A diplomat’s work is never done and Richard Holbrooke always had too much on his plate. The hardworking envoy died of a broken heart, a torn aorta, after falling ill at work at the State Department in Washington, D.C. Two emergency surgeries failed to repair the damage and now funeral services are being planned for the former United Nations ambassador instead of his customary heavy travel schedule.
Unmentioned in the obituaries, ignored in the laudatory media commentary, and simply unknown to many was Holbrooke’s failed efforts to resolve Taiwan’s status. Holbrooke used Taiwan’s “strategic ambiguity” to full advantage when he helped steer President Jimmy Carter away from official recognition of the Republic of China. However, Holbrooke understood the limits of the unresolved status and urged the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act to shore up the United States’ role as “principal occupying Power” of the island.
