he quit in January.
Roth, if confirmed by the Senate in the coming weeks or months, will bring
to his new job strong credentials and insight into how government works, from his various senior stints on Capitol Hill and in the Pentagon, National Security Council and the US Institute of Peace, a think-tank. These networks have also won him rapport with both officials and scholars.
Policy analysts, diplomats and officials who spoke to The Straits Times
said his Capitol Hill experience would be particularly helpful.
He was the chief foreign-policy staffer from 1985 to 1992 in the office of
Congressman Stephen Solarz, who was much respected for his knowledge and experience of Asia when he was chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Asia-Pacific. As an aide, Roth had been very active on the Cambodian issue.
His pro-business stance and familiarity with Southeast Asia were highlighted by Ernest Bower, president of the US-ASEAN Business Council, who said, "From the business community's point of view, he has a broad perspective and supports US commercial and economic interests in ASEAN."
He understands well the need for the United States to stay engaged with
mainland China and the region, Bower said, adding, "He may be more subtle in working with ASEAN. He will see that a strong relationship with ASEAN will help ease China into the world economy and security realm.
"One reason ASEAN supported APEC and took the initiative to set up the
ASEAN Regional Forum was that it saw opportunities in these for confidence-building measures with China.
"Roth will see the value of strong US-ASEAN and US-Japan relationships for
dealing more confidently with China."
Dan Slater, from the APEC Study Center of the University of Washington,
noted in a recent editorial in the Asia Pacific Economic Review, "Activists are concerned that in light of (US Secretary of State) Albright's inexperience on Asia, Mr. Roth's alleged 'trade-over-rights' agenda will prevail in the State Department.
"Such fears are heightened by the realization that Albright may not have
the same freedom to emphasize human rights as Secretary of State that she enjoyed in her lower ranking post." Albright had spoken up bluntly against human rights transgressions when she was US ambassador to the United Nations.
It is still not clear if Roth will push for a less confrontational agenda
on human rights, but observers said he understands the US stake in the region and does not take the ideological high road on mainland China or human rights.
Warren Cohen, consulting director of the Asia program at the Woodrow Wilson
Center, argued that Clinton has been sending out confusing signals on mainland China and had undermined the State Department, making it hard for a new Assistant Secretary of State to engage Beijing effectively. However, he noted that Roth is "assertive" and will get Albright's and the president's attention.
