Daily Archives: December 2, 2016

Trump Chats With Taiwan’s President, a First? Since Diplomatic Relations Cut in 1979. Uh-oh! #OneChina

December 2, 2016 By in EAP|East Asia, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Foreign Service, Huh? News, Lessons, Media, Realities of the FS, Regional Bureaus, Social Media, Spectacular, State Department, Transition, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions, US Presidents Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted: 4:21  pm PT
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Via history.state.gov:

During Jimmy Carter’s presidency, the most dramatic moment in Sino-American relations occurred on December 15, 1978, when, following months of secret negotiations, the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) announced that they would recognize one another and establish official diplomatic relations. As part of the agreement, the United States recognized the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, and declared it would withdraw diplomatic recognition from Taiwan (also known as the Republic of China [ROC]).
[…]
A new era began with a rapprochement during Richard Nixon’s presidency. Nixon and his aide, Henry Kissinger, found ready partners in Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, and Zhou Enlai, the Chinese Premier, who also wanted to improve Sino-U.S. relations. Their efforts resulted in the Shanghai Communiqué, which laid the basis for future cooperation between the two countries even while acknowledging continuing disagreements on the subject of Taiwan. As part of this rapprochement, the two countries opened liaison offices in one another’s capitals in 1973, a time when Taiwan still had an Embassy in Washington. The liaison offices, which in many ways operated as de facto embassies, represented a significant concession by the People’s Republic of China, which opposed the acceptance of “two Chinas” because that implied both were legitimate governments.
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PRC leaders repeatedly expressed displeasure with the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which became law on April 10, 1979. The TRA was influenced by Congressional supporters of Taiwan and stated that it is the policy of the United States “to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character; and to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.” In his signing statement, Carter declared that he would use the discretion granted to him by Congress to interpret the TRA “in a manner consistent with our interest in the well-being of the people on Taiwan and with the understandings we reached on the normalization of relations with the People’s Republic of China.”
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On January 1, 1979, the United States recognized the PRC and established diplomatic relations with it as the sole legitimate government of China. On the same day, the United States withdrew its recognition of, and terminated diplomatic relations with, the Republic of China as the government of China.  The U.S. embassy in Taipei was closed on February 28, 1979. The U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing was converted to an Embassy on March 1, 1979, and Leonard F. Woodcock, who had been head of the Liaison Office, was appointed Ambassador.

 

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Ex-Security Guard #AdamaBarrow Defeats Gambian Dictator #YahyaJammeh

December 2, 2016 By in AF |Africa, Elections, Foreign Affairs, Spectacular, Transition, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , ,

Posted: 4:04  pm ET
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FBI to Veteran Diplomat Robin Raphel: “Do you know any foreigners?” #criminalizingdiplomacy

December 2, 2016 By in Ambassadors, Controversies, Diplomatic Security, Federal Agencies, Foreign Service, FSOs, Huh? News, John F. Kerry, Leadership and Management, Lessons, Realities of the FS, Reputation, SCA | South Central Asia, Secretary of State, Security, Security Clearance, Spectacular, State Department, Top Ranks, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Posted: 1:29  pm ET
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We’ve posted previously about Ambassador Robin Raphel in this blog. See Case Against Veteran Diplomat Robin Raphel Ends Without Charges, Who’s Gonna Say Sorry?. Also below:

Today, the Wall Street Journal runs an extensive account of what happened and why this case is a concerning one for American diplomats:

The NSA regularly swept up Pakistani communications “to, from or about” senior U.S. officials working in the country. Some American officials would appear in Pakistani intercepts as often as once a week. What Raphel didn’t realize was that her desire to engage with foreign officials, the very skill set her supervisors encouraged, had put a target on her back.

The FBI didn’t have a clear picture of where Raphel fit on the State Department organizational chart. She was a political adviser with the rank of ambassador but she wasn’t a key policy maker anymore. She seemed to have informal contacts with everyone who mattered in Islamabad—more, even, than the sitting ambassador and the CIA station chief.

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State Department officials said that when they spoke to the FBI agents, they had the feeling they were explaining the basics of how diplomats worked.

At times, Raphel’s colleagues pushed back—warning the FBI that their investigation risked “criminalizing diplomacy,” according to a former official who was briefed on the interviews.

In one interview, the agents asked James Dobbins, who served as SRAP from 2013 to 2014, whether it was OK for Raphel to talk to a Pakistani source about information that wasn’t restricted at the time, but would later be deemed classified.

“If somebody tells you something in one conversation, you might write that up and it becomes classified,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean the next time you see them that you can’t talk about what you’d already talked about.”

[…]

Over the past two years, diplomats in Pakistan and the U.S. have scaled back contacts, according to officials in both countries. U.S. diplomats say they are afraid of what the NSA and the FBI might hear about them.

“What happened to Raphel could happen to any of us,” said Ryan Crocker, one of the State Department’s most highly decorated career ambassadors. Given the empowerment of law enforcement after 9/11 and the U.S.’s growing reliance on signals intelligence in place of diplomatic reporting, he said, “we will know less and we will be less secure.”

“Look what happened to the one person who was out talking to people,” said Dan Feldman, Raphel’s former boss at State. “Does that not become a cautionary tale?”

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Diplomatic Security had yet to restore her security clearance. Some of her friends at the State Department said they believed the FBI opposed the idea.

Kerry and Raphel stood close together for only a couple of minutes. On the sidelines of the noisy gathering, Kerry leaned over and whispered into Raphel’s ear: “I am sorry about what has happened to you.”

Read in full below:

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Trump-Sharif TelCon Jolts World, India Issues Deadpan Response

December 2, 2016 By in Countries 'n Regions, Foreign Affairs, Huh? News, India, Realities of the FS, SCA | South Central Asia, State Department, Transition, Trump Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment

Posted: 3:30 am ET
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President-elect Trump had a chat with Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif, see the read out below.  After Sharif’s invitation to visit Pakistan, Mr. Trump reportedly said he would love to come to Pakistan, “a fantastic country, fantastic place of fantastic people.” According to The Times of India,  the Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup issued a deadpan response: “We look forward to the President-elect helping Pakistan address the most outstanding of its outstanding issues – terrorism.” 

The Trump Transition has released its own sober readout of the telephone conversation on November 30, but Pakistan’s version got all the eyeballs.

For comparison, click here for the WH readout of the phone call between President Obama and PM Sharif on November 21, 2014.  Click here for the readout of that same phone call from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.

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Trump Transition: Additional Agency Landing Team Members For @StateDept

December 2, 2016 By in Ambassadors, State Department, Transition, Trump Tags: , , , , ,

Posted: 1:25 am ET
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We are updating the list of the Trump Transition Landing Team for the State Department as four names have been added since we posted last.  The original post is appended after the update:

 

Robert Blau
Employer (current or most recent): U.S. Department of State (Retired)
Funding source: Volunteer | via greatagain.gov

Robert Blau is a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer. He previously served as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim (El Salvador) from January 2009 until September 2010.  It looks like he served with Ambassador Charles L. Glazer, previously named as member of the landing team.  Ambassador Glazer was appointed by President George W. Bush as US Ambassador to El Salvador from January 2007 until January 2009. We’ve tagged him under two posts in this blog, here and here.


Catharine O’Neill
Employer (current or most recent): U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee (Formerly)
Funding source: Volunteer | via greatagain.gov

eenews.net notes that Catharine O’Neill is “a recent college graduate, according to her LinkedIn profile. She graduated earlier this year from the University of Vermont with a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies and political science. She interned for the summer on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.”


Andrew Peek
Employer (current or most recent): Claremont McKenna College
Funding source: Volunteer | via greatagain.gov

Peek was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College (2015).  He is a former U.S. Army Intelligence officer and a fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at AFPC according to this American Foreign Policy Council bio here.


Herman Pirchner
Employer (current or most recent): American Foreign Policy Council
Funding source: Volunteer | via greatagain.gov

Herman Pirchner, Jr. is the founding President of the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC), a non-profit public policy organization headquartered in Washington, DC. He directed the national security team advising the 2012 Presidential campaign of Newt Gingrich. According to his bio, before founding AFPC, Mr. Pirchner served in the U.S. Senate as Director of Legislation for Senator Roger Jepsen (R-IA)  and Legislative Assistant to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) current Chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Originally posted: Nov 20, 4:55 pm ET
Updated Nov 21, 12:51 pm PT

We previously posted about transition names for the State Department (see @StateDept Transition Names: Jim Carafano, Kristie Kenney, Patrick Kennedy, Joseph MacManus). On November 18, President-elect Trump announced the first wave of agency landing teams for the Department of Defense, Department of State, National Security Council, and the Department of Justice. The following are the names for the State Department landing team:


Ambassador Jackie Wolcott – Former Ambassador/Special Representative
Employer (current or most recent): U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
Funding source: Volunteer

According to state.gov, Ambassador Wolcott was previously appointed U.S. Ambassador to the UN Security Council. She also previously served as United States Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and as Special Representative of the President of the United States for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons from December 2003 through February of 2006.  She had been Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs (State/OI) from 2001 to 2003.  Ballotpedia says that she is a member of Donald Trump’s presidential transition team. Click here for her bio from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom where she is commissioner.


Charles Glazer – Former US Ambassador to El Salvador
Employer (current or most recent): Fieldpoint Private
Funding source: Private

Ballotpedia notes that Glazer was previously George W. Bush’s ambassador to El Salvador and with fellow Connecticut delegate Kevin Moynihan served as state finance chairs for the Donald Trump campaign. Click here for his Wikipedia bio.

 

Christopher Burnham – Former A/S for Resource Management
Employer (current or most recent): Cambridge Global Capital, LLC
Funding source: Volunteer

He was originally appointed as Director of the Bureau of Finance and Management Policy and Chief Financial Officer  at the State Department in 2002. History.state.gov lists him as Assistant Secretary of State for Resource Management from 2002-2005. He was appointed UN Under-Secretary-General for Management in 2005 until his resignation in 2006.  According to Ballotpedia, Burnham is a member of Donald Trump’s presidential transition team.


Erin Walsh
Employer (current or most recent): Goldman Sachs (Retired)
Funding source: Volunteer

According to Ballotpedia, she is a member of Donald Trump’s presidential transition team. Her bio posted on theantiquitiescoalition.org notes that she served previously as Senior Advisor in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department (State/NEA).


Ashley Bell
Employer (current or most recent): Republican National Committee
Funding source: Transition entity

He is the national director of African-American outreach for the Republican National Committee. He was previously elected as a Democrat in Georgia, holding the position of County Commissioner, but later switched to the Republican party in late 2010. Bell supported Sen. Paul for President abut later in the race switched his support to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) according to NBCNews.  According to Ballotpedia, he is a member of Donald Trump’s presidential transition team.


Alexander Gray
Employer (current or most recent): Trump for America, Inc.
Funding source: Transition entity 

Gray is a Trump campaign adviser who formerly worked for Republican Congressman Randy Forbes (R-VA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower & Projection Forces Subcommittee.  On the campaign website, he is also identified as a senior military advisor.

Additional name for the State Department landing team announced on November 21:

Steven Groves
Employer (current or most recent): The Heritage Foundation
Funding source: Private

Groves is the Bernard and Barbara Lomas senior research fellow in Heritage’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. His Heritage bio notes that “Before joining Heritage in 2007, Groves was senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He played a lead role in the subcommittee’s investigation of the U.N. “oil-for-food” scandal, the most extensive congressional probe ever conducted of the United Nations.”

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US Embassy Accra’s “Operation Spartan Vanguard” Shuts Down Fake U.S. Embassy in Ghana

December 2, 2016 By in AF |Africa, Consular Work, Diplomatic Security, Follow the Money, Foreign Service, Realities of the FS, Security, Spectacular, U.S. Missions, Visas Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Posted: 12:23 am ET
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Via state.gov/DS

In Accra, Ghana, there was a building that flew an American flag outside every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, 7:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Inside hung a photo of President Barack Obama, and signs indicated that you were in the U.S. Embassy in Ghana. However, you were not. This embassy was a sham.

It was not operated by the United States government, but by figures from both Ghanaian and Turkish organized crime rings and a Ghanaian attorney practicing immigration and criminal law. The “consular officers” were Turkish citizens who spoke English and Dutch.

For about a decade it operated unhindered; the criminals running the operation were able to pay off corrupt officials to look the other way, as well as obtain legitimate blank documents to be doctored.

This past summer the assistant regional security officer investigator (ARSO-I) at the real U.S. Embassy in Accra, in cooperation with the Ghana Police Force, Ghana Detectives Bureau, and other international partners, shut down this fake embassy.

This investigation is a small part of the broader “Operation Spartan Vanguard” initiative. “Operation Spartan Vanguard” was developed by Diplomatic Security agents in the Regional Security Office (RSO) at U.S. Embassy Ghana in order to address trafficking and fraud plaguing the U.S. Embassy and the region.

During the course of another fraud investigation in “Operation Spartan Vanguard” an informant tipped off the ARSO-I about the fake U.S. embassy, as well as a fake Netherlands embassy operating in Accra.

After receiving the tip, the ARSO-I, who is the point person in the RSO shop for “Operation Spartan Vanguard” investigations, verified the information with partners within the Ghanaian Police Force. The ARSO-I then created an international task force composed of the aforementioned Ghana Police Force, as well as the Ghana Detective Bureau, Ghana SWAT, and officials from the Canadian Embassy to investigate further.

The investigation identified the main architects of the criminal operation, and two satellite locations (a dress shop and an apartment building) used for operations. The fake embassy did not accept walk-in visa appointments; instead, they drove to the most remote parts of West Africa to find customers. They would shuttle the customers to Accra, and rent them a room at a hotel nearby. The Ghanaian organized crime ring would shuttle the victims to and from the fake embassies. Locating the document vendor within the group led investigators to uncover the satellite locations and key players.

The sham embassy advertised their services through flyers and billboards to cultivate customers from Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo. Some of the services the embassy provided for these customers included issuance of fraudulently obtained, legitimate U.S. visas, counterfeit visas, false identification documents (including bank records, education records, birth certificates, and others) for a cost of $6,000.

The exterior of the fake embassy in Accra, Ghana. (U.S. Department of State photo)

The exterior of the fake embassy in Accra, Ghana. (U.S. Department of State photo)

Exterior of the legitimate U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana (U.S. Department of State photo)

Exterior of the legitimate U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana (U.S. Department of State photo)

Read in full here: http://www.state.gov/m/ds/rls/263916.htm.

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FSGB and MSPB: Majority of the Grievance Cases Do Not Prevail

December 2, 2016 By in Career Employees, Foreign Service, Grievance, Org Life, Realities of the FS, State Department Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted: 12:21 am ET
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Via State/OIG’s archive: Review of the Department of State Disciplinary Process:

Foreign Service and Civil Service employees have the right to file a grievance to contest the penalty in the letter from the deciding official. Initially, the Grievance Staff reviews grievances for the Department and reexamines all case materials. The Grievance Staff reviews about 130 Foreign Service and 20 Civil Service grievances of all types each year. A deputy assistant secretary for DGHR makes a determination on each grievance. That agency-level decision can be further appealed through separate Foreign Service and Civil Service processes. Under 3 Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) 4430, “upon request of the grievant, the agency shall suspend its action” in cases involving suspension, separation, or termination during the review process. This provision applies only to the Foreign Service.
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Foreign Service Appeals Process

A Foreign Service employee may appeal an agency-level decision to the Foreign Service Grievance Board (FSGB), an independent grievance appeals forum established through the Foreign Service Act of 1980. Foreign Service employees facing separation on grounds of misconduct have a right to an automatic hearing before the FSGB. Attorneys or American Foreign Service Association representatives may represent the employee. The FSGB may uphold the agency-level decision, mandate a lesser penalty, or dismiss the case entirely. In 2013, it took an average of 43 weeks for the FSGB to process a case from filing date to final decision.

Foreign Service employees may request and the FSGB may grant “interim relief” (sometimes called “prescriptive relief”) to suspend disciplinary action while an appeal is in process.

The 1995 OIG audit of the FSGB, in addressing the perception that the FSGB routinely overturns the Department’s disciplinary actions, found that “the grievance system is used by a relatively small number of employees, the majority of whom do not prevail.”10 Data from the 2008–2013 FSGB annual reports indicate that this conclusion remains valid. During this 6-year period, the FSGB adjudicated 63 appeals of disciplinary actions. The FSGB partially upheld and partially reversed the Department in 15 cases and fully reversed the Department in only 4 cases. In eight cases, the nature of the FSGB’s decision is not reported in the annual report.

Civil Service Appeals Process

Civil Service employees suspended for more than 14 calendar days or removed or reduced in grade or pay may appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), an independent quasi-judicial agency established in 1979 to protect Civil Service employees. Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees or the National Federation of Federal Employees may file a grievance under the agreement or appeal to the MSPB, but not both. The Civil Service appeals process has no mechanism for interim relief.

MSPB data concerning cases originating in the Department do not disaggregate appeals related to disciplinary matters from appeals of all types. However, relatively few Civil Service cases of all types originating in the Department reach the MSPB. In FY 2012, the MSPB received 29 appeals from Department Civil Service employees: 21 were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction or timeliness, and 4 were settled. The MSPB adjudicated only four and upheld the Department in all cases.

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