Navy veteran to be Asst. Secy. of State?

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, FEB. 23. The President, Mr. George W. Bush, has announced his intention to nominate Mr. James Andrew Kelly as the next Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. A graduate of the Naval Academy and a 23-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, Mr. Kelly is at present the president of the Pacific Forum of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Mr. Kelly's name has been doing the rounds for the East Asia/Pacific position for the past several weeks. He is no stranger to Government as he served the Reagan administration as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for Asia at the National Security Council. Mr. Kelly also served at the Pentagon between 1983 and 1986 as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for East Asia and the Pacific.

Mr. Bush's intention to nominate Mr. Kelly for the senior position is indicative of the seriousness with which the administration is looking at the Asia Pacific, especially in the changed contexts of Japan and China. The administration has made it known that it will be paying closer attention to allies such as Japan while at the same time looking at China as a competitor.

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Section  : International
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