Marinus “Dutch” van Gessel, who died April 13 at the age of 90, played a central role in what has been called AmCham Taiwan’s finest hour: its resolute action to ensure continuation of a sound U.S.-Taiwan relationship following the December 1978 American announcement abruptly ending official diplomatic ties.  

During his chairmanship of the Chamber in 1976 and 1977, van Gessel laid the foundation for what would be AmCham’s response once “derecognition” occurred. Having served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce in the Nixon administration, he was aware of the strong desire within the State Department to formalize ties with Beijing to counter the Soviet Union and cautioned his AmCham colleagues to start preparing for that eventuality.  

Under his leadership, AmCham made the strategic decision not to oppose the improvement of U.S. relations with China, which seemed inevitable, provided it did not come at Taiwan’s expense. In an AmCham position paper entitled “The U.S. and the ROC: A Businessman’s View,” van Gessel set out principles that he urged the U.S. government to follow, including continued protection for Taiwan’s security and American economic interests in Taiwan. He elaborated on those ideas in testimony before a Congressional subcommittee and in a letter-writing campaign soliciting support in Washington.  

When the Chamber was finally faced with the reality of derecognition and termination of the U.S.-Taiwan mutual defense treaty, the new AmCham chairman, Robert Parker, relied heavily on van Gessel’s counsel and assistance in guiding the Chamber’s response. The two met almost daily in Parker’s law office to craft strategy and tactics. Many of the themes in Parker’s February 1979 testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (one of whose members was Joe Biden) came from van Gessel’s earlier position paper, and the testimony was influential in the later passage of the Taiwan Relations Act and establishment of the American Institute in Taiwan.  

Another challenge for AmCham during that period was to help ensure the continued operations of U.S. community organizations, whose legal status had been tied to the American military presence. Van Gessel was among the Chamber representatives in key meetings with the Taiwan authorities that preserved the status of the Taipei American School and American Club, established a youth program association, and enabled the English-language, U.S. military-run radio station to be transformed into International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT). Van Gessel served on the ICRT board and provided valuable management advice during its early years.  

Born in The Netherlands, van Gessel came to the United States as a teenager, graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Business School, and after service as an officer in the U.S. Navy, worked for a decade at what was then known as Corning Glass Works. He then spent four years at the Commerce Department, mainly responsible for export promotion.  

Rejoining Corning in 1974, he was sent to Taiwan to become president of the Corning-invested Pacific Glass Corp., a maker of TV picture tubes. When the company was sold to Japanese interests in 1981, van Gessel opted to remain in Taiwan, utilizing his entrepreneurial skills to found Semean Ltd., a specialty import business providing high-end meats and seafood to leading restaurants and hotels.  

During his three decades in Taiwan before retirement in Washington State, van Gessel was one of only two people ever to serve three terms as AmCham chairperson (1976, 1977, and 1986). He also served terms as president of the American Club in China and vice chairman of the Asia Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce.  

Recalling the experience of working with van Gessel in the Chamber leadership in the 1990s, former AmCham Taiwan Chairman Paul Cassingham notes that “his advice was always practical and down-to-earth, and occasionally earthy.” 

In a message to TOPICS, Robert Parker describes Dutch van Gessel as a “wonderful, larger-than-life personality – big, blunt, brilliant, hardworking, fun-loving, and fearless.” He notes that  “we became close friends working together to solve the multiple crises facing Taiwan’s American community when the U.S. broke diplomatic relations with the ROC.”  

“In addition to his family, Dutch van Gessel leaves behind countless friends by whom he will be greatly missed,” said Parker. “We are all beneficiaries of his contributions to AmCham and Taiwan.”