http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-diplomat17sep17.story U.S. Espionage Probe Focuses on Ex-Diplomat
Retired State Dept. official revered by peers is accused of lying to FBI and taking unauthorized trip to Taiwan.
By Paul Richter and Richard B. Schmitt
Times Staff Writers
September 17, 2004
WASHINGTON — For three decades, his peers in the world of U.S. diplomacy have looked on Donald W. Keyser as the consummate professional.
He dazzled them with his knowledge of East Asia and impressed them with his dedication to his craft. One top China hand at the State Department referred to him as "my hero."
So it was with shock that those who know him learned Thursday that Keyser, until recently the department's No. 2 official for East Asian affairs, was under investigation for possible espionage.
In papers filed in federal court in Alexandria, Va., Keyser was accused of lying to the FBI and taking an unauthorized trip to Taiwan last year in violation of federal rules.
The affidavit said Keyser had visited Taiwan in September 2003 without approval of his boss, the assistant secretary of State for East Asia, and detailed how, in meetings in Washington, Keyser allegedly passed documents to Taiwanese intelligence agents.
The United States and Taiwan are on friendly terms, but the U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with the island in 1979 in favor of China, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province. Taiwan maintains the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington.<snip>