Taiwan vs. Tyranny: The US Must Redouble Its Commitment to Secure this Shining Hill of Democracy in East Asia
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With a string of U.S. allies in East Asia wary of China’s rising power, the region is a focus of growing security concerns. A key U.S. partner, Taiwan, is in a particularly precarious situation, as Beijing has never abandoned the vision of the island’s reunification with mainland China. The Biden administration is taking steps, as it did at the recent NATO Summit, to reassure American allies about the longstanding U.S. commitment to their security, ties that were seriously undermined by President Joe Biden’s predecessor.
But after decades of being mired in the Middle East and Afghanistan, the pressures are strong to minimize U.S. security engagements abroad. The Biden administration and Congress should beware of yielding to these short-term pressures. Taiwan warrants a stalwart U.S. security commitment not only to stymie China’s strategic but relentless crawl in East Asia. Amid the march of illiberal regimes across the globe and in the face of intensifying pressure from the mainland, Taiwan functions as a true democracy. As such, it is a bellwether for other states and territories at risk of authoritarian backsliding — or conquest — and a glowing example of what a liberal democracy and open society could bring to the peoples of Asia and elsewhere. A look at its history reveals Taiwan’s resilience, as well as how – and why – the United States should reinforce its support.
An Unlikely State
Taiwan has survived and thrived against great odds. In 1949, when Communist forces led by Mao Tse-tung prevailed in the Chinese civil war following the end of World War II, what was left of the defeated forces of the Republic of China (ROC) led by Chiang Kai-shek fled to the island of Taiwan off the South China coast. A victorious Mao on Oct. 1, 1949, announced the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and claimed that the PRC was now the sole legal government of the Chinese people. The ROC in response declared from Taiwan that it was the legitimate government in-exile. So it remained for more than three decades, until 1979. During this time, the ROC represented China at the United Nations.
At first, U.S. President Harry Truman was uninterested in supporting Chiang Kai-shek, America’s ally during the war, and there is evidence that Truman was prepared to abandon the ROC and deal with Mao’s government. This changed in an instant, when on June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. Within a week, Truman ordered the U.S. 7th Fleet to prevent any attack on Taiwan, asserting that “the determination of the future status of Formosa (the island’s designation as a Japanese colony) must await the restoration of security in the Pacific.” At the same time, the president ordered U.S. air, naval, and ground forces to go to South Korea’s aid.
The later entry of the Chinese army into the Korean War was another incentive to give direct military assistance to the ROC government, and in 1954 the United States and the ROC signed the U.S.-ROC Mutual Defense Treaty, making the two governments allies once again. So for the next three decades, the United States continued to support the ROC’s claim to represent all of China and during this time maintained a defense alliance with Taiwan. The ROC and the PRC remained at least formally at war during all those years.
Between Two Chinas
In 1958, it became a shooting war. The PRC presumably decided to test the strength of U.S. support for its Taiwan ally and began shelling the Taiwan-controlled islands of Quemoy and Matsu, much closer to the Chinese coast than to Taiwan. Washington responded to Taipei’s appeal for help under the Mutual Defense Treaty by naval and air deployments to Taiwan. Alarmingly, the U.S. military, doubting that the island could be defended by conventional means, drew up plans for the use of nuclear weapons, according to recently unveiled documents. Fortunately, the 1958 crisis dissipated with PRC forces backing off and leaving the islands in ROC control.
The U.S.-ROC Mutual Defense Treaty permitted Washington to use Taiwan as a forward base against Beijing. But by the late 1960s, against the backdrop of the Sino-Soviet split, the normalization of U.S. relations with the PRC under President Richard Nixon’s administration meant that U.S. relations with Taiwan required increasingly careful balancing. This was the task of three joint U.S.-PRC communiques: the first signed in 1971 at the time of Nixon’s visit to China, the second at the time of normalization in 1978, and the third in 1982, during the Reagan administration, focusing primarily on arms sales to Taiwan. Additionally, shortly after normalization in 1978, Congress adopted the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). Together, the three communiques and the TRA have provided the framework by which Washington manages two competing policy objectives: the “one China’ policy and continued support for Taiwan.
Official recognition of the PRC as the legitimate government of China did not come until Jan. 1, 1979, under U.S. President Jimmy Carter in a speech from the Oval Office. It was based on the “one China” doctrine, although the United States over the years has been deliberately ambiguous as to whether it believed that Taiwan was part of this “one China.” As part of normalizing relations with the PRC, the U.S. in 1978 notified the ROC that it intended to terminate the 1954 U.S.-ROC Mutual Defense Treaty. The PRC replaced the ROC on the United Nations Security Council. In his December 1978 Oval Office announcement of the joint communique, Carter said the United States will “continue to have an interest in the peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue.”
The TRA says that any forceful resolution of the Taiwan question would be “of grave concern to the United States.” While the TRA does not specifically mandate the United States to defend Taiwan against attack, it calls for providing Taiwan with “such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.” In 2003, Congress mandated that Taiwan be treated as a Major Non-NATO Ally of the United States, which provided additional benefits in defense trade and cooperation.
`Rock Solid’ US Commitment
The State Department in August 2018 restated that the U.S. commitment to assist Taiwan in maintaining its defense capability remains unchanged. Days after Biden’s inauguration this year, after China flew strategic bombers into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, the new administration emphasized that the U.S. commitment to Taipei is “rock solid.”
Of course, China’s military power has grown exponentially over the past few decades and its stance in the region is more assertive. China launched over 90 major ships and submarines for its navy over the past five years; it builds some 100 advanced fighter planes per year. China still has not declared the precise size of its nuclear arsenal, which is estimated at 350 nuclear weapons. But recently, U.S. analysts discovered the construction of more than 100 new missile silos in western China. It is making rapid advances in hypersonics, precision missile weaponry, and military space technology.
The Chinese aggression against Taiwan goes far beyond the military. As have other revisionist illiberal powers, such as Russia, China has engaged in an array of sub-conventional influence operations. These have included cyberattacks, elections interference, and efforts to isolate Taiwan diplomatically, all the while reinforcing the notion of Chinese nationality among the Taiwanese.
Indeed, on June 1, in a speech dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, President Xi Jinping reiterated the country’s commitment to the “unwavering historical mission” of complete “reunification” with Taiwan. Some observers argue Xi might dream of making this mission the crowning achievement of his reign. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese people show little interest in unification with China, with only 2.3 percent in support, 31.6 percent favoring eventual independence, and 60.7 percent preferring to keep the status quo or otherwise delay the decision. Xi’s talk of reunification provoked a forceful rebuke from the Taiwanese government.
Defending an Island of Democracy
The combination of China’s growing might, Taiwan’s resistance to Chinese designs, and the U.S. commitment to Taiwan’s security prompted The Economist to recently call Taiwan “the most dangerous place on earth.” The head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Phil Davidson, testifying in March before the Senate Armed Services Committee, stated that China’s aggression in the region leads him to believe its takeover of Taiwan is more imminent than previously believed and could be expected within the next decade. And if U.S. military planners were unsure whether China could be deterred by conventional means alone in the 1958 cross-strait crisis when China’s conventional military was much weaker and it was not in possession of nuclear weapons yet, the risk of a similar crisis escalating to a nuclear level seems even higher today.
The awareness of such risks is the first step toward avoiding them. With this in mind, the United States, nevertheless, should not be self-deterred from continuing its support for Taiwan. For one, there are important reasons for Chinese restraint: Taipei and Beijing have significant economic ties, and an all-out invasion of Taiwan would be an extremely costly undertaking in terms of blood and treasure. That Taiwan is the home of TSMC, the maker of 84 percent of the world’s advanced semiconductor chips, could be a lure for China; but if TSMC’s operations are disrupted by the military campaign, the Chinese economy would be hurt in significant ways. China might want a future unification with Taiwan but not at a cost of a major war and economic disruption. Most importantly, U.S. support for Taiwan does more than contain unwelcome Chinese designs on the island; it buttresses an island of liberalism against the rising illiberal tides.
This is because an important transformation took place in the 1980s that made the United States and Taiwan much closer than anticipated in 1979. As the 1949 generation faded away, Taiwan ceased being a Cold War outpost and a military dictatorship and became a functional democracy — a true democratic ally. When ROC President Chiang Kai-shek died, he was succeeded by his son Chiang Ching-kuo, who took as his vice president a native Taiwanese. His name was Lee Teng-hui and upon the younger Chiang’s death in 1988, he succeeded to the presidency. Over the years, he carried out a number of democratic institutional reforms. In 1996, he ran for president in Taiwan’s first direct election of its leader and won by a landslide. Another candidate representing a small independence party ran well behind, although that party did better in other races. That demonstrated that, while Taiwanese were eager for democracy and majority rule, they were not interested in confronting Beijing with an attempt to gain formal independence. Around half a dozen presidents have subsequently been elected, and the democratization of Taiwan is complete.
Taiwan had always been supported by America’s conservatives, but now as a democratic state, it has garnered bipartisan support, which gives it a much stronger and well-deserved call on American power. Taiwan faces the largest dictatorship in the world just 60 miles away, a dictatorship that has brutally demonstrated, in Hong Kong, its willingness and ability to quash any expression of freedom. For America not to stand with the Taiwanese in a time of crisis, after 71 years of close partnership and evolution from a military dictatorship into a vigorous liberal democratic state, and watch China’s imperial legions march into Taiwan would be a strategic as well as moral failure of the highest order.
Keeping Taiwan safe will not be easy, especially since this must be done without reliance on nuclear weapons. It will require work on new types of conventional forces such as advanced fighters, global strike capabilities, and enhanced naval capabilities. It will require strengthening U.S. alliances across East Asia. It will also necessitate a dialogue with the Chinese to clearly communicate American red lines if the Chinese are willing to talk with the United States directly and honestly about this.
Finally, it will require planning for an appropriate response should China choose to cross these red lines, including sanctions and trade restrictions. It should be communicated to China in no uncertain terms that if the ultimate red line is crossed and China launches an invasion of Taiwan, the United States would commit the necessary forces to stop such an invasion. A clear understanding of this by China should serve as an effective deterrent. To counter Chinese non-military influence campaigns, the United States should help Taiwan buttress its own democratic institutions and domestic capacity in the cyber, information, and intelligence realms.
America’s own experience of the past few years highlights the value of robust liberal democratic institutions – and just how vulnerable they are to abuse and disregard by an illiberally minded leader. As the Biden administration mends the damage inflicted by its predecessor to America’s own democracy, it should keep in mind that the commitment to liberty does not stop at the national border. In the final count, America’s global leadership will be determined not only by the tenor of its speech or by the size of its stick, but also by whether it stands by its proclaimed values in both domestic and foreign policy, thus setting an example worthy of following.
IMAGE: Figures of Kuomintang soldiers are seen in the foreground, with the Chinese city of Xiamen in the background, on Feb. 4, 2021 in Lieyu, an outlying island of Kinmen that is the closest point between Taiwan and China. Kinmen, an island in the Taiwan strait that is part of Taiwan’s territory, is so close to China that the deep-water port of Xiamen, one of China’s biggest, lies less than three miles away across the water. It is one of the few areas of Taiwan that mainland Chinese tourists can visit without visas or permits, and has deep ties with the adjacent Fujian province of China. Wartime anti-tank barricades litter the beach and the island features the Zhaishan tunnel, which Taiwanese forces still reserve the right to use in wartime and for military exercises. (Photo by An Rong Xu/Getty Images)
Emmy surprises: ‘Pose,’ ‘I May Destroy You’ and ‘Hamilton’
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CORRECTS SPELLING OF RALPH MACCHIO - This image released by Netflix shows Ralph Macchio, left, and Martin Kove in a scene from “Cobra Kai.” The progra… CORRECTS SPELLING OF RALPH MACCHIO - This image released by Netflix shows Ralph Macchio, left, and Martin Kove in a scene from “Cobra Kai.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding comedy series. (Curtis Bonds/Netflix via AP)
This image released by Netflix shows Lily Collins in a scene from the series “Emily in Paris.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstan… This image released by Netflix shows Lily Collins in a scene from the series “Emily in Paris.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding comedy series. (Netflix via AP)
This image released by Netflix shows Rlph Maccio, left, and Martin Kove in a scene from “Cobra Kai.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for o… This image released by Netflix shows Rlph Maccio, left, and Martin Kove in a scene from “Cobra Kai.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding comedy series. (Curtis Bonds/Netflix via AP)
This image released by FX shows Billy Porter in a scene from “Pose.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding drama series. (Michae… This image released by FX shows Billy Porter in a scene from “Pose.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding drama series. (Michael Parmelee/FX via AP)
This video grab provided by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences shows Ron Cephas Jones as he announces Mj Rodriguez as a nominee for lead actres… This video grab provided by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences shows Ron Cephas Jones as he announces Mj Rodriguez as a nominee for lead actress in a drama series for “Pose” during the 73rd Emmy Awards Nominations Announcement on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. (Television Academy via AP)
This image released by HBO Max shows Jean Smart in a scene from “Hacks.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding comedy series. (H… This image released by HBO Max shows Jean Smart in a scene from “Hacks.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding comedy series. (HBO Max via AP)
This image released by HBO shows Michaela Coel in a scene from “I May Destroy You.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding limite… This image released by HBO shows Michaela Coel in a scene from “I May Destroy You.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding limited series. (HBO via AP)
This image released by HBO shows, from left, Courtney B. Vance, Jurnee Smollett and Jonathan Majors in a scene from “Lovecraft Country.” The program … This image released by HBO shows, from left, Courtney B. Vance, Jurnee Smollett and Jonathan Majors in a scene from “Lovecraft Country.” The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding drama series. (HBO via AP)
This image released by FX shows Billy Porter as Pray Tell in a scene from “Pose.” Porter was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding leading actor… This image released by FX shows Billy Porter as Pray Tell in a scene from “Pose.” Porter was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding leading actor in a drama series. (Eric Liebowitz/FX via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — The Emmy Award nominations announced Tuesday included some snubs and surprises.
STRIKE A POSE
“Pose” left the ballroom with a clutch of Emmy nominations. The groundbreaking FX show about ballroom culture in the 1980s and ’90s ended its third and final season with nods for Billy Porter and Mj Rodriguez — the first trans performer up for a major acting Emmy — and a best drama series nomination, its second. The series from creators Steven Canals and Ryan Murphy made history with its historic casting of transgender actors to play trans characters. The series took on transphobia, racism and the AIDS epidemic. GLAAD and a number of LGBTQ+ organizations pressed for recognition from Emmy voters this year in an open letter, saying “if there was any moment to show solidarity and support for the performers and characters who are leading the change, now would be that time.”
“I MAY DESTROY YOU”
Critically adored but ignored by the Golden Globe voters, “I May Destroy You” roared back to earn nine Emmy nominations. Michaela Coel’s exploration of rape and its aftermath earned her a lead actor nod and the show a best limited or anthology series nomination. The series, which is made up of 12 half-hour episodes, explores the question of sexual consent in contemporary life. Coel plays Arabella Essiedu, a care-free Londoner whose life changes after her drink is spiked with a date-rape drug. The co-production between the BBC and HBO won best mini-series and leading actress for Coel at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards. After it failed to get a Golden Globe nod, a writer for the Netflix series “Emily In Paris” publicly said that “I May Destroy You” deserved a Golden Globe nomination over her own show.
WAIT, KARATE KID?
“Cobra Kai,” which started life on YouTube Red, has become a popular option on Netflix and just nabbed four Emmy nominations, including a shock best comedy nod. The show follows former “Karate Kid” rivals Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso almost 30 years after the events of the film. Now, they’re all grown up with kids of their own, but their rivalry reignites when Johnny reopens the Cobra Kai dojo and begins teaching the next generation of new karate students. Netflix acquired the third season and viewership exploded.
‘RATCHED’ SLICED
“Ratched,” led by Sarah Paulson, was largely ignored at the Emmy nominations. The Ryan Murphy series — a prequel exploring the origins of Nurse Ratched from 1975’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” — got lukewarm or worse reviews. The first series saw the nurse at its heart stirring up trouble in the lobotomy-friendly Lucia State Hospital in Northern California. At the Golden Globes, “Ratched” earned three nominations, including a top nomination for TV drama series, Paulson got a nod as lead TV drama actress and Cynthia Nixon was up for supporting actress honors. But it went home empty-handed that night. At the Emmy nods on Tuesday, Paulson and Nixon were given the brush off and the show only earned nominations for guest star Sophie Okonedo, as well as costumes, makeup and hairstyling.
LOVE FOR LOVECRAFT
HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” took pop culture by storm in August and helped advance the social conversation ignited by the death of George Floyd. It earned a whopping 18 Emmy nominations. The series starred Jurnee Smollett and Jonathan Majors and centered on a Black man’s journey across Jim Crow America to find his father and discover the truth about his family. It had a unique blend of horror, fictional period drama, real historical figures, fantasy, sci-fi and social commentary. Jordan Peele of “Get Out” and “Us” fame and J.J. Abrams of “Lost” and “Westworld” served as executive producers. The first season was based on the 2016 book by Matt Ruff. A decision was made not to proceed with a second season.
SHINING FOUNDING FATHER
The gift of “Hamilton” continues. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s stage bio of Alexander Hamilton has won multiple Tonys, a Grammy, a Pulitzer, a Kennedy Center Honor — and now is poised to deliver Emmys. The 2016 filmed version of the Broadway musical appeared on Disney+ last year and on Tuesday nabbed a dozen Emmy nods, mostly in the limited, anthology series or movie category. Seven of the original stars were nominated: Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff and Anthony Ramos. Interestingly, the motion picture academy deemed it ineligible for the Oscars.
STEAMY LONDON
Shonda Rhimes’ first scripted series for Netflix was “Bridgerton” and was described as if “Downton Abbey” was mixed with “Gossip Girl.” It became a huge hit and nabbed a dozen Emmy nominations Tuesday, including best drama series. Based on Julia Quinn’s romance novel series, it centers on the romantic entanglements of English society’s upper crust and had a multiethnic cast and an anonymous gossip columnist — voiced by none other than Julie Andrews. The series, which takes place in the 1800s, follows the Bridgerton family and their love interests. The eight-episode series made a star of Regé-Jean Page (who earned an actor nod Tuesday) and was anything but G-rated, becoming gently mocked on late night TV for its sex scenes and on “Saturday Night Live” with a sketch starring sketchy intimacy coaches. The series was snubbed at the Golden Globes.
FOR EVA?
“Girls5eva,” the Peacock series about a ’90s one-hit-wonder pop group who reunite as adult women to mount a comeback, got little love at the Emmy nomination, scoring only one nod for writing. Busy Philipps, Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Paula Pell play former members of the girl group Girls5eva, now in their 40s. It’s the brainchild of Emmy Award-winning writer Meredith Scardino, whose credits include “The Colbert Report” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and Tina Fey is an executive producer. It’s been renewed for another season. “I wanted to write a show about women in my age group and be able to talk about all the things that you go through as being a woman in your forties,” Scardino told critics.
PARISIAN CHIC
“Emily in Paris,” Darren Star’s cliché-filled view of the French capital, scored an Emmy nomination for best comedy and production design. The show stars Lily Collins as a naïve American social media guru relocating to the city of lights despite being utterly clueless about the language and culture. At the Golden Globes, Collins was nominated as best actor in a comedy and the show got a nod as best comedy series. In Season One, Emily stumbled into a romance with her chef neighbor and made friends, including a wannabe professional singer. The show has also garnered a wave of criticism for its portrayal of French people and negative stereotypes of Paris. Even so, a second season has been green-lit.
SMART CHOICE
Jean Smart is having a moment and the Emmy nominations proved it. She nabbed two nods Tuesday — a supporting one for the crime drama “Mare of Easttown” and as the star of HBO Max’s new comedy “Hacks,” playing a Joan Rivers–esque Vegas comic. Smart has lately been in buzzy shows like “Fargo,” “Legion,” “Dirty John” and “Watchmen.” Able to do drama and comedy, Smart, 69, has shone in small roles, in supporting roles and as a member of ensemble casts, including “Designing Women,” “24” and “Frasier,” where she won back-to-back Emmys in 2000 and 2001 for her recurring guest-star role as Frasier’s old girlfriend. In “Hacks,” Smart plays successful comedian Deborah Vance, who’s been cashing in on the same routine for years and finally hires a young comedy writer to spice up her sets. On “Mare of Easttown,” she played the grumpy mother of the detective character played by Kate Winslet.
Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
For more on this year’s Emmy Awards, go to: https://apnews.com/EmmyAwards
Iran’s supreme leader appoints new hard-line judiciary chief
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FILE — In this Aug. 22, 2005 file photo, hardline cleric Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi attends a session of parliament, in Tehran, Iran. On Thursday, Ju… FILE — In this Aug. 22, 2005 file photo, hardline cleric Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi attends a session of parliament, in Tehran, Iran. On Thursday, July 1, 2021, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, appointed Ejehi as the new judiciary chief to replace former Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi, the man recently elected as the country’s new president. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE — In this Aug. 21, 2005 file photo, hardline cleric Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi attends an open session of parliament, in Tehran, Iran. On Thursd… FILE — In this Aug. 21, 2005 file photo, hardline cleric Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi attends an open session of parliament, in Tehran, Iran. On Thursday, July 1, 2021, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, appointed Ejehi as the new judiciary chief to replace former Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi, the man recently elected as the country’s new president. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader on Thursday appointed a hard-line cleric sanctioned by the West as the country’s new judiciary chief, state media reported, replacing the president-elect who previously held the powerful post.
The new chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi, 64, takes the reins from Ebrahim Raisi, who will ascend to the country’s highest civilian position after his election victory earlier this month.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, announced Ejehi’s appointment, urging him to advocate for justice and fight corruption. In a decree, he praised Ejehi’s “valuable experience, shining records and legal competence.”
Ejehi takes over a judiciary widely criticized by international rights groups for being one of the world’s top executioners, as well as conducting closed-door trials of dual nationals and individuals with Western ties. Raisi, the previous judiciary chief and a protege of Khamenei, was sanctioned by the United States in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, as well as over his tenure at the judiciary.
Thursday’s announcement was widely expected as Ejehi, considered close to Khamenei, had served as deputy judiciary chief after a long history in the branch, including as prosecutor general. In that post, from 2009-2014, he pushed to further limit access to the internet and popular social media apps, sparking worries among his opponents over the increase of social oppression.
From 2005-2009, during the first term of hard-line populist former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ejehi served as intelligence minister, following decades of deep involvement in the services dating back to his role as head of the ministry’s recruiting office in the 1980s.
The conservative cleric landed on the U.S. Treasury Department and European Unions sanctions lists over allegations of severe human rights abuses linked to Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection in 2009. That vote, considered rigged by the reformist opposition, sparked massive “Green Movement” protests and a sweeping crackdown in which thousands of people were detained and dozens were killed.
Ejehi’s relationship to Ahmadinejad became strained in 2009, when as intelligence minister he openly opposed the administration’s tactic of broadcasting televised confessions from government opponents arrested in the post-election turmoil. In 2009, Ahmadinejad dismissed Ejehi from his post.
Even before the 2009 crackdown, Ejehi was associated with moves to jail reformist politicians. In 1998, he became known as the ultraconservative judge who shocked Tehran, the capital, with a harsh verdict against its reformist mayor. He initially sentenced Gholamhossein Karbaschi to five years in prison, 60 lashes and a hefty fine.
Ejehi also has come under heavy criticism over his role as a prosecutor in the Special Court of Clerics in the 1990s. His opponents accuse him of involvement in a string of killings of activists, dissidents and intellectuals that began in 1998.
Many moderates saw the slayings as an assault by hard-liners against the country’s reform movement. The Intelligence Ministry admitted in early 1999 that rogue agents were behind a limited number of killings, and the intelligence minister resigned. Dissidents claim that more than 80 opposition activists were killed by the security services in the 1990s.
The outgoing relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani congratulated Ejehi on his promotion, praising his “efficiency as well as important organizational experience.”
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Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran contributed to this report