Taiwan’s representative office in the US on Wednesday held a Double Ten National Day celebration at the Twin Oaks Estate in Washington, where new or incoming American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) officials made their first appearance.
More than 3,000 guests, including US officials, diplomats based in Washington and overseas Taiwanese, attended the celebration ahead of National Day on Monday.
“Taiwan, Republic of China, easily a small country, but too big to ignore, with 23 million hardworking men and women, we’ve come a long way,” Representative to the US Stanley Kao (高碩泰) said.
Photo: Tsao Yu-fen, Taipei Times
John Norris, newly appointed managing director of the AIT’s Washington Office, and James Moriarty, reportedly the likely successor to outgoing AIT Chairman Raymond Burghardt, were among the guests at the event.
“I know President Tsai [Ing-wen, 蔡英文] to be a pragmatic, level-headed leader. I’m confident that she will successfully lead Taiwan into the next chapter of its story. I’m equally confident that the United States will continue to serve as a close and trusted partner as Taiwan chooses its future path,” Moriarty said.
Kao showed Moriarty products from Taiwanese tech companies, and the former US ambassador to Nepal and Bangladesh tried out a HTC Vive virtual reality headset to play some virtual baseball.
Taiwanese pitcher Chen Wei-yin (陳偉殷), who plays for the Miami Marlins, also attended the celebration as a special guest and was introduced by Kao as “the pride of Taiwan.”
Chen, who was visiting the compound for the first time in his five years in the US, said he felt quite nervous beforehand, but was happy to find out that Kao is an avid baseball fan.
The representative office’s New York unit also held a National Day celebration at the Marriott Marquis hotel near Times Square, which was attended by about 800 guests.
US Representative Charles Rangel, who attended the New York event, praised Taiwan as a free and democratic nation that values human rights.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York Director Hsu Li-wen (徐儷文) thanked the nation’s allies for speaking up in support of Taiwan’s participation in international organizations at the opening of the UN General Assembly’s new session last month.
She added that Tsai, the nation’s first female president, has shown good faith and determination to maintain regional peace and to establish mutual trust and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait.
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