YEAR IN REVIEW 2001

Blee, David Henry American intelligence officer (b. Nov. 20, 1916, San Francisco, Calif.-d. Aug. 4, 2000, Bethesda, Md.), was a master spy (1947-85) in the CIA (and its wartime forerunner, the Office of Strategic Services) and was noted for his deft decision making. While serving as CIA station chief in India, Blee took the initiative in 1965 to spirit away Svetlana Stalin, the Soviet dictator's daughter, after she asked for asylum at the American Embassy; his action came while Washington was considering her request. He then became the CIA chief of the Near East Division, which undertook espionage in the Middle East. Blee played a crucial role in reviving the counterintelligence activities of the agency's Soviet Division after he was placed in charge of the unit in 1971; he diplomatically countered the measures of the erratic chief of counterintelligence, James Jesus Angleton-who believed that virtually all Soviet defectors were spies-and began recruiting Soviet operatives. In 1976 Blee became deputy director of operations. He retired from the CIA in 1985, just before the defection to the Soviet Union of CIA agent Edward Lee Howard and the later revelations that double agent Aldrich Ames had exposed at least 10 American operatives in the U.S.S.R., which compromised much of what Blee had accomplished. Chen Shui-bian Despite strong warnings from the leaders of China not to vote a pro-independence candidate into power, Taiwanese voters did just that on March 18, 2000, electing opposition leader Chen Shui-bian as president of Taiwan. A former mayor of Taipei, Chen was an ambitious, tough-talking politician best known for advocating independence for his country. Only days before the election, he described Taiwan as a "sovereign country" and "not a part of the People's Republic of China"-an assertion that predictably infuriated Beijing. Nevertheless, Chen's bold words struck a responsive chord at home, as did his attacks on the corruption-plagued Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's ruling party. Garnering nearly 40% of the votes in a three-way race for president, Chen notched a landmark victory that decisively ended 55 years of unbroken KMT rule. Born into a poor farming family on Feb. 18, 1951, in Tainan county, Taiwan, Chen distinguished himself early through academic performance. He won a scholarship to National Taiwan University, Taipei, and graduated with highest honours from its law school. Entering private practice in the mid-1970s, he became one of the island's leading attorneys. His first encounter with politics came when he defended eight anti-KMT protesters who had been charged with sedition. Chen lost the case, but thereafter his name was linked with the opposition movement. He ran for public office in 1981, winning a seat on the Taipei City Council. In the mid-1980s Chen spent eight months in prison on charges of libeling a KMT official. He subsequently joined the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and advanced through the party ranks. A member of the DPP Central Standing Committee from 1987 to 1989, Chen later served (1989-94) in the Taiwanese legislature before running successfully for mayor of Taipei. As mayor from 1994 to 1998, he delivered on campaign promises to fight government corruption, crack down on the city's sex industry, reduce crime, alleviate traffic problems, and raise Taipei's international profile. In pursuing his agenda, however, Chen often employed a heavy-handed, autocratic style, which ultimately turned off supporters and galvanized his enemies. He suffered a bitter defeat in his bid for reelection. The defeat freed Chen to pursue the DPP's presidential nomination in 2000 and, according to his advisers, taught him the value of striking a more conciliatory tone as a politician. Chen's rhetoric on Taiwanese independence remained firm, but following his historic victory on March 18, he was quick to state his desire to "reduce the tensions" between Taiwan and China. During his inaugural address, he declared that he would not pursue independence while in office as long as China refrained from threatening to invade the island. In a significant overture in June, Chen proposed a summit meeting between the leaders of the two countries to discuss cross-strait relations. Sherman Hollar