Laura Rosenberger, President Joe Biden’s senior China and Taiwan advisor, will leave down in March, according to Bloomberg, citing White House insiders.
Rosenberger, a special assistant to the president and senior director on the National Security Council, has guided the president amid Washington’s rising tensions with Beijing, as The Daily Caller reported.
She will serve out her term as the administration deals with the fallout from the February 4 shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon in American coastal waters. Officials informed Bloomberg that Rosenberger’s preparations to step down predated the spy balloon violating US airspace and causing bipartisan alarm in Congress about the security implications of the spy balloon intrusion.
“Under President Biden, we are more prepared to outcompete China and advance a free and open Indo-Pacific than ever before,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told Bloomberg.
“Since the first day of the administration, Laura’s skilled diplomacy and tenacity have been essential to this administration priority, and we are immensely grateful for her service.”
Background
Rosenberger tried to strengthen the United States’ unofficial connections with Taiwan, according to White House officials.
Sarah Beran, former director of the State Department’s Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs, will take over for Rosenberger, according to Bloomberg. Rush Doshi, the National Security Council’s China director, will serve as deputy.
According to Bloomberg, the White House announced on Feb. 8 that Eric Green, the NSC’s senior director for Russia and Central Asia, will also step down.
Eric Green, special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia and Central Asia at the National Security Council, is leaving the position as he prepares to retire from the foreign service after more than three decades.
“Eric has been absolutely central to our efforts here at the NSC in leading the charge to hold Russia accountable and support Ukraine. His insights & actions have proven pivotal time and again, and I’m immensely grateful for his service,” said White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in a statement.
Green managed the White House’s Russia and Central Asia directorate and coordinated strategy with the NSC’s leadership, its Europe team, and agencies across the government.
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He assisted Biden in preparing for his 2021 conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, and he was instrumental in shaping the administration’s reaction to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to a White House official, Green had previously extended his State Department detail once at the request of the White House.
At his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, Biden stated that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “test for the ages” that the United States and its NATO partners had passed. He swore once more to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for as long as he is required.
