Admiral Harry Harris to take up US ambassador role in Korea
A SUDDEN decision from Donald Trump’s administration has snubbed Australia, with warnings the United States is treating us like a second-class ally.
A LAST minute switch on the new US ambassador to Australia is playing into the idea that Donald Trump is treating the nation like a second-class ally, analysts have warned.
The decision to reassign Admiral Harry Harris means the position remains open some 18 months later.
Admiral Harris was Donald Trump’s pick for the plum Australian role, but incoming secretary of state Mike Pompeo reportedly influenced him to change his mind.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd slammed the decision earlier today, telling ABC’s 7.30 that it means President Trump is taking Austalia “for granted”.
“(It) basically says Australia, from President Trump’s perspective, is a second-class ally,” Mr Rudd told 7.30.
“All Australians expect any administration in the United States to take our alliance seriously.
“So to chop and change at the last minute like this and take a good candidate, Admiral Harry Harris, and take him from our grasp and send him to Seoul is, I think, a bad signal to the wider public community in Australia about the importance which this Trump administration attaches to Australia.
“There is a danger that the Trump administration begins to take Australia for granted,” he said.
The former prime minister was clearly unhappy with the decision and said President Trump has “so far, not treated Australia particularly well”.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop this morning confirmed Admiral Harris won’t be coming to Canberra as the new US Ambassador to Australia.
Acting US Secretary of State John Sullivan told Ms Bishop Admiral Harris would be sent to South Korea instead.
“We understand this sort of thing happens and we also understand the challenges the United States has on the Korean peninsula,” Ms Bishop said.
She said Mr Sullivan made it clear a new appointment would be a priority for the next secretary of state and a new ambassador would be found in due course.
Ms Bishop also appeared to downplay the apparent snub, noting there had been other periods in the past when it took some time for a US ambassador to Australia to be appointed.
Charge d’Affaires Jim Caruso will continue to act in the role in the meantime.
MIXED REACTION
Labor defence spokesman Richard Marles said the sooner Australia got a new ambassador the better.
“We’re close friends, I don’t think anyone is taking offence,” Mr Marles told Sky News.
“America is well represented day in, day out.”
Former federal Liberal leader and Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson said while he wouldn’t describe it as a snub, the US should have proper representation in Australia.
“I say to President Trump and those who are advising him ‘we need an ambassador, we deserve an ambassador and we’d like one soon’,” he said.
Former coalition deputy prime minister and diplomat Tim Fischer described one year without a US ambassador as an “accident” reflecting its low priority in Washington.
“Nigh on two years will be an insult with impact, notwithstanding the good work of the acting ambassador in Canberra,” he told AAP.
TRUMP NOT ‘SERIOUS’
However some analysts warned Admiral Harris’s reassignment would play into the idea that the US President didn’t take his allies seriously.
United States Studies Centre research fellow Ashley Townshend said it wasn’t a good look for the Trump administration.
Mr Townshend said the move wasn’t intended to be a slight on Australia but still wouldn’t sit well, adding the abrupt change is a sign of the administration’s dysfunction in foreign policy and the urgency of North Korea.
“This will play into a narrative that Trump does not take seriously the interests or reputations of US allies — in same category as tariffs on Japan, criticism of NATO, or the Trump-Turnbull phone call,” he said over Twitter.
“A better interpretation is the lack of a strategic approach to Asia.”
Mr Townshend also pointed out that Admiral Harris was much better placed to be Ambassador to Australia — working on Indo-Pacific issues and a country he knows well — than an ambassador to Korea.
“Pompeo’s decision, with Trump’s support, to move him prioritises the immediate challenge of North Korea over long term Asia strategy,” he said.
The director of the USSC Foreign Policy and Defence Program also said the last minute decision by incoming secretary of state Mike Pompeo was a worrying sign.
Most important step now is for a new nominee for Amb to Australia to be found quickly. This should have been done prior to pulling Harris. It needs to happen to avoid a perception taking hold that this admin doesn't care about allies like Australia.
— Ashley Townshend (@ashleytownshend) April 24, 2018
Lowy Institute International security director Euan Graham said the move could not only unnerve Seoul but risked upsetting Canberra as well.
Suspect this switch may unnerve Seoul, at least initially, as well as hacking off Canberra. Sending an ex-4 star admiral ambassador (with a 4-star USFK commander in situ) feels like crisis-handling. https://t.co/kTIgeMmerv
— Euan Graham (@graham_euan) April 24, 2018
Global security expert Ankit Panda and senior editor at The Diplomat tweeted that he believed Admiral Harris would make more of a difference in Canberra.
Good rundown. I think Harris could make a greater difference at the margins for the Indo-Pacific strategy in Canberra v. Seoul, but long past time to fill that ambassadorial vacancy. You could do much worse. https://t.co/cyZYaFDpAJ
— Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) April 24, 2018
Thomas Wright, a senior fellow and foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said the move sent a “terrible” message to Australia.
He also said it reflected badly on the incoming Secretary of State.
If @joshrogin's scoop about Pompeo wanting to move Harry Harris from Canberra to Seoul is correct, & it seems to be, it reflects poorly on the new Sec State. Harris is excellent but why switch w/o immediately announcing a high profile replacement. Terrible message to Australia
— Tom Wright (@thomaswright08) April 24, 2018
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