TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — US President Donald Trump will replace Darren Beattie, who has drawn controversy for his comments on Taiwan and Uyghurs, for a key position in the US State Department.
The White House released a new list of nominees Trump has selected for top roles at the State Department on Tuesday, as reported by Semafor on Thursday. Among the nominations is Sarah Rogers, slated to serve as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, the third-highest position in the agency.
Rogers will replace Beattie, who gained notoriety for being terminated in 2018 from his position as Trump's speechwriter after it was revealed he spoke at a white nationalist rally in 2016, per The Independent.
On Feb. 4, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Beattie would be the acting under secretary, but indicated that a different candidate would take the post permanently, per AFP. “We have a nominee for that position who will be the permanent person who runs that division,” said Rubio.
That day, a petition directed at Rubio was posted on Change.org opposing Beattie's appointment. The petition's authors said Beattie's public remarks have “demonstrated a pattern of underestimating and misinterpreting the complexities of the PRC.”
The petition pointed out that Beattie had made “disparaging remarks about Taiwan and the Uyghur community,” demonstrating a poor understanding of Asian politics. The authors argued that Beattie's political stances “not only jeopardize the effective execution of the administration's strategy toward the PRC but also risk alienating Taiwan, one of our most significant allies in the region.”
The top image in the petition is a screen capture of a post uploaded by Beattie to X on May 25, 2024, where he claimed, “Taiwan will inevitably belong to China, it's only a matter of time" and that it is “not worth expending any capital to prevent.” Beattie purported that a “visionary statesman” would see that a deal could be made over Taiwan in exchange for concessions on Africa and Antarctica.
In an interview on the MSNBC program “The ReidOut” with host Joy Reid, US Senator Andy Kim argued Beattie is unfit for the position because he has denied atrocities committed against Ugyhurs in China and has spoken out against US support of Taiwan.
The petition organizers on Thursday declared victory, announcing that New York attorney Rogers would assume the role instead. They called Beattie an “outspoken and divisive MAGA figure.”
